Maimonides: A Biography

Editorial Review:

Heschel's classic work on Maimonides, originally published in Berlin during the thirties, in one of the few scholarly biographies available of the great medieval philosopher.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Excellent - a HIDDEN GEM:

This is a scholarly and well researched biography of Maimonides that demonstrates the author's broad and deep grasp of the Maimonidean ouevre. The author is attuned to all the choicy pieces in the commentary on the Mishna, the Guide as well as the Yad. For example, on Avos 4:4 his quote of Aristotle; in Mikvaos 4:4 his attack on a prominent personality [that Heschel claims is the Rif, a claim I have not been able to verify]. Heschel's grasp of the political and historical backdrop is also remarkable. The... more info

A rare view of the young rabbi:

Readers of other works by Rabbi Heschel are likely to be surprised by this volume; it is not written in his usual poetic, epigrammatic style. While some of this may be due to Heschel's relative youth at the time of writing, it is also the product of a different translation process, done after Heschel's death. The introductory notes to the book explain how this came about, and in the process provide interesting insights on the older Heschel's writing process.
This biography of Maimonides is one of... more info

Not well-written:

Rabbi Heschel may have been a great man, active in the civil rights movement and other just causes. His skill as a young writer and biographer seems lacking in this book though. Very drab and dry, it seems to bounce around way too often. One does not get a good feel for Maimonides and only a limited glance at the era in which he lived. I found little in this book that would encourage me to recommend it to others.

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