While I agree that this is a wonderful book, I find the previous reviews on this book incomprehensible. Maimonides's writings are not at all obvious, and Maimonides himself repeatedly claimed that his philosophical writings must never be taken at face value. Rather, Maimonides continues, he is fearful of how the ignorant will not be able to understand certain philosophical concepts, and he is afraid that a straightforward discussion of certain religious/philosophical truths will cause many people to lose faith altogether. Also, Maimonides was fearful of repression by the "orthodox" Jews of his day. Then, as now, theological innovation was condidered heresy by them. Therefore Maimonides explicitly states that several of his controversial positions will only be alluded to, and "the wise will understand". Now - as then - many people are totally unable to understand Maimonides views on this subject, as they assume that his views were more or less "orthodox." (They were not).

This book by Prof. Seeskin is a good introduction to Maimonides thought. For a good introduction to why Maimonides was so controversial (both then and now), see the entry under "Maimonodean Controversy" in the Encyclopaedia Judaica. For another important discussion of the implications of Maimonide's views, see "Must a Jew Believe Anything?" by Menachem Kellner.

This volume is an excellent introduction to the philosophy/theology of Moses Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, or the "Rambam"). Seeskin's presentation is lucidly clear, accessible to the layperson, and blessedly free of Straussian persecution-and-the-art-of-writing searches for "hidden meanings." Seeskin levels some pointed critiques against this entire mode of interpretation and quite sensibly treats the Rambam as though he meant what he wrote. The result is a fairly short, not-overly-technical overview of the thought of the man who was undeniably far and away the greatest philosopher in Jewish history -- and, moreover, a readable introduction to systematic theology in general. Highly recommended.

Kenneth Seeskin here presents a clear and straightforward reading of Moses Maimonides that can serve as an accessible (if not terribly deep) introduction to the thought of Judaism's greatest philosopher. Seeskin intentionally distances himself from the Straussian persecution-and-the-art-of-writing school of interpretation and wastes no time looking for "hidden meanings" buried several levels below the explicit text. The Rambam meant what he said and said what he meant; Seeskin's exposition of that meaning is lucid and intelligible.

I bought PERSECUTION AND THE ART OF WRITING because I wanted an easy approach to whatever contribution Leo Strauss might be able to make to the understanding of political philosophy, and the idea that writers might be persecuted is fundamental to my understanding of what separates social thinking from what a philosopher might be capable of. The second chapter, which covers the topic "Persecution and the art of writing," is only from page 22 to page37 of this book. The Introduction attempts to provide a basis for understanding all the essays in this book "within the province of the sociology of knowledge." (p. 7). The final chapter, "How to Study Spinoza's THEOLOGICO-POLITICAL TREATISE," is the culmination of a series of articles, which first appeared in 1941, 1943, and 1948, that is primarily concerned with understanding the works of a few philosophers in a manner which might be helpful "for a future sociology of philosophy." (p. 7).

The particular work of Spinoza discussed was an attempt "to refute the claims which had been raised on behalf of revelation throughout the ages." (p. 142). Studying the Treatise is primarily philosophical because "the issue raised by the conflicting claims of philosophy and revelation is discussed in our time on a decidedly lower level than was almost customary in former ages." (pp. 142-3). Later it is admitted that Spinoza's own age did not have Spinoza's books to discuss. "The only book which he published under his own name is devoted to the philosophy of Descartes." (p. 152). "But Spinoza, who wrote for posterity rather than for his contemporaries, must have realized that the day would come when his own books would be old books." (p. 153). My own understanding of Spinoza is not helped by the fact that the longest quotations, in note 2 on page 143 and note 19 on page 153, are in latin. Note 13 on page 149 quotes Carl Gebhardt (Spinoza. OPERA, vol. II, p. 317) in German. I thought I was going to be able to understand it best when Strauss wrote, "To ascertain how to read Spinoza, we shall do well to cast a glance at his rules for reading the Bible." (p. 144). Philosophy itself might demand that the most modern conclusion on that effort would be: "For the same reason it is impossible to understand the Biblical authors as they understood themselves; every attempt to understand the Bible is of necessity an attempt to understand its authors better than they understood themselves." (p. 148). In the case of the Bible, the idea of revelation offers the consolation to people who never wanted to be considered its authors that the book was written by someone else, as the angel who dictated the Koran to its prophet is the ultimate target of the book THE SATANIC VERSES by Salman Rushdie in the most modern comic edition of this conflict. The only escapes which Spinoza would offer is "to potential philosophers, i.e., to men who, at least in the early stages of their training, are deeply imbued with the vulgar prejudices: what Spinoza considers the basic prejudice of those potential philosophers whom he addresses in the Treatise, is merely a special form of the basic prejudice of the vulgar mind in general." (p. 184). Given the facts of life for most people, this seems to be particularly bad news for the political, which could use a few intellectual connections.

An excellent text, Strauss explicates on his views of how philosophers in times of persecution will "hide" their most stunning and important ideas "between the lines" of their works. In this way, the authors avoid death, and also provide the deepest insight to only those intelligent enough to find it in the texts. Pay special attention to Strauss's chapter on the "Guide for the Perplexed:" not only is it an interesting read, but one can see Strauss himself using some of the same techniques that he claims authors of the past used. It's all a matter of trying to understand what he truly wants to tell us.

The title essay is a masterpiece I read once a month in the course writing journalism by day and reading of political comedy by night. By day it is extremely helpful keeping my job in a political environment not particularly conducive to complete freedom of expression at times. By night, coupled with Strauss's superb "Socrates and Aristophanes" is has proved a wonderful tool for unveiling meaning in Aristophanes, Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Hasek, Garcia-Marquez, Kundera and the rest of the European comic tradition. I think his idea of a literary criticism "between the lines" based on ancient rhetoricians would be an extremely useful study for younger graduate students to follow - whenever such studies become possible again. The rest of the essays apply the theory of reading between the lines in interesting limit cases of persecution of political philosophy. They may lead the general reader to try such authors as Maimonides and Spinoza. Can't speak for specialists, not being one.

I can describe Homo Mysticus in three words: un destello repentino. This means in Spanish, a sudden flash. Yet it is a flash that one will always remember.
When one is trying to understand something, after going in rounds and rounds about one thing, thought, idea, the moment when it actually sinks in your mind, when one has actually "seen" or reached partial understanding, this is the sensations that Faur's Homo Mysticus leaves you with.
In it, only open ended discourses prevail, like Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed, it shakes the intellect, it forces it to go upwards without actually telling you how to believe.
Imagine a flock of birds in the lake, all without order, taking care of their own business, and all of the sudden -- without any previous warning -- they take flight up in the air forming a cloud that looks as if conceived by a powerful mathematical mind, perfect in form and flow, to then descend to the lake and do it once more at a later time.
I began reading The Guide 6 years ago, I have not finished; I have just begun to read Homo Mysticus; I just now realize that I will never finish "reading" The Guide. As the continous reading of the Torá, both works give you tools to articulate the everything.
Faur did it again. He makes form and flow effortlessly by following simple rules of Jewish nature.
As in my last review of his Golden Doves with Silver Dots, this is a must buy.
DR

Faur has published the authoritative book on the Guide. Faur shows an uncanny ability to simplify and clarify the hidden meanings incorporated in the Guide that have baffled all mid-evil and modern commentators.

The Ofeq Institute has provided a wonderful service in publishing this facsimile version of the Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Sefer HaMadda' and Sefer Ahavah, along with the Rambam's text of the Siddur. There are some significant differences between this version and those of the standard printed version, the Frankel version, and even the Qafih version. Often, these differences in text can help in understanding and analyzing a passage in question. I have developed some shiurim which utilize the text of the Ofeq Rambam to clarify what I found to be difficulties in the Rambam, and for those situations alone, the Ofeq Rambam was absolutely invaluable. Any serious student of the Rambam owes it to himself to utilize this great resource in his learning! I recommend it with great enthusiasm!

The Guide to the Perplexed is a phenomenal book which explores a Jewish view on philosophy. It is one of the earliest Jewish philosophical texts and explores topics such as free will, the nature of the soul and prophesy. Definately worth reading.

Maimonides was a great spiritual thinker. His insights and understanding of the Mishna continue to be thought provoking. He uses the logic of Aristole to show the beauty of the logic of God, blessed be He, and to teach each generation to hold with love and respect the writings of the Bible and the previous generation. I adore this book and I thank Lampel for this fine translation. Rambam is still teaching all those who love the Bible to love and respect it even more.

Efros's very important book makes it possible to fully appreciate the Hebrew in the Hebrew translations of Maimonides. Hebrew, having little logical and philosophical vocabulary, often required its authors to recycle old terms and give them new meaning. This is often extremely confusing, especially for the non-native. Thus Efros did us a great service in rendering the Hebrew terminology of Maimonides' Guide more accessable

This book explores Maimonides Ta'Amei Ha-Mitzvot from many different philosophical perspectives. I greatly enjoyed this book. I was most impressed by the clarity of the book. If you enjoyed the Harry Potter series you'll love this.

This abridged version of Maimonedes thoughts covers about one quarter of the complete book with the same title. The selection by Guttmann concentrates on Maimonedes' attempt to bring rational Aristotelian philosophy in accord with classical Jewish literature. Thus, allegorical reading of the anthropomorphic features of the biblical God is urged for a better understanding of the hidden meaning and to bring it in conformity with reason. Other main aspects covered deal with Prophecy, Providence and the way to a godly life. It is the latter which struck me as most interesting because the dedication of every moment of one's life to God (except when engaged in mundane duties which ought to be kept to a minimum) is precisely what one finds in the Bhagavad Gita except that the name of the Deity is Krishna rather than Yahweh. Apart from the name there is absolutely no other difference. If we are serious in believing that there is only one God in control of the universe this should not be disturbing because all nations are entitled to use their name for the Deity which encompasses all. Yet Maimonedes insists that only through contemplation of the Jewish law can perfection be achieved and one finds some rather derogatory remarks about those who think otherwise. Although Maimonedes emphasizes that the way to God is through humility, tolerance of the views of others will not be found. Furthermore, while intellect and reason are extolled Maimonedes has no difficulty accepting oral traditions of biblical stories, especially in regard to Abraham, Jacob and Moses, which have not only no corrollary in the Pentateuch but are at times at variance with it. Thus, the imaginative faculty and the rational faculty, as Maimonedes called them, and which distinguish the human being from animals, did not seem to find complete harmony in his view of the world and may leave some of us still perplexed.
The introductions to the book by Frank and by Guttmann are very helpful in setting Maimonedes' work in its appropriate context. For the student of comparative religion this is a useful introduction to medieval Jewish philosophy as it originated in a Muslim milieu and which is still held in high esteem by some modern theologians.

Rambam knocks me over. This is an amazing work. This is one of the most important books in any language. This translation by Pines is excellent, clear, simple, unobtrusive, and has just the right small amount of clarifying notes.

The Guide clearly should be studied with others. I would like to discuss each chapter with other people as we read (and maybe re-read) them. My email address is my firstnamelastname at yahoo dot com.

This is volume one of a two volume set, so be sure to get both volumes. Volume one contains two interpretive essays, one by Leo Strauss and one by the translator, the former alone making this translation worthy of purchase, according to the Times Literary Supplement. Maimonides' work itself is an intentionally tangled web of reason, not to be undertaken by the casual reader; such a reader will leave disappointed with its obscure style. Maimonides assumes a great deal of Scriptural knowledge and a familiarity with the most important commentators of his time. Nevertheless, for those willing to put in the effort both in learning the fundamentals of religion and in exploring an almost endless maze of logic, Maimonides will provide a sumptuary feast and sketch the outlines of his view of philosophy and faith.

I agree witht the other reviewers that this book is the best 1-volume collection of the works of Maimonides. It is especially useful in that it does not only focus on the philosophical magnum opus "Guide of the Perplexed" , but also on the parts of the commentary on the mishnah, occasional letters and especially the legal code Mishneh Torah, of which Twersky brings extensive quotes. Twersky's great contribution to Maimonidean studies was to show how the legal works illustrate many of the religio-philosophical concerns which are reflected in the other works. However, in this anthology , the reader will find it difficult to distinguish between legal statements made by Maimonides as part of the Jewish legal tradition based on Talmudic statements, and texts which are clearly informed by his specific religious philsophy. Perhaps the anthology could have been annonated more fully, especially after Twersky's later book "Introduction to the Code of Maimonides" which devoted much space to that issue, appeared. Perhaps one of Twersky's students could try to produce a synthesis of the two books.

The late Isadore Twersky's Maimonides Reader remains the best of its sort. Maimonides was the most unique Jewish writer and thinker since Talmudic days. The scope of his writings and influence are immesurable. This book brings many of his writings to the English reader and does an admirable job at that.

If you are interested in the thought of Moses Maimonides (1138-1204), Judaism's most profound and influential philosopher and one of the most important Medieval thinkers, this must be the place to begin. Professor Twersky of Harvard University, widely acknowledged as the living master of Maimonidean scholarship, has compiled a reader that simultaniously presents the pearls of Maimonidean wisdom (in excellent translation from Hebrew and Arabic) along with extremely readible prefaces and a fine biography and bibliography. Thousands of students of philosophy and religion (of all faiths and backgrounds) have been introduced to the works of Maimonides via Twersky's concise reader. Highly recommended for the scholar and the layperson alike