Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam)

Childhood in Córdoba

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon was born on Erev Pesach in Córdoba, Spain, then one of the great centers of Jewish learning. Tradition sets his birth in 4895 (1135), while most modern scholars prefer 4898 (1138) based on his own statement of his age when he finished his Mishnah commentary. His father, Rabbi Maimon, was a dayan and talmid chacham descended from a long line of scholars, and the young Moshe learned Torah first of all at his father's side. Through his father he received the tradition of the Rif and of the Ri Migash, whom the Rambam always regarded as his masters.

His secure childhood ended when he was about ten. In 1148 the Almohads, a fanatical Muslim dynasty, conquered Córdoba and gave Jews and Christians the choice of conversion, exile or death. The Maimon family left their home and began more than a decade of wandering through Spain and North Africa.

Wanderings: Fez and Eretz Yisroel

The family eventually settled in Fez, Morocco, which was itself under Almohad rule. There the Rambam began his Commentary on the Mishnah and wrote his Iggeres HaShmad, an encouraging letter to Jews living under forced conversion, urging them to keep whatever mitzvos they could and to escape when possible. Some sources say his teacher in Fez, Rabbi Yehuda ibn Susan, was executed for his faith, which hastened the family's flight.

In 4925 (1165) the family sailed for Eretz Yisroel, arriving in Akko in Sivan after a dangerous sea voyage. The Rambam later recorded that he went up to Yerushalayim, prayed at the place of the Beis HaMikdash, and then visited the Me'aras HaMachpeilah in Chevron. He resolved to mark these days as personal days of fasting and celebration for the rest of his life. The land was then under Crusader rule and could not support the family, so after some months they continued to Egypt.

Egypt: tragedy and leadership

The family settled first in Alexandria and then in Fustat, the old city of Cairo. His father passed away around this time. The Rambam devoted himself to learning while his younger brother David supported the family as a gem merchant. Then David drowned in the Indian Ocean, taking much of the family's wealth with him. The Rambam wrote that grief kept him in bed for about a year, and that years later the pain had still not left him.

To support his family he turned to medicine, and he became one of the most respected physicians of his age, eventually serving the court of the vizier al-Fadil in the time of Saladin. At the same time he became the recognized leader of Egyptian Jewry, answering questions from communities across the world. His Iggeres Teiman strengthened the Jews of Yemen in a time of persecution and false messianism, and they so cherished him that they mentioned his name in the Kaddish.

The Mishneh Torah

His greatest achievement was the Mishneh Torah, also called the Yad HaChazakah after its fourteen books ("yad" = 14). Completed around 1178–1180, it organizes every area of halacha, including laws of the Beis HaMikdash and of the days of Moshiach, in clear Hebrew, arranged by subject, without the debates and sources of the Talmud. His stated goal was that a Jew who knows the Written Torah could then learn this one work and know the whole Oral Torah.

The work was revolutionary and drew sharp criticism, most famously from the Raavad, whose glosses are printed alongside it. Yet over time it became a foundation of all later halacha: the Shulchan Aruch of Rabbi Yosef Karo relies on the Rambam as one of its three pillars, and Yemenite Jews follow his rulings to this day. He also wrote the Sefer HaMitzvos, enumerating the 613 commandments, and the Commentary on the Mishnah, which contains his Thirteen Principles of Faith, the basis of Ani Ma'amin and Yigdal.

The Moreh Nevuchim and his final years

Around 1190 he completed the Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed), written in Arabic for thinking Jews troubled by the apparent clash between Torah and the philosophy of their day. The Guide sparked fierce controversy in Provence and Spain for generations after his passing, while others revered it as a pillar of Jewish thought.

In his later years the Rambam described a punishing schedule: attending the court in Cairo each morning, returning home exhausted to find a crowd of patients waiting, and treating them until nightfall, with Torah questions answered whenever he could. He passed away in Fustat on 20 Teves 4965 (December 1204). His son, Rabbeinu Avraham, succeeded him as leader of Egyptian Jewry.

Burial in Teveria

According to long-standing tradition, his body was brought from Egypt to Eretz Yisroel and buried in Teveria, and the site has been venerated there for centuries. A well-known maaseh recorded in later sources tells that bandits attacked the funeral procession on the way but could not move the coffin, and in awe they joined in escorting it. The common saying "From Moshe to Moshe there arose none like Moshe" expresses how the Jewish people have viewed him ever since.