Maimonides and the book that changed Judaism : secrets of the Guide for the Perplexed / Micah Goodman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goodman, Micah, author.

Standardized Title:

Sodotaṿ shel Moreh ha-nevukhim. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jewish philosophy.

Philosophy, Medieval.

Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204. Dalālat al-ḥāʼirīn.

Maimonides, Moses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (471 p.)

Edition:

English-language edition.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, [Pennsylvania] : The Jewish Publication Society, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A publishing sensation long at the top of the best-seller lists in Israel, the original Hebrew edition of Maimonides and the Book That Changed Judaism has been called the most successful book ever published in Israel on the preeminent medieval Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides. The works of Maimonides, particularly The Guide for the Perplexed, are reckoned among the fundamental texts that influenced all subsequent Jewish philosophy andalso proved to be highly influential in Christian and Islamic thought. Spanning subjects ranging from God, prophecy, miracles, revelation, and evil, to politics, messianism, reason in religion, and the therapeutic role of doubt, Maimonides and the Book That Changed Judaism elucidates the complex ideas of The Guide in remarkably clear and engaging prose. Drawing on his own experience as a central figure in the current Israeli renaissance of Jewish culture and spirituality, Micah Goodman brings Maimonides's masterwork into dialogue with the intellectual and spiritual worlds of twenty-first-century readers. Goodman contends that in Maimonides's view, the Torah's purpose is not to bring clarity about God but rather to make us realize that we do not understand God at all; not to resolve inscrutable religious issues but to give us insight into the true nature and purpose of our lives.

Contents:

Part I. God. 1. The God of Maimonides

2. Prophecy

3. Providence

4. Redemption

5. From negative theology to empowering humanity

Conclusion: The new religious hero

Part II. Torah. 6. Is the Torah divine?

7. Reasons for the commandments

8. Man and the Torah

9. The universality of the Torah

Conclusion: Rising to the level of understanding

Part III. Perplexity. 10. Contradictions

11. The creation of the world

12. Perplexity and God

13. The role of doubt

14. Halakhah and dogmatism

15. The crisis of reason

16. The crisis of tradition

17. From perplexity to mysticism and politics

18. Therapeutic perplexity

Conclusion: The purpose of life.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780827611986

0827611986

9780827611979

0827611978

OCLC:

904755023