Sarah Stromza
Studies
Jewish and Muslim Thought
Professor Emeritus in the Alice and Jack Ormot Chair in Arabic Studies, The Hebrew University. Former Rector of the University. Author of the book "Maimonides in His World - A Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker" (Magnes Publishing)
Prof. Sarah Stromza, you have written several books about Maimonides. Where did you first meet him, and what is so special about him that you decided to engage in it?
"I first encountered Maimonides' thinking in high school. The things I read left an impression on me. Later in my career, at the Hebrew University, I taught 'Embarrassed Teacher'. Over the years, many insights have accumulated that eventually became a book. "
The late Rabbi Yosef Kafach said that Maimonides is like a mirror. The person looking at him sees his own reflection. Do you think this is the uniqueness of Maimonides?
"In English there is a sentence, which in free translation means 'there is my Maimonides, and there is your Maimonides'. This is also true of other thinkers, for example his contemporary Muslim Ibn Rushd. So that's not why it's so important, but because of a combination of things. First, his words are very impressive, profound. He writes as a philosopher, as a physician, as a man of halakhah, as a community leader. Beyond that, he became famous and remained engraved in memory thanks to the Mishnah Torah he wrote. It was an operation that Maimonides planned so that this monumental halakhic connection would remain for generations. "
s a l e?
"Yes. He emphasizes - 'I have decided.' "The mitzvah that reduces things to a binding protocol. After that, he arrives at the Mishnah Torah, which, according to him, is intended to replace the halakhic literature for everyday use. And he succeeded."
What do we know about his character?
"He comes from a good and respectable Jewish family, and received the best education there is, including what is today called core studies; as a child he also studies philosophy. And after being given these tools, he has extraordinary talent and intellectual audacity. He reads and learns everything, and is not afraid to learn things. "Others have said that one should not study or read. He is not afraid to reach conclusions and write them down."
And as a type?
"From his various letters in the genizah he emerges as a cordial and warm person, while from others he is portrayed as a closed and serious person. Once he has understood his purpose in life, that is, attainment of 'human wholeness', he is concentrated in it."
The body as a tool.
Resurrection, Luca Srurali, 1499,
Some have described his handwriting as expressing anger. Is there evidence of his warm temperament?
"His writing is very unique, easy to identify. There is speed and determination, I would not define it as nervousness. To be restrained. For Maimonides, the philosopher must restrain his character so that it does not interfere, but is beneficial to the intellect.
He does not seem to me to be a hot-tempered person. "
You said that Maimonides was an elitist. Interesting.
"Although he is a community man who controls a community, he is clearly a person who thinks in elitist terms.
For him, if you told him 'you are an elitist' he would approve.
That's how he thought it should work.
He thought that we should work towards the top, each person individually, and also aim for that as a company in general. "
What does it mean to aim for elitism?
"In an embarrassed teacher he tries to explain why he is writing the book, saying that there are things that have been told to us that should not be put in writing. Then he says, if I conclude in a free style: 'When I see the possibility of explaining to one person and upsetting a thousand "I don't care if they get mad at me." Clearly, this is a picture of elitism.
When Europe shuffled
Your latest book, recently translated into Hebrew, "Maimonides in His World - A Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker" (Magnes Publishing), deals with a broader perspective - his cultural biography; On these, let's start with the paradox. One of the greatest thinkers in history, deeply rooted in Islamic culture.
" This is the New York of the world. Maimonides, who of course was not the only one rooted in this culture, values it intellectually and thinks it is a great culture; He tries to internalize it. He communicates with people like him, and knows how to take advantage of the spirit of the period. "There is a lot of talk about the golden age of Jews in Muslim Spain, but the whole period, in the whole Islamic world, is generally a golden age."
Even though you use the words "golden age", these were not necessarily simple lives.
"True. Maimonides, like all the Jews of Spain at that time, is going through a process of rape. They ostensibly live as Muslims, but continue to live a Jewish life beneath the surface. And yet, for him the religion of Islam is closer to Judaism, much closer than Christianity. He sees it as a monotheistic religion in every way, and in terms of the uniqueness of God, the conception of God or a religious society - he has no problem with Islam.
"This life has also created a unique language. Maimonides is a product of several centuries in which the language of the space is Arabic, much more so than English today. Jews write letters in Jewish Arabic, and speak Arabic at home. This common language creates a cultural space that allows for openness. "
That is, a more fertile space. And Maimonides does not try to build fences.
"Nor does he try to protect the people from this Arab culture, but on the contrary - he pushes people to progress as far as their education and intellect allow.
Take advantage of this culture.
The Embarrassed Teacher has 20 chapters on the tastes of mitzvos, based on the fact that he read literature of what he saw as pagan literature.
He encounters there a description of kinds of customs that he thinks are horrible and terrible, magic for example.
He claims that this is exactly what the Torah is trying to correct, and says 'I have read and understood'.
And you really feel his joy.
It is very exciting to see the glorious Maimonides happy that he understood something. "
In a sense he is as excited as a little boy.
"There is excitement here of a small child but a big person. This is his greatness. His joy is that he has understood an educational principle that needs to be used, and he is really trying to spread it."
Determined and not boiling.
A statue depicting Maimonides in Cordoba // Photo: Zehavit Levian Geffen,
And also succeeds in the task of spreading his ideas, because unlike most Jewish thinkers - Muslims and Christians have read Maimonides and quoted him. Is that rare?
"In terms of quantity - yes.
Essentially, it is unique in the sense that Muslim and Christian culture do not quote, there are no footnotes, and in particular - Muslims do not often quote Jews;
But that does not mean they have not been read.
Sometimes we find some sign of a Jewish use of a Christian or Muslim text, but it is not quoted.
Need a rare coincidence for us to know this.
In the case of Maimonides, we simply have documentation that they studied it, that it was translated, that they argued with it. "
"No hysterical reactions"
Why connect Christians and Muslims in particular philosophy of Maimonides?
"One thing that philosophical practice, continuation of the tradition of Aristotelian philosophy, rolling Europe and even Latin translation Hebrew translation. In the East, Maimonides' spiritual descendants continue to quote and teach, and the same goes for their Christian and Muslim neighbors. Beyond that, Maimonides writes a philosophical essay that includes commentary on the Bible, Torah, Scripture. In a religious world - Christian, Jewish, Muslim - it "Creates interest. Christians saw its interpretation as significant - that is, the way it fits between philosophy and the text of the Torah. They are interested in it and see it as important."
You describe a rich cultural cushion. Today, in the days of polarization of the people, is there in Maimonides and his thinking to unite us, to look at reality in a different way?
"Polarization in the people was not invented now, and Maimonides lived it big. A generation later, this polarization led to mutual boycotts. We also found nothing in the matter of a turbulent Middle East and a world that is not easy to live in, probably for Jews. Maimonides' family in the Jewish community is going through a huge crisis.
"His family is displaced from Spain, and he continues throughout his life to sign his 'Spanish name'. He goes out to exile as a teenager, and pleasure is not. But what can be seen in him is the ability to separate things. Not to get into hysterical reactions."
On the other hand, he does criticize Islam harshly.
"He also suffers from Islam, but that does not stop him from separating and saying that there are things that can also be learned here. There is a record of his encounters with Muslim sages, doctors and others, for the discourse of civilized people. Related to Arab-Jewish relations. Ability to isolate what matters, and transcend harsh realities. He tried to live within the polarization, not exacerbate things. In the end, Maimonides saw no purpose in winning quarrels. For him, the purpose of a person's life is to reach as high an understanding as possible. "
Along with his thoughts, and if we continue to talk about our day, how does his medical teaching fit into medicine in Israel?
"His medical teachings are mainly expressed in his understanding that medicine is an advanced thing. And therefore, a person who at the time used past medicine - makes a mistake. The same is true today. I think he would say to use modern medicine, advanced science, and not his medicine.
“There is a place in the sub-interpretation that he is trying to talk to people who are moving away from medicine for various reasons. For example, who say not to go to the doctors, but to the rabbi. And he responds with a very sharp reaction, atypical for him. He called those crazy people and uses the plural of the word 'magnon' - 'maganin'. I guess he would say that if medicine gives vaccines - take vaccines, see Corona's entry. Go with the medicine of your time, consult with some doctors, and do not turn your back on medicine; This is in addition to knowing that a doctor is a person and can be wrong. "
Maimonides' tomb in Tiberias // Photo: Gideon Markovich,
A light shining in the darkness
Your book deals with the concept of the Maimonides interest in life after death. In fact, it does Dh-mitologiztzih concept of "heaven", and says it in place nationwide, although geographers not recognize him.
"Maimonides trying to arrange some concepts that supposedly belong together - Heaven, the next world, the abode of the soul, the days of Christ. He writes that in the end - for him as a Jew it is impossible to give up concepts like heaven, the days of Christ and the resurrection. They are part of our tradition, Or our place in it. "
On the same subject, in your previous book you recounted the intellectual and political struggle expressed in the controversy over the resurrection of the dead. What can be said about the resurrection article he wrote? In the present book you point out that this is his most personal work, "which descends to the heart of his deepest beliefs." To some extent it is a riddle. Why actually?
"In the time of Maimonides the concept of the resurrection of the dead is something that everyone accepts. But in his eyes the body is only a vessel - and if you have freed yourself from it, why should you return to it? When he sets forth the 13 principles, he establishes the resurrection as the essence of faith, which must be said and believed. But he is not saying anywhere that this is true. There are things about which he will say it is true, but not about it. So there is a certain enigma in his words, and each person can interpret things differently. "
In the concept of mental retention, things are perhaps a little clearer.
"This is a philosophical concept that he thinks should be tried and directed at, as a person and as a Jew. That is, the soul will approach a mental understanding that will allow the mind to remain. In Maimonides' view, the body in which we live is a tool.
Inside there is a soul with all kinds of parts, low and high.
The parts that get upset or offended are the least important.
The mind, on the other hand - which understands, learns and approaches the Creator - is the main part.
In his view, society should nurture the people with whom there is a chance that this part will reach perfection.
This is what he calls "human perfection."
Maimonides aspired to reach her. Did he succeed?
"I think there were moments when he felt that for a moment he had arrived.
When he describes at the beginning of an embarrassed teacher a person who stands in the dark and occasionally encounters a lightning that illuminates the darkness, there is a feeling that he knows what he is talking about, an experience he knows, of understanding.
For him, I believe that this is human perfection - these moments, this is redemption for him. "
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