Maimonides' Code - Introduction

All the commandments which were given to Moses at [Mount] Sinai were given with their explanation,
as it is said [by G-d to Moses and recorded in the Torah],
". . . and I am giving you the [Two] Tablets of stone, and the Torah, and the commandment — which I have written — to teach to them [the Jewish people]" (Exodus 24:12).
Torah — this is the text of the written Torah [the Five Books of Moses];
and the commandment — this is its [oral] explanation.
[And Moses] commanded us to do [what is written in] the Torah according to the commandment, this 'commandment' referring to what is called the Oral Torah.

Notes:

Almost all translations in this web site are mine, Nathaniel Segal, editor.

In the name of the L-rd - with the help of G-d, a prayer.

the name - addressing G-d by His name of four letters (known as the Tetragrammaton from Greek language sources).

In Hebrew, the letters of the L-rd's proper name contain the same letters that, when rearranged, spell "was, is, will be."

However, we never pronounce this name. "This is My name forever, but this is how you recall Me in every generation" (Exodus 3:15). The second 'this' refers to a Hebrew word substitution that means 'L-rd'. We also have another verse. "O, L-rd, Your name is forever. ['Your name is: "was, is, and will be."'] O, L-rd, Your recollection is in every generation" (Psalms 135:13). [You Yourself are in Your name: 'was, is, and will be'. But we, as human generations, recollect -- refer to You -- with a Hebrew word substitution that means 'L-rd'.]

This second verse in the Book of Psalms is King David's announcement. The verse in Exodus is G-d's Own declaration. Both verses complement each other.

Maimonides' Code is grounded on the idea of teaching his students to know G-d through His Torah. We live by the rulings of G-d's Torah -- His Covenant with humanity as given to us by Moses at Mount Sinai -- and thereby come to know Him.

Compare this with what Maimonides writes in his Guide for the Perplexed -- “The Almighty, desiring to lead us to perfection and to improve the state of our society, has revealed to us laws to regulate our actions. . . . However, we must first form a conception of the existence of the Creator according to our capabilities.”

G-d of the world - Since the Hebrew word ‘olam also means both "a long time" and "forever" (according to the context), you will often see this verse translated as "everlasting G-d." You will also see the translation as "G-d of the universe."

G-d of the world - His world because He wills it. Our world since this is the domain of our lives. The Torah connects these extreme perspectives. By studying Maimonides' Code, we have an opportunity to study and learn the entire Torah and thereby to know G-d.

The Patriarch Abraham was the first person to know G-d and to share this knowledge with everyone he could. Also, the Matriarch Sarah shared this knowledge with women, while Abraham was teaching men. The full verse in Genesis, Chapter 21, verse 33, reads: "And he [Abraham] planted an eishel in Beersheba, and there he called out in the name of the L-rd, G-d of the world."

If we are inclined to say that calling out to G-d simply means that Abraham prayed there, we ask ourselves why does the Torah teach us that that he first planted an eishel -- a tree? (More often than not, eishel is translated as a 'tamarisk tree'. This translation puzzles us even more. The tamarisk, a flowering shrub or small tree, is used for landscaping. So why did Abraham begin landscaping the town of Beersheba?) Somehow, this planting prepared the way for "calling out in the name of the L-rd."

Besides this, the verse adds the seemingly unnecessary phrase "G-d of the world." Knowing Abraham, who else would he pray to?

In the context of this verse, planting one tree implies developing an entire oasis with a full orchard of trees. Abraham and Sarah's oasis attracted people who were passing. From these people, the word went out that visiting this unique oasis was an interesting experience. Thereby, Abraham and Sarah attracted an audience to listen to their lessons about G-d without their needing to travel themselves to find people.

Why do I keep reading into this verse (Genesis 21:33) knowledge of G-d? Because this is the first ruling in Maimonides' Code -- ". . . to know that there is one First Being . . ." (The Book of Knowledge, "Fundamental Laws of the Torah".) Also see Rabbi Kafach's note at the end of this page.

"Then I will not be ashamed" - Both this verse from Psalms and the previous verse from Genesis are part of Maimonides' text. Maimonides' texts begin with epigraphs -- catch lines -- and these lines are intimately tied to the content which follows.

"when I examine all Your commandments" - Then the text itself begins, "All the commandments . . ."

"when I examine all Your commandments" - Then I will not be ashamed. Shame is evidence of a deficiency. By studying all Your commandments, we remove one personal defect. This study of all of G-d's commandments for humanity is the charter and goal of Maimonides' Code.

"Then I will not be ashamed" - The Torah itself is "deeper than the sea." Sincere and diligent students cannot expect any more than not being ashamed of their academic accomplishments. Although this seems like negativity, our pride in our achievements is genuine but tempered by humility — humility from knowing that we are limited by being flesh and blood. Also, every achievement is a gift. Some people work harder than we do and yet seem to make little progress. This is one of the mysteries of G-d's master plan.

Moreover, had we been given more time and been less distracted, we would likely have accomplished more. Again, though, why this has not been so — having more time with fewer distractions — is one of the mysteries of G-d's master plan.

Torah Judaism

The divisions that are in my text are not in Maimonides' text. I introduced them for ease of reading.

All the commandments which were given to Moses at [Mount] Sinai - The Israelites camped at the foot of Mount Sinai in the wilderness east of Egypt about six weeks after they had left Egypt — the Exodus. After counting seven weeks from the night of the Exodus, G-d revealed Himself by loudly speaking out the Ten Speeches (Decalogue) (Exodus 20:2-14 [17] and Deuteronomy 5:4-18). Moses then spent forty days on the mountain where he learned the entire Torah in something like an encapsulated form. Then, Moses came down from the mountain after the forty days with the Two Tablets of the Covenant on which the Ten Speeches (Decalogue) had been engraved into the stone. All this occurred roughly 3,300 years ago.

at Sinai - The text leaves off the word 'mount'. 'Sinai' by itself refers to the Almighty, who revealed Himself there to humanity. This unique event had never occurred before and will never be repeated.

were given with their explanation - with the details of their observance and their meaning.

the Torah - the Five Books of Moses, also called the Pentateuch.

the commandment - This singular word calls for explanation. The Torah actually contains 613 commandments.

which I have written — to teach to them - To teach them the full meaning of what is written. Notice the two parallel wordings: Torah / written; commandment / to teach.

I am giving you - three things:

the [Two] Tablets of stone - The Two Tablets of the Covenant with the Ten Speeches (Decalogue) engraved into the stone. Mistakenly called the Ten Commandments. Moses himself will place the Tablets -- referred to as "the witness" -- in the Ark of the Covenant which itself will be placed in the Holy of Holies in the the Tent of Meeting (and later in the Holy Temple). (See Exodus 40:20-21.)
The command to make the Ark is in Exodus 25:16 where the Tablets are also referred to as "the witness." Later, in Exodus 37:1-9, Betzalel actually builds the Ark for when Moses will be ready to place the second Tablets of the Covenant in the Ark of the Covenant.
the Torah - The Hebrew text itself, written with black ink on parchment, as we have it today.
the commandment - The Oral Tradition.
The written Torah itself is replete with commandments, G-d commanding the Jewish people to do such and such. It follows, then, that the word 'commandment' here refers to how to fulfill the commands. This "how" is not explicit. At the very least, every Hebrew word needs its definition in context.

Consider, "This month is for you the head of months . . ." (Exodus 12:2). The plain meaning of 'head' is a part of the body. We borrow the idea of what a head is for any number of situations. In this context, what is G-d telling us when he speaks about a head month? This is, after all, an encounter between G-d and humans — at first between G-d and Aaron and Moses. Aren't we really interested in the precise content of this encounter?

This verse continues, ". . . it is first for you for the months of the year." We could say that this second part of the verse duplicates the content of the first part of the verse in a complementary, even poetic, way. Even so, we are flummoxed here by what the Torah considers a year. We are all familiar with a solar year. On the average, the seasons vary according to the appearance of the sun during the day, the length of the day, etc. Is the Torah's year a lunar year of twelve months and therefore about eleven days shorter than the solar year? Should we adjust the lunar year to bring it in line with the solar year? How?

In fact, should we take it for granted that G-d wants us to honor the conventional annual solar cycle? Perhaps, for some reason, the Torah's year corresponds to the cycle of the planet Venus. Venus's cycle is from the time it first appears as an evening star until it again reappears as an evening star. Is this ridiculous? Why?

So G-d has given us a third thing — the 'commandment' which refers to how to understand the text of the Torah, its explanation. This is called the Oral Torah and also the Oral Tradition, since it can only be learned by a student from a teacher going all the way back like a chain to Moses.

commandment - mitzvah in Hebrew

Oral Torah - the Oral Tradition, in contrast to the Written Torah, the Scriptural text written in Hebrew.

Additional Sources (Critical editions in Hebrew) --

* Rambam Ha'Aruch, "Sefer HaMada‘," by Rabbi Y. Bluming (Brooklyn, New York: self-published, 2001).
Rabbi Bluming's critical edition begins with both the verse from Genesis and the verse from Psalms. Ordinary editions of the Code which I have seen only begin with the verse from Psalms.

* Rabbi Yosef Kafach, in his recent translation of Guide for the Perplexed from the original Arabic, notes:

Our Rabbi [Maimonides] opens with this verse [from Genesis] not only here [in this preface]. Similarly in all his books, he establishes them [with this epigraph, ". . . In the name of the L-rd, G-d of the world"].
This is how he opens his Commentary on the Mishnah, and like this in the Code -- the Mishneh Torah -- and [in his] Book of the Commandments, and elsewhere.
(Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon: Guide for the Perplexed. Translated to Hebrew [from the original Arabic] with notes by [Rabbi] Yosef, son of Rabbi David, Kafach. Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1977, page ג. Rabbi Kafach bases his edition on newly available manuscripts as well as on printed editions.)

Rabbi Kafach also notes that,

It is clear that this beginning [with the verse from Genesis] . . . hints how his [Maimonides'] accomplishment in [this book Guide for the Perplexed] continues Abraham's efforts ["there he called out . . . G-d of the world"] to publicize the truth of G-d's unity in the world. (ibid.)

* Mishneh Torah: The Book of Knowledge

Translated and edited by Moses Hyamson
Edited according to the Bodleian (Oxford) Codex. English and Hebrew on facing pages.
New corrected edition - Jerusalem; New York: Feldheim Publishers, 1981; first published in 1937.

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