As we noticed above, Moses was born in 1135. The Almoravides — i.e. men devoted to the service of God — who were then the masters of IMohammedan Spain [see Mohammedans"], like the Oniniiades, were tolerant and kind to the Jews. But just at this time the power of the Almoravides was fast declining, and by the middle of the 12th century the A4mohades, a ffinatical IMoham- medan sect [see Ihn-Tlmakt], landing in Southern Spain, soon gained the upper hand, and superseded the Almoravides altogether. With the accession of these Almohades to power in Southern Spain begins a new
chapter in the history of the Jews. On the Seine, on the Bhine, on the Danube, and in the steppes of Africa and Southern Spain, '• as if by previous arrangement, a bloody chase was now inaugurated, in the name of re- ligion, against the Hebrew tribe both by Mohamme- dans and Christians, quite unmindful of the fact that whatever of the good and Godlike had found a place in their confession had been derived from the teachings of this very tribe. Hitherto persecutions of the Jew had been only occasional; with the year 1140 they begin to be more frequent, usual, consequent, and severe, as if to make the period in which the light of intelhgencc be- gan to dawn among men surpass in inhumanity the days of dark barbarism" (Griitz, vi, 175). In that part of Spain controlled by the Almohades no other religion than that of the Crescent Avas to be tolerated, and Jew and Christian alike were obliged either to alijure the faith of their fathers or to quit the country within a month. To remain and yet to adhere faithfully to the teachings of the Old or New Testament was to incur the penalty of death. Maimonides's family, like many oth- ers to whom emigration was weU-nigh impossible, em- braced the Mohammedan faith, or rather, for the time being, renounced the public profession of Judaism, all the while, however, remaining faithful to it in secret, and keeping up a close communication with their co-relig- ionists abroad (compare Carmoly, ^4 nnalen, 1839, p. 395 sq.; Munk, Archives Israelites, 1851, p. 319 sq.). For more than sixteen years Maimonides thus lived, to- gether with his family, under the assumed character of Mohammedans; but when the death of the reigning sovereign brought no change in the system of religious intolerance, they, with the greater part of the Jewish community, resolved to emigrate and travel about, as he himself tells us, " by land and by sea," without finding a resting-place for the sole of his foot. Their first land- ing-place was Acco, in Palestine ; from thence they went via Jerusalem to Cairo ; then to Hebron, and next into Egypt, stopping first a short time at Alexandria, but final- ly settling at Fostat (compare Israelit. A nnalen, 1840, p. 45 sq.). On their journey Maimonides had lost his fa- ther (at Cairo), and, to earn a livelihood for his father's household, he engaged with his j-ounger brother in the jewelrj^ trade; the care of the business mainly falling to David, while Moses devoted most of his time to lit- erary pursuits and to the study of medicme, which he aftenvards practiced, and in wliich profession he attained to great eminence.
Life and Labors. — During his boyhood, Moses IMai- monides is said to have manifested anything but a prom- ise of those great abilities which were unfolded in his manhood. He was indolent, and so disinclined to study that his father sent him, at a very early age, from his paternal roof. During his absence from home, however, an earnest desire for knowledge was manifested by him, and, by study and intercourse with learned co-religionists and Arabians, he acquired a great treasure of knowledge in the different provinces of science, which his clear, penetrating, and methodical mind mastered witli a mar- vellous power. An elegant oration, delivered by him at I'ourteen, reconciled father and son. Acquainted with all the writings of ancient philosophers, he became the most eminent of his age. He was an able mathematician and metaphysician. When only 23 years old (1 158), he proved the possession of extraordinary po-\vers of compre- hension and elucidation in a treatise on the Jewish calen- dar, based on astronomical principles ("il^m "pau;!!), which he composed for a friend. In the same year also, whilst wandering about from place to ]ilacc, and deprived of the aid of a library, he yet began his stupendous Com- mentary on the Mishna (r"^:w"2n t^1"|iS). At this time also (.ibout 1160) he composed the Letter on Relig- ious rei-seciition ("I"2il'ri ri'l5X),or.4 Treatise on G loii- ft/inff God {CCit UJIT^p "I -Sf^)— i.e. by suffering mar- tyrdom— a most ingenious plea for those who have not
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the courage to lay down life for their religion, and who, having outwardly renounced their faith, continue secret- ly to practice it — which was provoked by the attack of a zealous co-religionist against Moses's public profession of Mohammedanism and private devotion to Judaism. (It was published by Geiger, 3Iuses beti-3fuimon, part i [Bresl. 1850].) The sudden loss of his brother David and of their possessions threw upon Moses the responsi- bility of providing alone for his own, his father's, and his brother's family. Without means to continue in mer- cantile life, he now entered the medical profession ; at the same time he also delivered lectures on philosophy. But his mind was mainly upon the work in which he had engaged years ago. Neither misfortune, nor bod- ily inlirmities, nor even misinterpretation, could turn Moses Maimonides from the goal he was striving to reach. He had assigned to himself the task of harmo- nizing religion with science, Judaism with philosophy; to exhibit Judaism in such a light that it might be- come not only endeared to its thinking adherents, but that it might claim the respect also of other religionists, and even of philosophers; and though the wants of so many dependent upon him obliged him to labor assidu- ously as a physician, he yet found time for the comple- tion of his commentary on the Mishna, and, in 1108, tiually brought it before the public untler the title The Book of Light (Arabic JSIobx 3XnD, Hebrew "ISO "lIXTin). This remarkable production, which he wrote in Arabic (for editions, see below), is designed to simplify the study of the exposition of the Law or Pentateuch, handed down by tradition, rendered exceedingly diffi- cult by the super-commentaries and discussions which had accumulated thereon since the close of the Mishna to the days of IMaimonides. It is preceded by a general elaborate introduction, in which he discourses on the true nature of prophecy, shows its relationship to the law given on Sinai, treats of the figurative language oc- curring in the Pentateuch and the Prophets, etc. In the special introduction to the Tract Sanhedrim he, for the first time, defined and formally laid down the Jew- ish creed (see our article Judaism, in vol. iv, p. 1057). In consequence of this work — which has now for more than 500 years been deemed so essential a part of the Talmud itself that no edition of the latter is considered complete without it — Maimonides gradually became the great oracle in aU matters of religion. He was appealed to (in 1175) by the Jews from different parts of the world for his opinion on difficulties connected with the law, and in 1177 was called to the rabbiship of Raheia.