aris2chat
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- Feb 17, 2012
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A bit of history regarding the mount.
Commemorating the 849th Anniversary of the Rambam's Historic Ascent to the Temple Mount: Thursday, the 6th day of the month of Marcheshvan, marked 849 years to the day that Maimonides ascended the Temple Mount. Learn about the times that the Rambam lived in, details about his journey from Morocco to Jerusalem, and read his own words describing his experience.
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Commemorating the 849th Anniversary of the Rambam's Historic Ascent to the Temple Mount: Thursday, the 6th day of the month of Marcheshvan, marked 849 years to the day that Maimonides ascended the Temple Mount. Learn about the times that the Rambam lived in, details about his journey from Morocco to Jerusalem, and read his own words describing his experience.
"From Moshe to Moshe there was none like Moshe." "FROM MOSHE RABBENU, (OUR MASTER MOSES), WHO LED US OUT OF EGYPT AND RECEIVED TORAH AT MOUNT SINAI, TO RABBENU MOSHE BEN MAIMON, (OUR MASTER, MOSES THE SON OF MAIMON),THERE WAS NONE OTHER OF COMPARABLE GREATNESS." This is the meaning of the well known statement quoted above, which today can be found engraved upon the Rambam's tomb in the city of Tiberias, and such is the measure of esteem in which the Rambam is held in to this day. |
DURING HIS OWN LIFETIME, MAIMONIDES was revered by his coreligionists all across the Jewish diaspora. The Rambam's philosophical works were of such universal importance that he was quoted on a number of occasions by the church theologian Thomas Aquinas in his written works. Aquinas referred to the Rambam as "Rabbi Moses." A CONTEMPORARY AND FELLOW NATIVE OF CORDOBA, the Moslem philosopher, Averroes, shared with Maimonides a fascination with Aristotelian thought, and together, their writings introduced the followers of all three religions to the ancient Greek masters, thus laying the foundations for the European renaissance that would take shape in the ensuing centuries. ALTHOUGH CONTROVERSIAL IN HIS DAY, the Rambam's great works of halacha, (Jewish law), theMishneh Torah, and of philosophy, Moreh Nevuchim, (The Guide for the Perplexed), are considered unparalleled classics of Jewish thought. BASED ON THE BODY OF WORK THAT HE PRODUCED, and the intellectual influence he exerted upon giants of Islamic and Christian thought, one could easily imagine that the Rambam lived during an idyllic era of peaceful coexistence and mutual appreciation between cultures and religions. One could imagine that the Rambam lived a cloistered and sedentary life, dedicated to study and composing. Neither of these misconceptions could be further from the truth. The twelfth century was a turbulent and violent time. The Rambam found himself constantly in the midst of turmoil and upheaval. He enjoyed neither tranquility nor prosperity. The Rambam produced his body of work and made his indelible mark on history, in spite of the inhospitable and deadly environment that he found himself in throughout the days of his life. Where did it all begin? |
Cordoba, 1148 Years later, the Rambam would again draw from his earlier experience, in writing his famous 1172 "Epistle to the Jews of Yemen." The Jews of Yemen, facing a renewed wave of persecution and forced conversion, appealed to the Rambam for instruction as to how to conduct themselves. In his epistle the Rambam immediately drew the parallel between his own experience of two decades earlier and what was currently taking place in Yemen: "You write that the rebel leader in Yemen decreed compulsory apostasy for the Jews by forcing the Jewish inhabitants of all the places he had subdued to desert the Jewish religion just as the Berbers had compelled them to do in Maghreb [North Africa]." In detailing the history of persecution against the Jews, Rambam referred to Mohammed as " ...the Madman who... added the further objective of procuring rule and submission." In the year 1165, the situation for Jews living in Fez, constantly one of danger, took a turn for the worse. Rambam and his family decided to leave Fez after nearly two decades, and head toward the east. Their destination was the land of Israel. What awaited Rambam in 12th century Israel? This we will explore tomorrow. |
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12th Century Israel: The Epicenter of Conflict |
It was into this deadly arena that the Rambam was determined to set foot when, on the 14th day of the month of Iyar, 4925, (May 5, 1165), he embarked from northwest Africa, and set sail for the port city of Acco. |