Doctor of Laws

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Nuland's chapter on Jews and medicine that opens the book is worth the price of the volume. He meditates on the powerful connections between the medical profession and the Jewish people, a relationship that predates the modern age. Jews traveled, knew many languages, and had a practical, detail-oriented approach to problems, a legacy of Talmudic training. Religious eminence was enhanced by medical skill: "It has been estimated," writes Nuland, "that during the Arabic period, approximately half the Jewish doctors were rabbis. It should not be forgotten that the word rabbi derives from the Hebrew rav, meaning `teacher'; `doctor' derives from the Latin verb docere, meaning `to teach.' "

Maimonides grew to become one of the most prominent doctors of the Middle Ages, his name linked with other great medieval physicians such as Avicenna and Averroes, who like Maimonides were also great philosophers. His medical endeavors meshed well with his rationalism: While acknowledging the place of prayer, Maimonides condemned astrology and magical incantations. In outlawing the practice of waving the Torah scroll over a sick person to heal them, Maimonides wrote: "They think of the words of the Torah as a healing for the body, but it is not. It is a healing for the soul."

Such a mind is not always matched by an understanding heart. But Maimonides' humanity may be seen in his beautiful letter to Ovadia, who converted to Judaism and wrote to ask if he was allowed to say "Our God and God of our fathers," since he was not genealogically Jewish. Maimonides responds in part:

"Yes, you may say these words in the prescribed order and not change them in the least...There is no difference between you and us...Do not consider your origin as inferior. While we are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you derive from Him through whose word the world was created. As it said by Isaiah, "One shall say 'I am the Lord's and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob. (Is. 44:5)'"

Such an extraordinary personality has drawn, as one might expect, oceans of ink and libraries of books exploring his life and works. There is no "best" book on Maimonides; but Sherwin Nuland's new biography is concise, thoughtful, informed, and altogether as fine an introduction to this monumental personality as the modern reader could wish. He writes engagingly, willing both to challenge Maimonides' judgment and to confess to his own limitations of understanding, which are natural when evaluating the life and work of a multifaceted medieval sage.

The medical side of Maimonides' career, which is quite interesting, is covered well. His career as a halachist, a major figure in Jewish law, is less thoroughly covered. The relative weaknesses of this section of the book stem not only from Nuland's greater affinity for medical topics, but because to properly explain Maimonides' legal contributions would require the reader to have a fairly extensive background in the workings of Jewish law. Those wishing more detail might look to the works of Isadore Twersky, David Hartman, or Marvin Fox, some of Maimonides' most distinguished modern interpreters. Nuland himself gives a very helpful bibliography at the end of the book.

Maimonides was a universal mind, encompassing as much of the world as anyone of his time. His life contains a powerful double lesson for the modern age. In his temperate rationalism, he shines as an opponent of blinkered religious narrowness and anti-rationalism. In imagining the messianic age, unlike so many before or since, he did not picture retribution, or chauvinistic imperialism, but rather a peaceful world. One wonders how many religious leaders today would express themselves in words like these, written almost 900 years ago, in which there breathes a spirit as exalted as it is powerful:

"The sages and prophets did not long for the days of the Messiah that Israel might exercise dominion in the world, or rule over the heathens, or be exalted by the nations, or that it might eat and drink and rejoice...There will be neither famine nor war, nor jealousy nor strife. In that time 'The earth shall be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' (Isaiah 11:9)."

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