Maimonides LCD

The Final Principles and the Last of the Mohicans

Maimonides wrote; “Lest a person says: ‘Since jealousy, lust and desire for honor are evil ways... I will separate myself completely from them an go to the other extreme’, to the point where he refuses to enjoy the pleasure of food by abstaining from eating meat and drink wine, where he refuses to marry a wife, or to live in a pleasant house or to wear nice clothing... this too is a evil way and it is forbidden to go that way.” And he continues to caution us to ‘take the middle road’ and not to be extreme in either way.

HOWever when he spoke of taking a middle road - he did not mean that we should consider his Thirteen Principles and to discuss them hearing the traditional point of view and the modern/liberal point of view! His principles were developed, in his knowledgable and considered mind, as the LCD - the Lowest Common Denominator. Here, for Maimonides, there is no middle road.

So moving forward we will now move to his Eighth Principle (in as much as we took the time in the STSG to discuss those between #3 & #7 - I hope you will catch up).

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Khet 8

I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moses.

While we may never know exactly how the Torah was “given” to Moses. We don’t really know if it was ‘handed’ to him; dictated to him; or transmitted via his iPhone. It certainly was not by Twittering... But on the other hand we are told when it was given to Moses. Therefore, if we examine various Sefer Torah scrolls from New Zealand to Poland to China and to Alaska from antiquity to contemporary, we will find only STaM* scribal errors.

*Sefer Torahs and Mezuzot

Persons, who claim that Moses wrote some of the Torah himself, are considered a nonbeliever and displays a perverted understanding of our Torah. That said (by our Chazal), those who claim that the entire Torah was written by man at different times and in different places and can even be explained by the (apparent) different writing styles and syntax, must certainly belong to that group who pervert the entire Torah. There is the argument that those men who wrote the Torah did so by the insight of and with the blessing of G-d himself. But any careful study of the Torah - in depth - will reveal a unity and a compactness of Divine thought that is without human intervention for the complexities are beyond our comprehension.

There is within this one (#8) Principle, enough to consider and delve into with gusto, to take us into a week of study.... a month... a “semester”... a year... or longer. When I lived in Japan, I was introduced to an “Eastern” concept that applies here: “Study, Study, Study... only Study can make a miracle.” If we study this one Principle, we will certainly experience a miracle - of what size we will only find at the end.

This blog is not, however, the vehicle to drive to that miracle. And we continue with the following Principles. We sing Yigdal; G-d will not replace nor change His Law - For all time, for anything else. Thus: I believe with perfect faith that the Torah will not be changed, and that there will never be another Torah given by G-d.

Neither He nor any man can or will ever change His Torah. It is and it represents permanence. Nothing -NOthing can, or will, be added, or subtracted to either oral or written Torah. This is the Ninth Principle.

The Tenth Principle (y Yad) states: I believe with perfect faith that G-d knows all of man’s deeds and thoughts. It is thus written [in Psalm 33:15]; “He has molded every heart together, He understands what each one does.”

Those who would say that He has abandoned the world and mankind are in error as it is simply man’s foolishness and misunderstanding of the Master of the Universe. Those who say that He is still in the world but is unable to help, to keep evil from happening, to save those who are hurt or ill - that He is impotent - are, likewise, foolish as any careful reading of Genesis will certainly explain.

In number Eleven, ay, we find this. I believe with perfect faith that G-d rewards those who keep His commandments, and punishes those who transgress His commandments. And we say: “Why do bad things happen to good people? or: “Why does evil seem to win-out?” But what kind of reward or punishment are we talking about? And when, or where, will we receive it? Some will say that you will receive your reward after a wait in purgatory - unless you deserve an immediate one-way ticket to “hell”. And others that your murders and your own suicide will win you an immediate reward of a certain number of virgins. But is this Principle applying only to individuals? Or does it include tribes and nations - or all of mankind? Is a life eternal, a life that death does not take, a reward &/or punishment in itself? It has been put forth that “heaven” and “hell” are in the same “place”... for example, the rabbis who lived a good life are now sitting around a table enjoying the eternal study of the Torah and companionship with those of like-mind. While in the same room Mr. A. Hitler is seated - forever seeing those Jews, that he so hated, living in eternal bliss.

by The Twelfth Principle says: I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. No matter how long it takes, I will await his coming day. (please note that “his coming” is written in lower case. Did Maimonides think in that way? Hebrew, of course, does not have upper and lower case forms) We do write the “Messiah” in caps in English - probably more by convention that by implication. Who, indeed, is the question, will S/He be? How will we know? And what will be the war of Gog and Magog? Are we now involved in that war?

And, finally, gy the Thirteenth Principle states: I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be brought back to life when G-d wills it to happen. [Yigdal: G-d will bring the dead to life with His great love, May His glorious name be blessed for all time.] Selah!

Moses, our greatest of prophets, tells us that this is one of the foundations of Judaism. One who does not believe what Moses has said on this Principle, cannot be associated with Judaism - its tribal implications, its history, its traditions or its religion. We are further instructed that “Rain is for both the wicked and for the righteous, but the resurrection (of the dead) is only for the righteous.” The wicked are considered to be dead - even as they are alive and walking the earth. It would be absurd, therefore, to return their bodies to life. Of course, if you do not believe this, it is probably fairly certain that you will not be returned to life. Is there some kind of poetic justice there?

b’Shalom