Moses Maimonides Case

Like other prominent Jewish figures, Moses Maimonides’ remains a highly regarded and respected individual within the world of Judaism for his extensive contributions towards the Jewish community. The Guide to the Perplexed, Commentary on the Mishnah and the Mishneh Torah are three of his major literary works that have impacted the development and the expression of Judaism and the Jewish community.

The Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’ most prominent contribution to Judaism is essentially a guide to the entire system of Jewish Law. The conception of this major work was to facilitate the study of the Torah. As a result of this, the Torah became more of an accessible resource thus enabling Judaism to maintain its significant influence over the average Jewish adherent’s religious and lifestyle choices and beliefs whilst living within Islamic communities.

As well as the Mishneh Torah, the Commentary on the Mishnah is also considered one of Maimonides’ crucial benefactions to Judaism. The work’s primary purpose is to coherently define the meaning of each mitzvot (Jewish commandments - of which there are six-hundred and thirteen) outside of the context of Rabbinic discussion. This composition permitted easier access to the Torah by the average Jew.

A continuation on Maimonides’ contributions towards Judaism is his philosophical treatise - the Guide for the Perplexed. This work’s objective was to unite both religion and philosophy as to confirm Judaism’s compatibility with logic. Conclusive evidence indicates Maimonides was able to consolidate Judaism against the threat posed by Greek philosophy’s religious theories as a result of his composition of the Guide for the Perplexed.

Finally, Maimonides’ formulation of the 13 principles of Jewish Faith (Shloshah Asar Ikkarim, the "Thirteen Fundamental Principles") is considered vastly significant due to it being the basis and nature of many Jewish