(MAIMONIDES / RaMBa”M). Mishneh Torah (Yad ha-Chazakah). Sepher Mada [Book of Knowledge] and Sepher Ahavah [Book of Adoration], Books One and Two (of 14)

Even before the rise of Moses Maimonides on the Egyptian-Jewish scene, there existed close cultural and religious ties between Egypt and Yemen, with Yemenite rabbinic scholars generally defering to the Egyptian authorities. With the advent of Maimonides, this trend reached a climax. Thus, for example, when confronted with a Messianic pretender, it was to the Sage of Fostat that Yemenite Jewry turned for advice. Viz. Igereth Teiman [Maimonides’ Epistle to Yemen]. Maimonides was held in such great esteem by the Jews of Yemen that they incorporated into their recitation of the Kaddish the wish that the Messiah arrive in the lifetime of R. Moses ben Maimon. After his death, Maimonides continued to exert enormous influence over the community for centuries; his halachic or legal decisions were accepted as binding, and even his philosophy continued to resound in more rationalistic circles. Our manuscript contains a number of textual variances from the standard published editions. Yemenite scholars, such as the late Rabbi Joseph Kapach, maintained that their manuscripts of Maimonides’ code are more precise than other comparable texts. Needless to say, in a Moslem country, where there was no imposition of Church censorship, as was the case in Europe, the anti-Christological references in Maimonides’ work were not subject to tampering. Thus, in Hil. Avodah Zarah 9:3 we read, “The Notzrim [Christians] are idolaters, and Sunday is their feast day.” Similarly, in Hil. Teshuvah 3:10, “Those who cause the public to sin…whether he coerced others to sin, such as Menasseh, who threatened Israelites with execution until they worshiped idolatry; or whether he deceived and misled others, such as Yeshua [Jesus].” These sensitive references do not appear in the standard editions of Maimonides today