Title: Maimonides' grand epistle to the scholars of Lunel : ideology and rhetoric /
Authors: Sheer, Charles H.
Year: 2019
Subjects: Maimonides, Moses,; Correspondence (Maimonides, Moses); Responsa; Hebrew language Prosodic analysis.; Prosodic analysis (Linguistics); Jewish scholars France Lunel Correspondence.; Jewish scholars; Prosodic analysis (Linguistics); Responsa; France Lunel
Abstract: "When Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (Code of Jewish Law) reached Lunel, France, a group of scholars composed twenty-four objections to his positions. Surprisingly, Maimonides' rejoinder opened with an unusual rhymed prose epistle with effusive praise for his correspondents and artistic and complex language. In this book, Charles Sheer offers the first annotated translation of the entire epistle: he uncovers the biblical and midrashic passages modified by Maimonides that became the language of his Iggeret, and explicates its ideas in the context of Maimonides' other works and compositions of the late Middle Ages. He illustrates how Maimonides, in a most personal fashion, shared with these scholars his ideological struggle between his love for Torah study and "hokhmah" (philosophy, wisdom). This Grand Epistle reveals much about this towering figure and provides a moving portrait of him during his last decade"--
Contents: Introduction: Maimonides and the Lunel scholars -- The correspondence between Maimonides and French scholars -- 1. Maimonides' grand Iggeret in rhymed prose -- 2. The first half of the Iggeret in rhymed prose -- 3. Maimonides' unanticipated and problematic style reversal -- 4. Maimonides' letter to Judge Anatoli -- 5. The letters from R. Jonathan of Lunel -- 6. The second half of the Iggeret in unadorned prose -- 7. Maimonides and the Lunel scholars-reconsidered.