Maimonides’ Confrontation with Mysticism

Menachem Kellner is Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa. He is the author of Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought and Must a Jew Believe Anything? and translator of Isaac Abravanel's Principles of Faith, all published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. He is also the author of Maimonides on Human Perfection, Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People, and Maimonides on the 'Decline of the Generations' and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority. His translations of Gersonides' Commentary on Song of Songs and Maimonides' Book of Love appeared in the Yale Judaica Series. Professor Kellner's critical editions of the original texts of Abravanel's Principles of Faith and of Gersonides' Commentary on Song of Songs were published in Hebrew.

Many books on Maimonides have been written and still more will appear. Few present Maimonides, as Menachem Kellner does, against the actual religious background that informed his many innovative and influential choices. Kellner not only analyzes the thought of the great religious thinker but contextualizes it in terms of what he calls the 'proto-kabbalistic' Judaism that preceded him. Kellner shows how the Judaism that Maimonides knew had come to conceptualize the world as an enchanted universe, governed by occult affinities. He shows why Maimonides rejected this and how he went about doing it. Kellner argues that Maimonides' attempted reformation failed, the clearest proof of that being the success of the kabbalistic counter-reformation which his writings provoked. Kellner shows how Maimonides rethought Judaism in different ways. It is in highlighting this process and identifying Maimonides as a religious reformer that this book makes its key contribution. Maimonides created a new Jud

Foreword by Moshe Idel Preface Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration and Conventions Used in the Text 1 Maimonides' Critique of the Jewish Culture of His Day Introduction * The Judaism Maimonides Opposed * The Philospphical Basis of Maimonides' Opposition * Esotericism and Elitism * Maimonides' Failure * Elements of Proto-Kabbalah * Maimonides' Opposition to the World of Proto-Kabbalah * Excursus: Terminology 2 The Institutional Character of Halakhah Introduction * Two Opposing Views * Maimonides' View * Maimonides' Motivation * Mistakes and Errors in Halakhah / Science / Dogma * Error in 'Science' * Halakhah as Instrumental * Halakhah and Theology * God and Abraham: Who Chose Whom? 3 Holiness Introduction * A Glance at the Biblical Evidence * Maimonides on the Nature of Holiness in General * Holy Persons * The People of Israel * The Sanctity of the Land of Israel and of Jerusalem * Holy Things: Torah, Tefilin, Mezuzot * Holy Times 4 Ritual Purity and Impurity Introduction: Two Ancient Views on Ritual Purity and Impurity * Judah Halevi on Ritual Purity and Impurity * Maimonides on Ritual Purity and Impurity * Maimonides on the Sacrifical Cult and the Laws of Ritual Purity and Impurity * Maimonides on the Moral Significance of the Laws of Ritual Purity and Impurity * Critiques of Maimonides' Account of the Sacrifices 5 The Hebrew Language Introduction * Judah Halevi on the Hebrew Language * Maimonides on the Hebrew Language * Why Did Maimonides Adopt His Position? * Nahmanides' Critique 6 Kavod, Shekhinah, and Created Light Introduction * Shekhinah, Kavod, and Created Light in Rabbinic Texts * Sa'adiah Gaon * Judah Halevi * Maimonides on Kavod in the Guide of the Perplexed * Maimonides on Shekhinah in the Guide of the Perplexed * Maimonides on Created Light in the Guide of the Perplexed * Shekhinah and Kavod in Mishneh torah and Commentary on the Mishnah 7 Jews and Non-Jews Introduction * Theory of the Acquired Intellect * Jews and Non-Jews * Digression: Which of the Thirteen Principles Must Actually Be Accepted to Achieve a Share in the World to Come? * Who is an 'Israelite'? * Wise Non-Jews and the World to Come * Was Maimonides Truly Universalist? 8 Angels Introduction * Angels in Rabbinic Thought * Angels in Piyutim * Angels in Heikhalot Literature * Sa'adiah Gaon and Judah Halevi on Angels * Maimonides on Angels Afterword: Contemporary Resistance to the Maimonidean Reform Glossary Index of Citations from Moses Maimonides and Judah Halevi Bibliography General Index