Mr. Maimon as I call him, whose name was Moses, son of Maimon (also a distinguished rabbi) additionally is referred to as RaMBam (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon), or Maimonides. He lived around the Mediterranean--Spain, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt--from 1135 or 1138, until his death, in 1204. He was a fox.
He was beyond brilliant, and he was a Renaissance man before there was a Renaissance. He belonged with the likes of Leonardo, Copernicus, Galileo, and as many greats of the future as one can recall. St. Thomas Aquinas was inspired by Maimonides and used his work to better understand nature, science, and the realm of God in Christianity. Maimon was without question, the greatest thinker of the Middle Ages. Even today, it's difficult to find an equal who would match the genius and this remarkable and truly worldly philosopher.
Mr. Maimon, in addition to writing extensive commentary on the Mishnah--part of the Hebrew Talmud or books of law based on the Hebrew Scriptures or Torah--and organizing virtually all of said Jewish law until that time--was actually a physician, a scientist, an astronomer, a nutritionist, and a worldly philosopher. He practiced medicine, was court physician to Al Qadi al Fadil, whose father was the incomparable Saladin--magnificent medieval ruler.
Word has it, dates aside, that King Richard the Lion Heart, in the midst of his travels during the Crusades, wanted Maimonides in his own court; but that for the times, Maimon felt his safety was in better hands with the Muslims. Remember, this was the time of the Crusades, and expulsions/executions of Jews throughout the European civilized world. Strange bedfellows, eh?
As a physician, Maimonides was dedicated to medication, cures for multiple diseases and conditions, and pharmacological study as well as its organization. The Maimonidean Oath for doctors, is practiced today. His methodology was a precursor for pharmaceutical practice. He was a health nut, and was firm about diet and exercise. The famous portrait of him that most see, is a contrivance no doubt, and has been duplicated multiple times.
However, Maimon could not have been heavy-set, or beefy in construct, as it wasn't who he was, nutritionally. Rather than looking like Chef Boyardee, Moses Maimonides had to have been slender. He walked back and forth to his offices from his home, on a daily basis, saw patients, saw the Vizier in his palace, wrote voluminously, corresponded, spoke publicly and traveled to do so, and led a very active and full life with little time for food or rest. It's difficult to imagine that Mr. Maimon would be anything but slim.
He was a student of Greece, Rome, and Islam, living in that geographical area. He was not familiar with northern European thought or influence to any great extent.
His hero was Aristotle: pure and simple. There were others such as Averroes. But the Greeks were his mentors. He had virtually no contemporaries with whom he consulted; and virtually no Jews. Reason was always his guide; nature was his companion. Maimon wasn't just a Jewish philosopher who sat in a room and contemplated. He was out and about with the people, working for a living. He was involved with what he wrote, he practiced what he thought. His ideas were based not only on his readings, but on his experiences in the real world.
In all of Judaism, I cannot think of a better role model for myself. Mr. Maimon tried to re-construct Judaism in order to make the spiritual, rational. He tried to justify God's role in a scientific world. He did not have the backing of the kind of power or money to be able to do that; but what he left Judaism and the rest of those who were familiar with him--the western medieval world as a whole, and centuries beyond--was a dedication to a God of rational--again, rather than spiritual--existence and rationale that made such a universe possible.
He appeared to some to be arrogant and self-centered. Instead, it's more likely that he was just himself, and so far above others' ability to comprehend him, that the appearance of superiority was really just honesty. As they say, "It isn't bragging if it's the truth..."
He was quick-tempered, had no patience for idiocy or foolishness; he was not interested in people who couldn't "connect the dots." He did his best to withhold unkindnesses toward others in personal meetings; however, he was candid in his writings or when he confided with certain contemporaries, re: what he felt to be blatant stupidity. He was schooled in multiple languages, and was at home in Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic, just for openers.
He had to have had an eidetic/photographic memory. He was funny, witty, had fine senses of humor, sarcasm, and wit; he was very kind, patient with those who were ingenuous and mattered; he was dedicated, responsible, and wise. In short, he was simply "the best of the best."
When he died, Mr. Maimon's books were burned by many, despite the honor and homage that he received when he was alive. The fierce discipline to maintain a rational point of view toward God, rather than a simpler unquestioning other-worldly spiritual one, was simply too difficult and too abstract for most to manage. People wanted a personal god who attended them. Maimon's in actuality, did not.
Maimon understood that God could not be all of the anthropomorphic components that the Hebrew Scriptures espoused; and he also understood that God, out of respect for humanity, could not intervene in lives; thus, he felt that prayer was really for he who prayed, and not for God, at all. There was nothing God, as Maimon defined Him, could do. In order for man to have free will, God could not intervene, deus ex machina, in a person's life. Rather God was present as form, rather than matter--the Greeks--the essences of all. It was a tough road for the average Joe in the marketplace or herding the flocks.
Again, make no mistake: Moses ben Maimon was one of the greatest innovators that the world has ever known. He did his best to organize Judaism--the origin of Western religion and thus one of the initial elements of Western civilization-- into something intelligent and tangible. Rather than tons and tons of arguments, dissensions, and loose documents from the past, Jewish law for the first time, became a practical guide that could be followed. He did the same with medicine, science, diet, pharmacology, nature, preventative medicine, and with God. He cared, he tried, he did his best. He was an incredibly sensitive man who was highly in tune, whether or not he appeared that way on the surface. He worked at all things until he died. He was devoted to improving the world: His way, certainly; but isn't that the way we all are... I will speak of him again.
I am fortunate enough to have many heroes. Today, people don't believe in heroes. Without heroes, there is no society to emulate, no goals, no role models, no understanding of what could be, no direction or a value system; a warning signal that is a presage regarding the end of a culture. However, Moses ben Maimon, is as real and heroic to my mind, as any individual whoever lived.
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