| Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, Practice Michael L. Satlow |
Discussion Questions:
1. Who were the mepharshim, and in what ways did they continue and depart from the activity of
their predecessors?
2. How did the Islamic culture of Andalusia shape the activities and understandings of the Jews who
lived there?
3. How did Judah HaLevi's views draw from and reflect his wider context?
4. How did HaLevi and Maimonides define what it meant to be a Jew?
5. Did Maimonides convert to Islam?
6. What is innovative and distinctive about Maimonides's Mishneh Torah? Why did he write it?
7. For Maimonides, what role does the study of philosophy (e.g., secular knowledge) play in
religious devotion?
Resources
There is an enormous and rich literature on Andalusia, Andalusian Jews, and Maimonides
specifically. The standard introduction to the Jews of medieval Spain is Yitzhak Baer, A History of
the Jews in Christian Spain, trans. Louis Schoffman (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society,
1961), although it is dated and focuses on the experience in Christian Spain. More recent
discussions include Jane S. Gerber, The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience
(New York: Free, 1992); and Raymond P. Scheindlin, Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew
Poems on the Good Life (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1986). Scheindlin also has an
excellent essay, “Merchants and Intellectuals, Rabbis and Poets: Judeo-Arabic Culture in the
Golden Age of Islam,” in Biale, Cultures of the Jews, pp. 313–386. Maria Rosa Menocal, The
Ornament of the Word: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in
Medieval Spain (Boston: Little, Brown, 2002), paints a beautiful portrait of cultural and religious
interaction in Andalusia.
My readings of Maimonides’ philosophy have been most influenced by the various works of
Menahem Kellner, especially Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People, SUNY Series in
Jewish Philosophy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), and Must a Jew Believe
Anything? Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization,
1999). Isadore Twersky’s work on Maimonides’ legal writings remains fundamental. See especially
Isadore Twersky, Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah), Yale Judaica Series 22
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980). For translations of Maimonides’ writings, the main
sources are Isadore Twersky, ed., A Maimonides Reader (New York: Behrman House, 1972); and
Shlomo Pines, ed. and trans., The Guide of the Perplexed, 2 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1963). The Mishneh Torah is translated in the Yale Judaica Series.
Multimedia Resources
1. Who were the mepharshim, and in what ways did they continue and depart from the activity of
their predecessors?
2. How did the Islamic culture of Andalusia shape the activities and understandings of the Jews who
lived there?
3. How did Judah HaLevi's views draw from and reflect his wider context?
4. How did HaLevi and Maimonides define what it meant to be a Jew?
5. Did Maimonides convert to Islam?
6. What is innovative and distinctive about Maimonides's Mishneh Torah? Why did he write it?
7. For Maimonides, what role does the study of philosophy (e.g., secular knowledge) play in
religious devotion?
Resources
There is an enormous and rich literature on Andalusia, Andalusian Jews, and Maimonides
specifically. The standard introduction to the Jews of medieval Spain is Yitzhak Baer, A History of
the Jews in Christian Spain, trans. Louis Schoffman (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society,
1961), although it is dated and focuses on the experience in Christian Spain. More recent
discussions include Jane S. Gerber, The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience
(New York: Free, 1992); and Raymond P. Scheindlin, Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew
Poems on the Good Life (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1986). Scheindlin also has an
excellent essay, “Merchants and Intellectuals, Rabbis and Poets: Judeo-Arabic Culture in the
Golden Age of Islam,” in Biale, Cultures of the Jews, pp. 313–386. Maria Rosa Menocal, The
Ornament of the Word: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in
Medieval Spain (Boston: Little, Brown, 2002), paints a beautiful portrait of cultural and religious
interaction in Andalusia.
My readings of Maimonides’ philosophy have been most influenced by the various works of
Menahem Kellner, especially Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People, SUNY Series in
Jewish Philosophy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), and Must a Jew Believe
Anything? Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization,
1999). Isadore Twersky’s work on Maimonides’ legal writings remains fundamental. See especially
Isadore Twersky, Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah), Yale Judaica Series 22
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980). For translations of Maimonides’ writings, the main
sources are Isadore Twersky, ed., A Maimonides Reader (New York: Behrman House, 1972); and
Shlomo Pines, ed. and trans., The Guide of the Perplexed, 2 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1963). The Mishneh Torah is translated in the Yale Judaica Series.
Multimedia Resources
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