Maimonides (Jewish Encounters) | 
 enlarge | Author: Sherwin B. Nuland
Publisher: Schocken
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 251596
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1 Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0805211500
Dewey Decimal Number: 200
EAN: 9780805211504
ASIN: 0805211500
Publication Date: August 26, 2008
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Product Description
Sherwin B. Nuland—best-selling author of How We Die—focuses his surgeon’s eye and writer’s pen on this greatest of rabbis, most intriguing of Jewish philosophers, and most honored of Jewish doctors.
Moses Maimonides was a Renaissance man before there was a Renaissance: a great physician, a dazzling Torah scholar, a daring philosopher. Eight hundred years after his death, his notions about God, faith, the afterlife, and the Messiah still stir debate; his life as a physician still inspires; and the enigmas of his character still fascinate. Nuland's portrait of Maimonides that makes his life, his times, and his thought accessible to the general reader as they have never been before.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Good read, bad scholarship September 14, 2008
It's an interesting read, but Nuland cites absolutely no sources, a problem when you have a subject with as much scholarship - much of it conflicted - as there is on Maimonides. One spot where this actually leads to him to make a pretty egregious error is when he cites the Maimonidean 13 'principles of faith.' Nuland correctly states that Maimonides writes these principles in his mishnaic commentary, but he then proceeds to give a word for word translation of a watered down version of these principles that appears in all Orthodox prayer books. This is highly problematic because the anonymously authored (not by Maimonides!) prayerbook version often inaccurately summarizes or even 'censors' Maimonides' statements in his commentary, and Nuland doesn't even bother noting that or even crediting the anonymous author as a source! He disingenuously makes it appear that this is his own correct paraphrase of Maimonides' formulation - a total inaccurate impression. I find this an alarming sign of Nuland's lack of in-depth research or even understanding of this important topic. I would not recommend this book to anyone who wishes to actually understand Maimonides' life and works.
 Mediocre Biography November 23, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Maimonidies' two biggest contributions to civilization were his religious writings, and medical practice. As author Sherwin Nuland himself points out, Maimonidies' truest, lasting legacy are his religious writings. Yet probably because he himself is a doctor, Sherwin Nuland emphasizes the medical Maimonidies at the expense of not giving the religious Maimonidies his proper due. When reading this book, Maimonidies sounded like quite an ordinary man, nothing special, and the truth is, as a doctor he was nothing special. Yet in religious circles, he is a giant. This specialness of Maimonidies was lost in this short biography of this great man.
A great guide to Dr. Rambam August 21, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The most interesting parts of this book focus on Maimonides the physician (as opposed to Maimonides the religious leader, where Nuland's discussion is a bit too sparse here and there). Maimonides (known to most Jews as Rambam) did not develop new medical knowledge, but wrote ten books synthesizing existing medical knowledge in a clear and concise way, and even occasionally criticizing the Greco-Roman masters whose works dominated medieval medicine. By the low standards of the Middle Ages, this passed for genius.
Nuland links Rambam's religious and medical careers by pointing out that in both areas, Rambam focused heavily on codifying existing knowledge in ways that would be easy for the public to use.
Nuland also engages in interesting speculation about a variety of other issues, including:
1. Why were Jews so likely to be doctors in the Middle Ages? Nuland asserts that (a) Christians were uninterested in medicine because they were more ascetic, (b) because priests could not take employment as doctors, the Christian talent pool for medicine was artificially diminished and (c) because Jews' wealth could easily be taken away, Jews had a strong incentive to seek portable skills (as opposed to investing in fixed assets such as land).
2. Why was Rambam so uninterested in accommodating or discussing competing religious views? Nuland speculates that because of Judaism's dire condition in those days (beset in persecution in some places and the temptation of assimilation into Islam in more tolerant places) Rambam may have felt the need to "circle the wagons" by encouraging as much uniformity as possible.
3. Why did Rambam (who generally opposed Messianic speculation) suggest in his letter to Yemenite Jews that prophecy might return in 1216? Nuland suggests that Rambam may have been trying to defang Messianic fever by setting a date so far in advance that he could not be disproven during his lifetime.
Fascinating brief introduction to an important thinker June 22, 2007
4 out of 12 found this review helpful
Nuland has accomplished the difficult task of summarizing Maimonides' complex writings in a way that is accessible to the common reader. Nuland's style is clear and concise, and he obviously admires Maimonides as a sort of Renaissance man before the Renaissance. It is true that the book gives considerable attention to Maimonides' life as a physician, but as someone who has dipped a bit into Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and thought but knew little of his place in medical history, I didn't see that as a problem. In fact, I found that that made this book even more enlightening.
I could have used more discussion of the Guide to the Perplexed, however, beyond the notions that the book is difficult and that some see it as a hidden confession by Maimonides of his lack of belief (an unlikely hypothesis). The Guide is an extraordinarily fascinating book, from all I understand, and Nuland does not do it justice.
 mr. February 27, 2007
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
it shows you right way about life
i think it is possible to adopt it to today.
it was very interesting book for me.
it is the kind of book that i always enjoy reading
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