Introduction & Sefer Madda (Book of Knowledge)

To introduce Sefer Madda—the opening book of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah – to someone unfamiliar, I’d frame it as the philosophical and theological foundation upon which the entire legal edifice of Jewish practice is built. It’s not just the first book chronologically; it’s the intellectual cornerstone. “Madda” means “knowledge,” and this book is devoted to the knowledge of God, Torah, and ethical living. Maimonides begins not with rituals or laws, but with the deepest questions: What does it mean to know God? What are the principles of faith? How should a person shape their character and pursue truth?

Sefer Madda sets the tone for the Mishneh Torah by asserting that law must be grounded in understanding. Maimonides doesn’t just want Jews to follow commandments—he wants them to grasp their purpose, internalize their values, and live with intellectual and moral clarity. It’s a book that speaks to philosophers, ethicists, and seekers as much as to jurists

Introduction and Sefer Madda (Book of Knowledge)

• Introduction
  • 3/1/25, Transmission of Oral Law – Maimonides starts by discussing the history of the Torah and rabbinic law, starting from Moses bringing the famed tablets down from Mt. Sinai, and writing out the original Torah scrolls – a copy of each of those being given to his disciple Joshua, and to the 71 elders of the Sanhedrin. He also notes that God gave Moses oral instruction on what it all meant. Here’s where it gets dicey for me. For forty generations, listed off, that instruction manual was transmitted orally and never written down. Certainly, opinions about it were, and various scholars authored books on different parts of it and their own personal views. But basically we had a mutli-century telephone game. The Chasidim address this, noting that each generation had hundreds, if not thousands, of followers of the designated elder who would help keep things straight. To me, that just seems like it’s more likely to cause chaos and misinterpretations rather than truing it up. Maimonides, however, was confident in his ability to suss out what’s accurate and what’s not, both from oral tradition and the various writings he had access to. I have my doubts.
  • 3/2/25, Positive Mitzvot – Those of you who’ve been paying attention for these last few years know that there are 613 mitzvot, or commandments, principles to live by, in the Torah. Maimonides wants to make sure we have the list present, but organized in a more sensible fashion rather than scattered throughout the pages of the Torah. So he starts by listing all the positive ones, the “Thou shalts”, and puts them together by topic. Starting with things like honoring and praying to God, sacrifices and other offerings, then moving on to family, community, work situations, etc. He attaches no commentary, this is simply a list of the 248 positive ones. Interesting to note that 40% of the mitzvot are positive, leaving 60% that we’ll get to tomorrow that are negative, the “Thou shalt nots”.
  • 3/3/25, Negative Mitzvot – As I said yesterday, this is still more or less intro stuff, with today being a listing in common language of the 365 “Thou shalt nots” of the Torah. At the beginning are dozens of prohibitions related to worshiping false gods, idols, etc., sacrifices, and various forms of magic. There are some one-offs that are interesting: a ban on living in Egypt; a ban on steps around the altar in the Temple (we had steps around ours in every Synagogue I think I’ve ever been in); never to put olive oil on a dish that’s prepared by a sinner; and more. I was momentarily captured by the prohibition on letting the “eternal flame” to be kept in each place of worship go out, rather than being a, to me, positive mitzvah of keeping it burning.
  • 3/4/25, Overview of Mishneh Torah Contents – It’s the Table of Contents, with an expanded outline, detailing what the key concepts will be in each of the fourteen volumes – Knowledge (unity of God, prohibition against idolatry), Love (practices and prayers), Seasons (festival specific practices), Women (marriage and marital relations), Holiness (forbidden food and sex), Specific Utterance (oaths and vows), Seeds (agriculture), Service (public sacrifices), Sacrifices (private sacrifices), Purity (ritual cleanliness), Torts (civil liability in physical damage cases), Acquistion (sales), Judgements (civil liability in financial cases), Judges (courts).
• Laws of the Foundations of the Torah
  • 3/5/25, Chapters 1-3 – Maimonides starts in on The Book of Knowledge. Chapter one is a definition of God. He asserts that there is only one Supreme Being, who is non-corporeal, and that while there may be other deities out there, what distinguishes them is that they are given corporeal form (and thus the practice of idolatry to a representation of their form). Chapter two acknowledges that while one should love God, they should also fear him, because any being of such magnitude must inspire some level of fear. It also defines the various levels of being – from the ranks of the angels, down to the lowliest mosquito. Chapter three describes the solar system, and discusses the “nine spheres” known – different from the nine planets we now know, as it includes the moon, sun, stars, and heaven as four of them.
  • 3/6/25, Chapters 4-6 posit that everything in creation is made of of the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, which are constantly in flux, have some level of interchange, and that no matter is ever lost. As things break down, die, or move, they change state, and/or return to a sort of repository of matter that’s maintained by God. Chapter 5 discusses whether keeping the faith or protecting life is the more important, and what circumstances compel the Jewish community one or the other direction. It also commands community support of the “I am Spartacus” approach when one member is confronted. Chapter 6 discusses the use of the seven holy names for God and why and when they are allowed to be uttered.
  • 3/7/25 – I’m putting a pause on this for the moment. Between Daf Yomi and 929 project readings, this is turning into just a bit too much of a time commitment on a daily basis. Since both of those have some time left to go, I’ll come back to this next cycle, or simply pick it up on my own without a cycle after one of those is done.
  • 8/27/25 – With the 929 Tanakh project closed as of yesterday, I’m returning to the Mishneh Torah. Since it’s mid-cycle, I’m not going to follow any sort of structured “this is how much to read today”, but simply cover a chapter or more depending on the depth of the content.
  • 8/28/25, Chapter 7 – We’re on the topic of prophets and prophecy. Maimonides posits that a real prophet receives the gift of prophecy direct from God, and in concert with the angels. A true prophet only sees prophecies after entering a meditative state – with positive energy, often with the assist of disciples playing music. A prophet who is sad or angry cannot see true visions. While others may have momentary flashes of foresight, those are not true prophecies.
  • 8/29/25, Chapter 8 – Moses is in the spotlight here. We all know he performed miracles – the parting of the sea, the manna from heaven, etc. The point of his miracles was not to impress, but rather of necessity – to escape, to survive. And we wouldn’t want to believe in him as a leader simply because of the performance of miracles – given the milieu of the time period, one might easily think he was performing sorcery rather than divine work. Rather, his leadership was codified by witnesses to his direct communication with God and the receiving of the Torah.
  • 8/30/25, Chapter 9 – In Deuteronomy it was established that the words of the Torah are immutable. They can’t be amended, altered, added to, or substracted from. In fact, it’s made clear that if any person, Jew or gentile, attempts to steer people away from following the laws of the Torah, he is to be considered a false prophet. While he can recommend actions that are inspired by the Torah but don’t contradict the actions it commands, he cannot if those actions would violate a Torah precept. Christianity and Islam, we’re looking at you.
  • 8/31/25, Chapter 10 – If a man claims to be a prophet, don’t ask him to perform miracles. He may just be using trickery, or even sorcery. Instead, ask him to predict the short-term future. And if he gets it right, ask him to do it again. Ask him over and over until you’re satisfied that his predictions always come true. Then you can trust his prophecy.
• Human Dispositions (De’ot)
  • 9/1/25, Chapter 1 – Maimonides declares that every person has multiple traits, and each trait falls on a spectrum – angry to calm, greedy to generous, ambitious to lazy, etc., etc. He further declares that no one should be ruled by any one of those traits at the extreme, and it’s always best to find your way to a midpoint balance, with deviations for when a situation calls for it. This all feels a bit obvious. Maybe it wasn’t back in the 12th century?
  • 9/2/25, Chapter 2 – It is human nature that when ill many people avoid the foods, drinks, or medicines that would make them better, instead opting for those that will not, or even make them worse. Harder to deal with is when the illness is mental, spiritual, ethical, moral – making choices that make things worse for themselves, often with no basis other than a belief based on lack of knowledge. The goal of a person’s loved ones and his community are to help guide him to a balanced perspective rather than the extremes. And you thought that the alt-left/right and Dunning-Kruger Effect were something new.
  • 9/3/25, Chapters 3-4 – In chapter 3, we discuss matters of desire, the usual sorts of things – money, sex, food and drink – although it is considered perfectly acceptable to sate those desires, it should always be done keeping in mind not just the sating of the desire, but the overall effect on one’s life and health, and that of the community around you. This will provide balance. In chapter 4, specific examples of behavior in this regard are covered. My favorite is the admonition to never eat and drink while walking around, but to take the time to sit, focus, and relax while eating and drinking.
  • 9/4/25, Chapter 5 – The focus in this chapter is on the behavior of Torah sages. They should eat and drink modestly, and at home, rather than out in public. It should be enough to satisfy the soul and obligations, not impulses and cravings, and never to excess. They should dress cleanly, neatly, and, again, modestly, and carry themselves erect, with dignity. And, too, they should keep themselves clean and well groomed. They should speak calmly and rationally, never getting carried away with emotion. And he should manage his affairs, his business, his finances, his home, and his family, with care and respect. One might wonder why only sages are held to this standard.
  • 9/5/25, Chapters 6-7 – This one’s going to be almost Twitter-like. Chapter 6 is about friends. Get good ones. Wise ones. Those who won’t lead you astray. Dump the other ones and don’t look back. If you see a friend or colleague is headed down the wrong path, say something, do something, help them back from the dark side. But don’t embarrass them. Chapter 7 is about gossip. Don’t. Period. Don’t.
• Torah Study
  • 9/6/25, Chapter 1 – All Jewish men are obligated to study Torah and Talmud. Women, children, and slaves are not, however, a man is required to begin to teach his sons Torah until they reach adulthood. Torah study is considered a priority over such things as dating and getting married, which are just distractions, you know. Here’s my question. If a man is required to study Torah and Talmud until he fully understands them, before getting married, and the study of Torah and Talmud is a lifelong endeavor… exactly when is he supposed to get around to marriage and family?
  • 9/7/25, Chapter 2 – Every village must have a Torah teacher for its children, and if they don’t, they either have to get one or be destroyed. Teachers must be married, to avoid the temptations of flirtations with a child’s parent of the opposite sex. Torah instruction begins at age six. The children are to be taught all day and into the evening, every day but the Sabbath, on which day they should stay at home and review the week’s materials. Maximum of 25 students per teacher, or up to 40 if the teacher has an assistant. Teachers who take breaks from teaching to perform other work, or leave the classroom, are to be punished. Well then.
  • 9/8/25, Chapter 3 – “Eat bread with salt, drink water in small measure, sleep on the ground, live a life of difficulty, and toil in Torah.” This sort of sums up Maimonides claimed philosophy of torah study. He goes further, admonishing that one shouldn’t stop studying torah even to perform a mitzvah or take care of daily tasks, unless there is no other option, no one else who can do those things for you. This has become a stereotype, particularly of Chasidic torah scholars, who neglect their families and their lives, claiming that torah trumps all. It’s also a bit hypocritical, given that Maimonides was wealthy, had servants to do things for him, and maintained his career as a polymath, physician, and astronomer.
  • 9/9/25, Chapter 4 – Teachers should only teach students who have either demonstrated they are on a righteous path, or whom are unknown. If a student has already demonstrated they are on a bad path, they should not be taught Torah until they have been brought back to the fold. Teachers and students should be seated at the same level, and no one should stand to speak unless all are standing – keeping a level of equality of discourse. Teachers should never act frivolously in front of their students, and students should never inquire about a teacher’s personal life outside the classroom. The reverse is also true, and no one should be forced to risk embarrassment. Not understanding a concept should also never be made to be the subject of embarrassment.
  • 9/10/25, Chapter 5 – Well this is a solid paean to self-importance. Although honoring one’s parents is commanded by the Torah, Maimonides declares that even more honor and respect is due to one’s Torah teacher. Even at the expense of your parents. He then goes into a litany of how to do so, enumerating things like how to sit in the glorious presence of your teacher, how to address him in person or talk about him to others, even to the point of never making your own conclusions if you are within “12 mil” (a little over half a mile or just under a kilometer) of your teacher.
  • 9/11/25, Chapter 6 – First, If you encounter a sage, a wise, elder, Torah scholar, they are due the same deference and respect that you’d give your own teacher. Even if they are someone you disagree with and your teacher disagrees with, they have earned that fundamental respect. Second, if your teacher places a “ban of ostracism” on someone all his students are required to observe that ban, no matter their personal feelings on the matter. This is followed by a list of 24 acceptable reasons for a teacher to place such a ban on someone.
  • 9/12/25, Chapter 7 – If a Torah scholar behaves in a manner unbecoming, to the level where a panel, or court, of rabbis needs to be consulted about his actions, they should a) try to avoid having to deal with the matter, but b) if they are forced into a corner and have to, they should hear the arguments privately, his trial should never be public, and c) if they impose a ban of ostracism or excommunication on him, it should be done privately as well, and let him… well, slink away into the night, so to speak. If there’s a time limit on the ban, or a remedy to be reinstated, that, too, should all be done in secret, so he can return to his position without shame. More wagon circling to finish off the section on Torah Study!
• Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations
  • 9/13/25, Chapter 1 – Starting from the premise that God created the heavens with stars, elevated into exalted positions, people began to worship those stars. Charlatans, false prophets, encouraged such worship, turning it into businesses that lined their pockets with whatever the currency of the day was. It was not until Abraham, at age 40, after searching for the truth, discovered the path to God, and began to teach it. Through him and his descendants, the Jewish faith was founded and followed the path of God, until… well, Egyptians, and their false gods, and Jews started to worship them, and it all got messy, and then we got Moses, who began to lead us back to the right path.
  • 9/14/25, Chapter 2 – I’m keeping in mind that Maimonides was “just” an interpreter of Torah and Talmud, not an authority, albeit many give him more weight than that, and also noting the time period in which he wrote, the Middle Ages, with Christianity in the ascendant. So when he writes about worshipping the one and only, indivisible God directly, and not through any intermediaries, like stars, sun, moon, elementals, spheres, angels, or any other entity who was created by and/or is purported to represent or be a part of God… you know what/who he’s referring to, but probably couldn’t say in plain language.
  • 9/15/25, Chapter 3 – We know from past readings that worshipping another god is forbidden in the Torah and Talmud. The actions of bowing, sacrificing, offerings, and libations are singled out. If done intentionally to placate or curry favor with another god, the actions are punishable by death, if done without such intent, they require a Temple sacrifice. In long standard “fence around the Torah” reasoning, actions like bending over to pick something up while in front of a deity’s statue are forbidden because they might seem like bowing to the statue, etc. And further, no decorative items in the form of a god or human should be placed in the home, as someone might construe them to be related to a deity’s worship.
  • 9/16/25, Chapter 4 – The Rambam explores the rules for punishing a city for heading down the wrong path. First off, there must have been a minimum of two false prophets or leaders who convinced the populace to stray from God’s laws. Second, a majority of the city’s population must have followed them down the dark path, and that majority has to be at least 100 people – small villages appear to be exempt. The punishments? The false prophets get stoned to death, and the entire populace’s wealth is burned as a repentant sacrifice, even the property of those who didn’t stray. Talk about civic responsibility….
  • 9/17/25, Chapter 5 – Maimonides recommends both informing on and entrapment of false prophets. If someone approaches you and urges you to worship another god, rather that simply refusing, intimate that you have a friend or two who would also be interested in hearing about this. Why? Because the court will require two witnesses to testify against him, so that it’s not a he said – he said situation. The punishment for trying to convince someone to worship another god? Death by stoning.
  • 9/18/25, Chapter 6 – I’m rapidly becoming aware that Maimonides was a bit of a pedant when it came to what he perceived as the rules and how they’re to be followed. Deviations are simply not permitted in his view. A lot of this feels a bit hypocritical, given what we know of his life, where, at least my sense is, he probably didn’t keep a lot of these rules himself. Today we are admonished, in essence, not to participate in seances or similar paranormal rituals, not to firewalk if anyone might think we’re doing it in the name of the deity Moloch, but otherwise it’s okay, not to prostrate ourselves on the ground without a mat between us and the earth, and that any porches on Temple grounds must be made of stone, not wood, which is what a home’s porch should be made of. Violations, are, of course, punishable by being stoned to death.
  • 9/19/25, Chapter 7 – The upshot of this chapter is that we are commanded, as a positive mitzvah, to seek out and destroy the idols and objects of false worship, i.e., that of other gods, or even idols that are purported to represent the one true God. However, this only applies within the bonds of Israel, those in the diaspora are not enjoined to do so. Let the gentiles have their delusions in their own countries and all that. Then there’s a lot about what to do with all the scrap metal and materials from the idols that gets all very technical.
  • 9/20/25, Chapter 8 – An object which is the object of worship for non-Jews may or may not be forbidden to be used by Jews for other, non-idolatrous purposes. Just because, for example, one religion worships a mountain, doesn’t mean that Jews are forbidden to make use of materials from the mountain. The inflection point is that if the object is naturally occurring, it can be used and benefited from, regardless of other religions’ uses. If, however, there is a human act involved – turning a natural object into an altar, or mounting it as an idol, then it becomes forbidden.
  • 9/21/25, Chapter 9 – Although there are more things covered in this chapter around interacting with gentiles and their idols, one that stands out, as it’s come up recently in our Talmud readings (Avodah Zarah pp 7-8), is the proscription against selling, or giving of objects to a gentile that might be used for idol worship, within a three day window either side of their holidays. Maimonides codifies this as specifically relating to “durable” objects, and not to those that are transient – perishable items, like food and drink, may be sold or gifted to gentiles during their festival periods.
  • 9/22/25, Chapter 10 – I’m really starting to dislike Maimonides. He takes passages from the Torah and builds them into really kind of hateful approaches to interacting with non-Jews. I mean… he offers that you can’t shove an idolatrous gentile into a pit or a fast flowing river, but if you see them fall in, you shouldn’t help them. If they require medical care, you shouldn’t give it, unless not doing so would put you or the community in danger, but then only for a fee, never for free. You can inquire about the well-being of a poor idolater, but never offer them well wishes or help. He’s the stereotype of Jews that ends up on X or Reddit or 4chan.
  • 9/23/25, Chapter 11 – This one’s easy. Don’t assimiliate. Don’t divine or tell fortunes. Don’t cast spells. Don’t hold seances or other methods of contacting the dead.
  • 9/24/25, Chapter 12 – There is so much here as this tractate finishes up. Much of it relates to whether women, hermaphrodites, or androgynous folk have to follow the same rules as men, and if they do, are there different punishments, and if men do the things that women do, are their punishments, and it’s all jumbled, and let’s just say that Maimonides was not a fan of crossing pretty rigid gender behavior lines, and that for the most part women get a pass on punishments but men don’t.
• Repentance
  • 9/25/25, Chapter 1 – Over the course of a short chapter, Maimonides enumerates various violations of Torah law that require repentance. He notes, repeatedly, that while there may be a prescribed sacrifice or punishment, up to and including being put to death, none of those achieve repentance. The only way to “get right” with God is confession. And before my Catholic friends start in with the “see, we were right”, he’s quite clear that confession involves a private conversation between the sinner and God, not to be heard by any intermediary.
  • 9/26/25, Chapter 2 – Maimonides asserts that one can be forgiven for all sins, even up to the moment of death, if you truly repent, to the point where you would never commit the sin again out of your actual commitment to never do so, and not because of fear or shame. Included in his scheme or repentance, acknowledging your wrong-doing, committing to never doing it again, removing oneself from the temptation to do it again, perhaps even moving away or changing your name to become a different person.
  • 9/27/25, Chapter 3 – The focus for me is on minims and epicursims. The former are people who either don’t believe in God, believe there are other gods of equal import, believe that God has a corporeal form, don’t believe he created the world, or worship him through idols or stars or other intermediaries. The latter are those who deny the Torah, or prophecies, or direct human communication with God, deny Moses’ teachings, deny that God is cognizant of human activities, or replace the Torah with another holy book (specified, Muslims and Christians). Punishments, excommunications, etc. are called for.
  • 9/28/25, Chapter 4 – In this chapter, the Rambam enumerates 24 sins which require repentance in order to be forgiven. He breaks them down into four severe sins, mostly related to intentionally rejecting God’s path; five that throw up blocks to one’s path to God; five that have no real way to repent them; five that it’s simply unlikely the person will ever repent them; and five that are likely to be committed over and over again, regardless of repentance. I’d note that he pretty much covers all common human foibles and behaviors, and it’s unlikely there exists someone who doesn’t commit one or more of these at some point in their life.
  • 9/29/25, Chapter 5 – Maimonides is a firm believer in free will, and trashes the idea (which he attributes mostly to gentiles and/or uneducated people) of individual determinism. In his view, God has no predetermined knowledge or intention of an individual’s actions or fate, he opens up all possibilities and each human makes their own choices. God may be all knowledgeable about past and present, but the Rambam does not grant him omniscience about the future. I can get behind this one.
  • 9/30/25, Chapter 6 – Maimonides suggests that for those who don’t repent their idolatrous behavior, that God will take retribution on them, their possessions, and their minor children. While he acknowledges that Judaism traditionally doesn’t believe in children being responsible for the sins of their parents, he notes that that is for adult children, who are capable of making their own legal and moral decisions. But minor children are just possessions, like any other possessions, and therefore, they’re fair game.
  • 10/1/25, Chapter 7 – Although our sagacious writer wends his way through various important tasks of life in this chapter, it all boils down to one, well known dictum – “live each day as if it was your last”. In his view, make sure to keep your things in order, repent sins in a timely manner, do the right thing – day in and day out. Because you never know when it’s your last moment on earth, and you want to be right with God when you show up in front of him.
  • 10/2/25, Chapter 8 – Maimonides view of the afterlife seems a bit of a stretch from the source material he quotes and reinterprets. From hazy poetry in Song of Songs to prophetic visions of Isaiah and others, he’s come up with a vision of a good heaven of no eating, drinking, or sexual relations, instead, sitting around with a metaphorical crown on our heads basking in God’s radiance, versus a bad afterlife for those undeserving, of beastly behavior of… I think… eating, drinking, and sexual relations. He’s not making a very compelling case. And then he throws off some shade on Arabs, who, he claims, all engage in indulgent behaviors and are, presumably, damned.
  • 10/3/25, Chapter 9 – If one follows the way of Torah and is righteous, one will have health, wealth, a good life, and, a place in Heaven. If one strays from the path, one will not. So says Maimonides, which obviously begs many questions, like what about righteous people who are poor, destitute, or have debilitating illnesses or injuries; or, wicked people who live lives of luxury. Sure, maybe in the afterlife that gets sorted out, but then why the proclamation about how life will be, when it’s obviously not the case? Methinks he lived in a bit of a privileged bubble.
  • 10/4/25, Chapter 10 – The truly righteous follow the ways of the Torah, and God, out of love, respect, and commitment. The common folk, Maimonides suggests with a touch of a sneer, if they follow the ways of Torah and God, do so out of fear. Personally, if that were to be true, I’d lay the blame on people like him, and other arrogant Torah scholars who have made the situation fearful with threats of punishments rather than rewards. Nice way to wrap up the first book of the Mishneh Torah.

Go forward to Sefer Ahavah