A Maimonides Reader

By Maimonides

Book Overview

Get to know the key works of the influential twelfth-century Jewish philosopher all in a single volume.

The first-ever one-volume, English collection of Maimonides' basic writings. Includes major selections from the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides' great code of law, The Guide of the Perplexed, one of the most influential philosophical works of any time, along with essays, treatises, commentaries, and correspondence.

A lively and comprehensive introduction to a central figure in the history of Western and Jewish thought, this book will provide a deeper understanding of Maimonides with translations of the original text.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874412064
• ISBN13: 9780874412062
• Release Date: January 1972
• Publisher: Behrman House Publishing
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A good introductory anthology

This anthology is a very good introduction to the thought of the Rambam. It contains large sections from the 'Mishneh Torah' and 'The Guide to the Perplexed'. It also contains explanatory notes which better help understand the texts. For Rambam the highest aim of the religious life is attaining the intellectual love of God. He says in the 'Mishneh Torah' that when we perform certain precepts like putting on tefillin, or saying Shema we are helped in achieving the purpose of always loving God, and being ever mindful of Him.

Surely the best book of its kind.

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.

The best introduction to Maimonides by a living legend

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