Ordering the Law
Examine how the Mishneh Torah arranges the whole of Jewish law and why it opens with the knowledge of God.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Situating the text
Completed around 1178 in Fustat, the code was admired and contested from the start; critics such as Abraham ben David of Posquières objected to its omission of sources. It nonetheless became a foundation for later codification and commentary. This code restates the whole of Jewish law in fourteen books of clear Hebrew, from the foundations of belief and ethics to civil law, Temple service and kingship. It records rulings without their Talmudic debates so that a reader could learn the law from a single work.
Following the arguments
Book of Knowledge : The opening book places knowledge of God, moral dispositions and Torah study at the foundation of the whole legal order. Codification : Arranging laws by subject, without attributing opinions, makes the law accessible but raises questions of authority. Messianic age : The closing laws describe the messianic era as a political restoration within the natural order, not a suspension of nature.
Continuing the reading
Read the opening chapters of the Book of Knowledge, then compare one legal section with its Talmudic sources to see what the method leaves out. Completed around 1178 in Fustat, the code was admired and contested from the start; critics such as Abraham ben David of Posquières objected to its omission of sources. It nonetheless became a foundation for later codification and commentary.
The Mishneh Torah treats law as an ordered whole whose foundation is knowledge rather than mere obedience.
Your turn to think.
- What does a code gain and lose when it records rulings without their debates?
- Why does a legal work begin with metaphysics and ethics?
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