Jewish philosophy -- Early works to 1800; Judaism -- Works to 1900; Philosophy, Medieval -- Early works to 1800
however, you do not send her back, the Lord will punish you. Therefore
seek peace and pursue it; listen to what our Sages said: ‘Blessed be he
who restores to the owner his lost property’; for this blessing applies
in a higher degree to him who restores to a man his virtuous wife, the
crown of her husband.” Maimonides replied in the same strain, and
reproached his “son-in-law” that he falsely accused his wife of
faithlessness after he had neglected her; but he restored him his wife
with the advice to be more cautious in future. In another letter
Maimonides exhorts Ibn Aknin to study his works, adding, “apply
yourself to the study of the Law of Moses; do not neglect it, but, on
the contrary, devote to it the best and the most of your time, and if
you tell me that you do so, I am satisfied that you are on the right
way to eternal bliss.”
Of the letters written after the completion of the “Guide,” the one
addressed to the wise men of Marseilles (1194) is especially
noteworthy. Maimonides was asked to give his opinion on astrology. He
regretted in his reply that they were not yet in the possession of his
Mishneh Torah; they would have found in it the answer to their
question. According to his opinion, man should only believe what he can
grasp with his intellectual faculties, or perceive by his senses, or
what he can accept on trustworthy authority. Beyond this nothing should
be believed. Astrological statements, not being founded on any of these
three sources of knowledge, must be rejected. He had himself studied
astrology, and was convinced that it was no science at all. If some
dicta be found in the Talmud which appear to represent astrology as a
true source of knowledge, these may either be referred to the rejected
opinion of a small minority, or may have an allegorical meaning, but
they are by no means forcible enough to set aside principles based on
logical proof.
The debility of which Maimonides so frequently complained in his
correspondence, gradually increased, and he died, in his seventieth
year, on the 20th Tebeth, 4965 (1204). His death was the cause of great
mourning to all Jews. In Fostat a mourning of three days was kept; in
Jerusalem a fast was appointed; a portion of the tochaḥah (Lev. xxvi.
or Deut. xxix.) was read, and also the history of the capture of the
Ark by the Philistines (1 Sam. iv.). His remains were brought to
Tiberias. The general regard in which Maimonides was held, both by his
contemporaries and by succeeding generations, has been expressed in the
popular saying: “From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses.”
THE MOREH NEBUCHIM LITERATURE
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