The Historical Outlook of Maimonides

Baron, Salo W. The Historical Outlook of Maimonides. New York: NP , 1935. 8vo. 113pp. Original printed wrappers. Some water staining along edges on front- and back cover. Reprinted from the Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, vol. VI, 1934-1935. Wraps in good, interior in very good condition. g. Softcover.

Salo W. Baron was a pioneering figure in 20th century Jewish studies. When he took a position teaching Jewish history at Columbia University it was only the second such professorship in the United States. He is best known for his 18 volume work, A Social and Religious History of the Jews.

R. Moses Maimonides (Rambam) was a 12th century Jewish philosopher and halachic legal scholar. A highly controversial figure, both during his lifetime and after his death, but generally acknowledged as the preeminent Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages. He was born in Córdoba, Spain but fled as a child due to Almohad persecution of Jews. He eventually settled in Egypt where he served as a rabbi, physician and philosopher. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah, his only work not in Arabic, still carries canonical authority, particularly within the Yemenite Jewish community, as the codification of Talmudic law. His other work includes a commentary on the Mishnah entitled Kitab al-Siraj, Kitab al-Fara’I, a book on precepts, and the philosophical work Dalalat al-Ha’irin, known in Hebrew as the Moreh Nevukhim, The Guide to the Perplexed. The major premise is an attempted philosophical/theological reconciliation of the Hebrew Bible and Greek knowledge and explaining away anthropomorphic and antropopathic terms in the Bible. This work came to play a central role in all subsequent major controversies over philosophy within the Jewish community during the Middle Ages. (24709) $50