Maimonides

by Abraham Joshua Herschel and Abraham Joshua Heschel

Book Overview

This classic biography of the medieval Jewish philosopher, in its first English translation, recounts the events of Maimonides's life and provides an illuminating analysis of his thought, including... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1435142683
• ISBN13: 9781435142688
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Fall River Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent - a HIDDEN GEM

This is a scholarly and well researched biography of Maimonides that demonstrates the author's broad and deep grasp of the Maimonidean ouevre. The author is attuned to all the choicy pieces in the commentary on the Mishna, the Guide as well as the Yad. For example, on Avos 4:4 his quote of Aristotle; in Mikvaos 4:4 his attack on a prominent personality [that Heschel claims is the Rif, a claim I have not been able to verify]. Heschel's grasp of the political and historical backdrop is also remarkable. The other biographies of Maimonides do not come close (other than Twersky's). It is a shame that this work did not receive the attention it deserved - quite possibly because the denigration of the translation (which was fine). The style of writing that Heschel used was not the flowery poetic form of his later years, but so what? This is how most people write. An arm chair psychologist would say that Heschel envisioned himself as a modern day Maimonides who would perform the same task of gathering and clarifying Jewish theology as the Rambam did with the Yad. What is funny is that this was probably Heschel's self-perception.

A rare view of the young rabbi

Readers of other works by Rabbi Heschel are likely to be surprised by this volume; it is not written in his usual poetic, epigrammatic style. While some of this may be due to Heschel's relative youth at the time of writing, it is also the product of a different translation process, done after Heschel's death. The introductory notes to the book explain how this came about, and in the process provide interesting insights on the older Heschel's writing process. This biography of Maimonides is one of Heschel's first works, and as such it is fascinating as a window on the development of his thought. His early fascination with the Prophets shines from every page. This is not Heschel at his finest, but for the discerning reader it can provide, nevertheless, a fascinating window on the man and the development of his thought.