Maimonides "El Rambam"

"From Moshe son of Amram, who received the Torah on Mount Sinai, until Moshe son of Maimon, author of the Mishneh Torah, there was no one like Moshe son of Maimon.
Hence the famous phrase: From Moshe to Moshe there was no one like Moshe!

Today, the 20th of the month of Tevet, is the Hailula of our Great Master, HaTzadik Rabenu B'Morenu Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) (1135-1204)
Today we remember him through his powerful story, an incomparable Master!

Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain, one day before Passover, on the 14th of Nissan, 1135. His father, Rabbi Maimon, was a great scholar. Moses received his early education from his father, who taught him the Holy Scriptures, the Talmud, and also mathematics:

The young man had a brilliant mind. When he reached the age of bar mitzvah, thirteen, Córdoba was invaded by fanatical Muslim tribes, the Almohads. The new conquerors gave the inhabitants of Córdoba the choice of either accepting the Islamic faith or leaving the city immediately. The vast majority of the Jewish inhabitants decided to leave and go into exile. Among them were Maimon and his family.

For ten years, Maimon's family wandered from place to place, unable to find a place of refuge to establish their home. Despite these sacrifices, Moshe continued his studies, and his magnificent courage and faith were a source of inspiration to many.

Rabbi Maimon finally arrived in Fez, Morocco, in 1160, when his son, Rabbi Moshe, was 25 years old. Here too, the Jews endured great hardships and persecution at the hands of the fanatical Muslims. Rabbi Maimon then wrote a famous letter in Arabic, which he sent to all the Jewish communities of North Africa. In it, he urged them to remain loyal to their religion despite oppression, to study the Torah, to perform the mitzvot devoutly, and to pray three times a day.

A few years later, the situation of the Jews of Fez became unbearable.

The Jewish leaders were executed for refusing to embrace the Islamic faith. Maimon's life was also in grave danger, but a local Arab poet, a close friend of Maimon's, saved him. In the darkness of night in the spring of 1165, Rabbi Maimon and his family set sail for the Land of Israel. The dangers at sea were great, but a few days after Shavuot they finally reached the Holy Land, near Acco. The Jews of Acco, who had already received the fame of the great scholar, gave him a warm welcome, full of honors and affection. But even here they could not find the peace they had longed for, so after visiting the holy sites of Jerusalem and the tombs of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Maimon and his family moved to Egypt, known in those days as the land of "culture and freedom." They first stayed in Alexandria and later moved to Fostat (Old Cairo), where Maimon died.

Moses (or Maimonides) continued his studies with great enthusiasm. His brother, David, took care of the entire family, as he was a prosperous jewelry merchant. One day, however, the terrible news arrived that David had perished in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The shock of this sad news left Maimonides so grief-stricken that he fell ill. It took him almost a year to recover. He then had to make plans to support his own family, in addition to the young widow and her little daughter.

Maimonides did not want to earn a living by accepting a rabbinical position, as he did not want to profit from his knowledge of the Torah. He instead worked as a physician, having studied medicine and science in his youth. His fame spread quickly. His talent often allowed him to diagnose and write prescriptions without having to exchange a single word with his patient.Once, a healthy man decided to test Maimonides' medical wisdom and went to see him. Maimonides observed him for a few moments and began to write the prescription. The man, who enjoyed good health, left the office pleased to have proven himself right in doubting the veracity of Maimonides's system. Curious, given that the prescription was written in a language only the pharmacist could understand, he went to a pharmacy to find out what Maimonides had prescribed. To his great astonishment, he heard the pharmacist read, "What you are hungry for is something. Have a good breakfast."

During his travels, amidst the perils of sea and land, Maimonides not only constantly studied the Torah and the Talmud, but also began to write a commentary on the Mishnah. Shortly after his arrival in Egypt, at the age of 33 (in the year 1168), he completed his commentary, originally written in Arabic (with Hebrew characters), the common language of Eastern Jews at the time. Maimonides was particularly pleased to have completed it, since he was a descendant of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who had compiled the Mishnah some 1,000 years earlier.

His commentary on the Mishnah gained widespread fame. Numerous queries on a wide variety of points of Jewish law began to arrive from remote Jewish communities, and Maimonides's opinion was highly respected.

Maimonides became especially beloved by the Jews of Yemen, to whom he sent a letter of comfort and encouragement, which has acquired renown to this day under the name of Igeret Teiman ("Yemenite Epistle"), at a time when their entire future as Jews was threatened by oppression.

It was incredible how much work Maimonides could accomplish in a single day! He handled urgent communal matters, his medical practice, his regular hours of Torah and Talmud study, his correspondence, and so on. But even in the midst of this overwhelming task, he wrote a second outstanding work: the Mishneh Toro, or Yad Ha-Hazakah, in 1180.

This is a gigantic religious code, a compilation of the entire Talmud. It was written in clear and simple Hebrew, in the language of the Mishnah, understood by all Jews. It is divided into 14 books (the Hebrew word Yad has the numerical value of 14), each of which is further subdivided into chapters and Halakhot (Laws) in an exemplary manner.

This book is used to this day in all yeshivot (Torah academies).

Around 1185, he became the Vizier's private physician, and later also the personal physician of Sultan Afdal, who succeeded his kind father, the famous Sultan Saladin (1137–1193). Many of the country's nobles sought his services and wise advice, but Maimonides also found time to care for the poor, from whom he neither required nor accepted payment. Yet he was able to correspond with Jewish communities near and far, and continue his activity in the fields of medicine, astronomy, and philosophy. All this despite his fragile physical constitution and frequent illnesses.

Around 1190, Maimonides completed his famous philosophical work, the Moreh Nevuhim (Guide for the Perplexed). This book, also written in Arabic, achieved great renown in both Jewish and non-Jewish circles.

During the last twenty years of his life, Maimonides was the recognized and beloved leader of all the Jewish communities in Egypt.

He died in Fostat, on the 20th of Tevet, 1204. His remains were transferred to Tiberias, in the Land of Israel, where they were buried.
(Chabad Info. esp.)

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