Picture of the author
Picture of the author

Rambam: Introduction Part 3

The Rambam Describes the Mission Statement of His Mishneh Torah

1 hr 17 min

Class Summary:

This class by Rabbi YY Jacobson was presented Monday, 21 Tammuz, 5780, July 13, 2020

Please leave your comment below!

  • YS

    Yehudit Spero -2 years ago

    Doesn't Rabbi YY have a Rambam Yomi series?

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • B

    ben -3 years ago

    why did the Rabbonim have to institute candle lighting if Sarah started the custom?

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • YK

    Yossi Klein -3 years ago

    One Chapter a Day Cycle

    If one is following the cycle of learning One Chapter a day, isnt Thursday - Shabbos the Lo Sasei of sefer H'Mitzvos?

    I see Rabbi YY class is scheduled as recording live on Yesodei Hatorah Ch 1.

    Is he going ahead of the scheduled cycle? 

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

    • I

      isaac -3 years ago

      Yes, he is going a few days ahead.

      Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • MZ

    Mendel Zilberberg -3 years ago

    The significance of the Rambam's codification of Torah

    With respect to  the comment asked about the Rambam 

    Aside from the obvious it may be helpful to note that :

     If anyone has any question as to its significance, consider thinking how even in this day of ArtScroll, when finishing daf yomi on Shabbos ( Considering that there are probably more people who learn the daf today then there were people learning at the time of the Rambam) which laws are remembered from the Talmud - how many people can list the 39 avos melachos. Thereafter,  line them up against people who learned Rambam yomi hilchos Shabbos -- ask them which laws they learned from the Rambam or how many avos melachos they can list.  Consider that (when asdking this question today ) this is a time when we actually have Shulchan Oruch, Rave Shulchan Oruch, Mishna Berurah, Oruch Hashulchan, Shmiras Shabbos K’Hilchasa, Kitzur, Chayey Adam, and the list goes on.  

    In addition, Historically, the Rambam was arguably the tip of the spear against Karaim - whose rules were clearly set forth in the Torah 

     and arguably the Mishneh Torah was exactly what was needed to set forth and explain our Code of Torah Law incorporating the Talmud

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • R

    ruth -3 years ago

    I really loved the Rambam shuir this morning !  Yashar kochacha. Such latitude , such depth and all the nuanced insights ....and this is just the introduction ! 
     
    The shiurim and words of chizuk and resounding teachings help so so much ....todah rabba meod meod again .... 

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • SM

    SaraMalka Margolis -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    My question, although perhaps indirectly related, came about after your discussion that the Rambam intended that the Tanach and his Mishneh Torah would be the only texts that a Jew needs. Considering that discussion and everything else that is relevant, what is the best text to use when 1) studying Mishnayos in the merit of a departed soul at its first Yahrtzeit and subsequently for the benefit of an aliyah for the soul and 2) for a recently departed soul, studying Mishnayos in the merit of a fast and easy aliyah to Gan Eden for the soul? Thank you, Rabbi Jacobson. All the best, Sara Malka (“SaraMalka & Larry” on your Zoom classes)

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • S

    Sara -3 years ago

    Gds sense of humor...

    We Jews are never satisfied.  We question, We discuss, We decpher. I guess that's a good thing. Gd made sure of it. 😇

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • AL

    a l -3 years ago

    the sound quality of these classes could be improved. perhaps the mic is not on the rabbis jacket lapel

    please .

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

    • A

      Aharon -3 years ago

      sound excellent here.  perhaps a problem w/your own computer or speaker etc

      Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    "After my MT you don't need anything else"

    Sounds a bit arrogant, no? Even tho the MT was unprecedented and gigantic. I guess Yosef Karo didn't agree.  Even the Alter Rebbe.  Or the Chofetz Chaim. Etc. 

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    Later on in the MT Rambam lays out an entire encyclopedia of laws

    At that time, circa 1200, by contrast, in England, the source of English common law for American law, when one person claimed another owed him money, i.e. a court case, they "settled"  it by getting on their horses with long spears and the survivor of the joust "won" the court case!. The earliest semblance of written organized laws in England were the Blackstone commentaries in the 1600s!

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • SM

    Sara Metzger -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    What you read about what Rambam says about his times when people were stressed, financially and for other reasons as well as people not "getting it", learning etc sounds a lot like 2020.

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    Moshe Rabbenu received the Oral Torah in which there

    Was ONLY one opinion. He didn't teach this way and that way. By the time of R. Yehuda nanasi writing the mishna, even tho all the yidden were close together, discrepancies in the law had crept in. 

      So in the mishna  there was: "This one says X and that one says Y". 2 points along a spectrum. R. Yehuda hanasi wrote the range of  opinion as it was at that time.    He  FROZE the parameters of the discrepancy as of that time  so that more discrepancies could not occur beyond those parameters in  the mishna. 

      

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • A

    Alizah -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    Were there not groups that did not and still do not accept the learning of the Rambam. Please also list the time of the classes in Israel for those of us here in Israel. Beitar Illit Israel

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • A

    Alizah -3 years ago

    Question for Rabbi YY

    Were there not groups that did not and still do not accept the learning of the Rambam. Please also list the time of the classes in Israel for those of us here in Israel. Beitar Illit Israel

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

    • M

      Moshe -3 years ago

      Aliza.Take the EST and add 7 

      Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • B

    Benzi -3 years ago

    one bet din canceling what another one decrees

    I think you said yesterday that after the Talmud was closed by Rav Ashi, no bet din could make a decree affecting all communities, and what one bet din decreed was not necessarily binding on another. But don't we have a rule that a bet din can cancel another bet din's ruling if the latter bet din is greater than the earlier one?

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    The Rambam's mesorah and the Kuzari

    The Rambam gives us a solid chain of the Mesorah from Moshe and Sinai to Rav Ashi and the Bavli. Unlike other religions we have a solid chain of  tradition going back to the the founding event. 

      The Mishne Torah in essence extracts halachas from a cholent of discussion and  debate, not always conclusive with practical bottom line halacha, and organizes a meandering gemora.  For the first time  in  our history, about a millenia after the Talmud, he extracts clear halachas and organizes them for ready access by subject. 

       But, it appears the Rambam assumes that the reader already believes in  Hashem and in Mattan Torah.  

       The Kuzari, supposedly a fictional work about a historical fact of a debate that ultimately convinced the  king of the Kuzars to convert who then converted his nation (verified by  archeology recently), proves the fact of  Mattan Torah itself.

       So we have the Kuzari that proves Mattan Torah at Har Sinai  and the Rambam's mesorah that proves the chain of  tradition from Har Sinai down to the Talmud, which is he about to clarify conclusions  and organize coherently.  

      One is the overall subject, the other its contents.  

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • M

    Moshe -3 years ago

    No yid left behind?

    In a comment sunday I opined that there is no doubt that the national destiny for yidden (and the world) is Moshiach and the Geula. That's a  no brainer, it's one of Rambam's 13 principles..

      Its not  question of whether, but when. And we can hasten it collectively and  cumulatively.  

       I wasn't sure if that is also true for every single Jewish neshoma, tho it's a "beferesh" Avraham Fried song.  There are Rabbi fear mongers out there who quote gemoras about the eternal punishments for those who commit serious aveirahs.   

       Rabbi Yy corrected my doubt by saying that surely every yid will part of  the  geula, "no yid will be  left behind". 

      Is this true? 

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

Rambam Mishneh Torah

Rabbi YY Jacobson

  • July 13, 2020
  • |
  • 21 Tamuz 5780
  • |
  • 1274 views

Dedicated by Baruch Yosef Markoff, in honor of Fraydel bas Sarah and Aharon ben Sarah. May Hashem bless them with a complete refuah shelaimah and many more good, long, healthy, happy and lucid years. May they continue to grow in Torah and mitzvahs with great simcha and nachas

Related Classes

Please help us continue our work
Sign up to receive latest content by Rabbi YY

Join our WhatsApp Community

Ways to get content by Rabbi YY Jacobson
Connect now
Picture of the authorPicture of the author