For two decades, Prof. Michael Schwartz, professor emeritus of Tel Aviv University's departments of Jewish philosophy and Arabic language and literature, worked on a new Hebrew translation and scholarly edition of Maimonides' "Moreh Nevukhim" ("The Guide of the Perplexed"), one of the most important philosophical texts in Jewish history. His rare combination of academic skills - Schwartz is an expert on Arabic language and literature (the book was originally written in Arabic) as well as on Jewish philosophy - makes him eminently qualified for such a task.
According to Schwartz, the project took a long time not only because of his other academic commitments, but also - and primarily - because of the rigorous scholarly nature of this new edition of Maimonides' text, recently published by Tel Aviv University Press. In addition to comparing "The Guide of the Perplexed" with other Jewish sources - as was done by Rabbi Yosef Kapach in his own translation of the book - Schwartz makes references to all of the scholarly works that have been written on the various concepts and topics that appear in the "Guide."
Dr. Aviad Kleinberg, who heads the Tel Aviv University Press, says that in light of the importance of this particular book, he insisted that it would be the first to be published by the newly established press. "I have known about Prof. Schwartz's project for a long time and I deliberately delayed the publication of other books in order to ensure that this would be the first book we would put out," he says.
Maimonides (or Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, the 800th anniversary of whose death will be marked next year) explains, in the introduction to his book, the circumstances under which it was written: One of his students, Yosef Ben Yehuda, who had begun to delve into classic Greek philosophical works (Plato and Aristotle), was now perplexed because of the contradictions between the ideas of classic Greek philosophy and those of Judaism. Maimonides wrote "The Guide of the Perplexed" to help this young student out of his dilemma (hence, the book's title).
In Maimonides' day, classical Greek philosophical texts, especially those translated into Arabic by Arab intellectuals, were very popular. It should be recalled that this was a Golden Age, not only for Spanish Jews (Maimonides was born in Spain and lived there for a number of years), but also for the Arab and Muslim world of science.
Rationalist thinking
The book focuses on fundamental concepts in Greek and Arab philosophy and on the extent to which they are compatible with the essential beliefs in Judaism. Whenever he comes across a case of incompatibility, Maimonides tries to explain why the Jewish position is more correct. "The Guide of the Perplexed" includes a detailed discussion of both heavenly astronomy and the "spiritual hierarchy" between God and the angels - two topics that were of immense interest to the Greek philosophers. The book also seeks to present Judaism as a religion that addresses the rational intellect, for example in its emphasis of the concept of an abstract God. Thus, Maimonides became the classic model of rationalistic - as opposed to mystical - thinking in Judaism.
Some of Maimonides' statements on this subject have become so integral a part of Judaism that one sometimes gets the impression that they were associated with the Jewish religion from the very dawn of its existence. For example, the way Maimonides deals with the apparent contradictions in the concept of an abstract God, such as those arising from the physical attributes assigned to God in the Bible and in other traditional Jewish sources (Maimonides considers the depictions to be merely symbolic and to be a vehicle for enabling the masses to understand the Torah), or the way he deals with the ideas of prophecy and "viewing God" (according to Maimonides, prophecy, with the sole exception of Moses' prophecies, is conveyed to human beings only in dreams).
Maimonides' attitude toward animal sacrifices turned him into the darling of the anti-messianists: He considered animal sacrifices merely an early, and inferior, stage in the development of the Jewish faith. Since the Israelites had been accustomed to offering sacrifices to pagan gods, it would have been impossible to shift their thinking suddenly to a religion based on abstract concepts. Thus, they were given the opportunity to offer animal sacrifices to a single God. However, in the future, even after the Temple is rebuilt finally in Jerusalem, animal sacrifices will not be offered there.
When it first appeared, "The Guide of the Perplexed" generated a storm of controversy. Various segments of Jewish society, especially the kabbalists, vigorously opposed this attempt to establish compatibility between Judaism and classic Greek philosophy. The critics argued that Maimonides' rationalist explanations (such as his depiction of prophecy as a dream) threatened to undermine pristine religious faith. These same segments of Jewish society even went so far as to impose a total ban on Maimonides' writings (including his momentous treatise on Jewish law, "Mishneh Torah," which attempts to summarize all previous writings on Jewish law). In one community, "The Guide to the Perplexed," was even burned. However, after a few generations, the dispute subsided and Maimonides was accorded the status of one of Judaism's greatest thinkers and rabbinical authorities. His "Guide" was similarly extended the status of a major work in Jewish law.
Kleinberg, whose scholarly specialty is medieval Christianity, notes the powerful impact that this book had on Christian thinking in the years following its initial appearance. "Important Christian thinkers, like Thomas Aquinas [one of Christianity's greatest theologians, who sought to resolve the discrepancies between Christian theology and rationalistic awareness - Y.S.] and Meister Eckhart (a German theologian who lived in the early part of the 14th century and whose writings were even banned at the time by the Pope), quote Maimonides. In their eyes, `The Guide of the Perplexed' is part and parcel of Aristotle's influence on Western culture. Furthermore, Maimonides is important because of the manner in which he copes with issues involving law and redemption, and with the relationship between those issues as presented by the Jewish Scriptures, which these major Christian theologians consider a holy text, unlike the Koran, which does not interest them."
Bridging gaps
"The Guide of the Perplexed" has been translated into 11 languages, including Yiddish, Spanish, Catalan, English, German and French. The first Hebrew translation was begun during Maimonides' lifetime by Shmuel Ibn Tibbon, who lived in southern France. The rabbis of that region asked him to translate the book because they did not have a strong enough command of Arabic. Ibn Tibbon wrote Maimonides a letter in which he requested advice on the translation and permission to visit him in order to receive further instruction. Maimonides counseled him not to translate literally and to concentrate instead on bringing out the content of the text. But, Schwartz points out, "apparently Ibn Tibbon was daunted by the magnitude of his text and chose to produce a literal - and thus a flawed - translation. Maimonides did not accede to Ibn Tibbon's second request to be allowed to visit him. Maimonides cited as the reason for the refusal his heavy work load as personal physician to the Sultan of Cairo.
During that same generation, the book was translated a second time into Hebrew by poet Yehuda al-Harizi. This translation, Schwartz observes, flows much more smoothly than Ibn Tibbon's, but is far less accurate. Since that time and up until fairly recently, only portions of the book were translated. The third full translation was published some three decades ago by Rabbi Yosef Kapach, at the time the spiritual leader of Israel's Yemenite Jewish community. Schwartz shows great respect for Kapach and praises the translation; nevertheless, Kleinberg says that "although Kapach's translation of Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah is superb, a philosophical book like `The Guide of the Perplexed' is not in his usual field of endeavors and thus there is the need for a new translation."
Regarding the book's relevance for today's generation, Kleinberg admits that "tackling the challenge of Greek philosophy is not a burning issue in the present era. Nonetheless, great importance should be attached to the presentation of a model that we are not so familiar with in our generation: another breed of rabbinical scholar, namely one who, in addition to being an expert on contemporary scientific and philosophical literature, seeks to cope with it and with the relationship between that literature and the Jewish religion."
In this context, Schwartz notes the long tradition of Jewish works that seek to bridge the gap between Judaism and contemporary thought: from the days of Rabbi Saadia Gaon's "The Book of Beliefs and Opinions" in the 10th century, through "The Guide of the Perplexed," to Nachman Krochmal's "Guide to the Perplexed of Our Age" in the 19th century and to Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik, who tried to bridge the gap between Judaism and 20th-century Western philosophy.
