Rambam
Jewish Philosopher Episode #1
Welcome back (In the Welcome Back Cotter melody…am I dating myself?). After a looooooooong holiday period, we are finally recording a new episode for the first time in a month. And do we have a barn burner for you!!!!!
But first, here are a couple of quick updates about the show:
When we started the show, we began by splitting the episodes into cultural topics and Parsha discussion, but in case you haven't noticed, we only get to the Parsha about 50% of the time. So, to rectify that, we will start recording two episodes each week, one on the cultural topic and a second on the Parsha. We will wait a few weeks to restart the Parsha discussions since we are almost caught up to where we are and will start moving along as the good book does. So be on the lookout for two episodes each week soon.
We decided to start an edJEWcation book club. Here's how it will work: We will announce whatever book we will read a month before the episode, so if you want to read along with us, you'll be able to. Then, we'll discuss the book with an eye toward how Judaism would interpret some of its themes and meanings. I'm very excited about the list we have so far. Some of the books are books you'd expect, and some less so.
The first book we will read is The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal. Please send us your questions about the book or topics you'd like us to cover before we discuss it sometime in early December! We may even have a guest join us.
Finally, we are starting a new series about great Jewish thinkers that will cover the next several episodes. In our episode, we will discuss Maimonides, also known as Rambam.
In our discussion, we'll cover-
Why he matters
The world he lived in and how it changed over his lifetime
His two seminal works, The Guide for the Perplexed and the Mishna Torah
How he organized Jewish law into a comprehensive system, making it accessible to all Jews.
The backlash he faced for his authoritative approach to Jewish law.
How his legacy continues to influence Jewish thought and philosophy.
His influence extended globally, impacting Jewish thought across centuries.
His alignments and disagreements with Aristotelian thought
The 13 principles of faith are foundational to Jewish belief.
Links
Remember to check us out on YouTube and send us questions at edjewcationpod@gmail.com
I had no idea the Chabad menorahs all looked that way for any other reason than it being easy to mass produce them all the same and with straight arms. I'm happy to report that the Starbucks menorah looks like the one in the Temple: