Tags Rambam

Tag: Rambam

Separation of Powers and Majority Rule: Insights from the Talmud, Maimonides,...

This article was written and accepted for publication in the summer of 5783/2023 and scheduled to appear after the holidays. Because of the outbreak of Israel’s “Iron Swords” war with Ḥamas following the murderous attack on Israel on Shabbat/Simḥat Torah (7 October, 2023), we agreed that publication needed to be postponed. Now, five months into the war with no end in sight, we are nevertheless witness to renewed political tensions, public demonstrations, disagreements and paralysis in appointing judges and the President of the Supreme Court, together with resumption of talk of the “judicial reform.” Despite the continuing tragedy of the war in the south and warfare in the north, a review of how our sources treat the separation of powers and majority rule may help us avoid repeating some of the mistakes of the pre-war political and ideological divisions in Israel and contribute to a more reasoned consideration of the issues.

A Philosophical Reflection on the Halakhification of Warfare

Alex Ozar explores wartime law in the Rambam.

Civilian Casualties in the Light of Halakhah and Ethics: Revisiting Rav...

Aryeh Klapper analyzes Rav Shaul Yisraeli’s classic work on civilian casualties in Halakhah.

Darkness We Have Come to Dispel: Between The Light of Hanukkah...

Mois Navon explores what makes Hanukkah so special.

The Staggering Brilliance of Rambam’s Fourth Chapter of The Laws of...

Alan Jotkowitz shares insights into Rambam’s Hilkhot Teshuvah

Endless Exploration: Judaism’s Only “Principle of Faith”

Hasdai Crescas criticized Maimonides for counting belief as a Mitzvah, arguing that we have no control over what we believe. Dovid Campbell explores a surprisingly common defense of Maimonides that places his views closer to those of Crescas than we might have initially imagined.

A Call for Order: Maimonides and the Mishnah

Yaakov Taubes explores the background to Maimonides’s explanation for how the Mishnah is ordered.

The Philosopher and the Mystic?

David Fried reviews Diana Lobel's Moses and Abraham Maimonides: Encountering the Divine, which argues that the categorization of Moses Maimonides as an Aristotelian philosopher and his son Abraham as a Sufi mystic is an oversimplification.

A Jewish Perspective on God’s Presence in Islam

Yakov Nagen examines attitudes towards Islam in Jewish thought.

On Building a Better World: The Tension in Jewish Thought between...

Tamar Ron Marvin argues for the importance of recognizing a Jewish idea of Aliyat Ha-Dorot.