RaMBa”M). Moreh ha-Nevuchim [Guide for the Perplexed]. Translated from the Arabic by Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon. Index by Judah al-Charizi

The Guide for the Perplexed, the final work of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), was completed in 1185 or 1190. Maimonides came full circle. His earliest work, Miloth Higayon, was on logic, supposedly executed when the author was but fifteen years of age. (Of late, the ascription to Maimonides has been challenged). In between, Maimonides devoted himself to works of halachic jurisprudence: The Commentary to Mishnah (see Lot 44), The Book of Commandments, and finally his magnum opus, Mishneh Torah (see Lots 7, 29 and 64). The Guide was to have profound influence on Christian scholastic thought. Most notably, Thomas Aquinas oftimes cites the author by name. The Tibbonides were a family of translators who originated in Granada, Spain but due to disturbances, settled in Provence. Samuel ibn Tibbon (c.1160-c.1230) was the second in this line of famous translators. Their expertise in Arabic enabled them to make available to their Provencal coreligionists the works of the Spanish Jewish masters. Samuel ibn Tibbon had thought to visit Maimonides in Egypt to discuss the proposed translation, but Maimonides, in a famous letter, dissuaded him from doing so, reasoning that his busy schedule would allow them no time to confer. From the letter, we learn what a typical day in the life of Maimonides was like. After a grueling day as physician to the Sultan’s harem, he would return home to be met by the officials of the Cairene Jewish Community with their many demands. Maimonides did provide ibn Tibbon detailed guidance as to how to execute the translation. According to ibn Tibbon’s colophon (missing for some reason in most modern editions), the translation was completed in the month of Teveth in the year 1205. See EJ, Vol. XI, col. 757; Vol. XV, cols. 1129-1130. The Guide for the Perplexed would have a troubled history, sparking centuries of Maimonidean controversies.The book, heavily influenced as it was by Greek - specifically Aristotelian philosophy, was thought by some to conflict with Judaic tradition. Tragically, and for different motivations, the book was publicly burned by the Dominicans in Paris in 1232. It is said that R. Jonah Gerondi, one of those who agitated for the destruction of the book, later journeyed to Maimonides’ tomb in Eretz Israel to beg forgiveness. Its detractors claimed Moreh ha-Nevuchim had a corrupting influence on youth. For this reason, the great Spanish sage, R. Solomon ben Adret of Barcelona issued a cherem (ban) that the book not be studied by those “below the age of twenty-five” (1305). However, nowhere did the book enjoy such wide popularity as in Provence. Ironically, it is fair to say that the book exerted a more profound influence on Provencal Jewry than it did on Spanish Jewry, though Maimonides’ proudly signed himself “Ha-Sephardi” (the Spaniard). See D. J. Silver, Maimonidean Criticism and the Maimonidean Controversy, 1180-1240 (1965); H. A. Davidson, The Authenticity of Works Attributed to Maimonides in: Fleischer, Blidstein, Horowitz, Septimus (eds.) Me’ah She’arim: Studies in Medieval Jewish Spiritual LIfe in Memory of Isadore Twersky (2001) pp. 118-125