Seekers of Unity | The Riddle at the End of the Guide for the Perplexed @SeekersofUnity | Uploaded August 2022 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
Something very odd happens in the very last chapter of Maimonides’ Guide which remains an elusive puzzle even today, 800 years on.
Maimonides, in Guide 3.51, lays out in stunning detail, the pinnacle of religious worship and human striving, culminating in an immortal union with the divine, what he calls the ‘kiss of death,’ the peak of his mystical journey.
However, the Guide does not end with that peak of religious experience and erotic mystical ecstasy, nor with the striving to know (and unite with) God intellectually, neither does it in the depths of silent praise in which nothing at all can be said of God. But it ends instead with a final beautiful idea which combines all three.
Join us as we take a final journey through the final chapter of the magnificent Guide, to see Maimonides final teaching to the perplexed, to make sense of his ultimate word to the seeker.
Check out the rest of our Maimonides series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_7jcKJs6iwXUKaVOvNJWr5DSLPTYV0j9
1 Biography: Who was Maimonides?: youtu.be/w4ZgHJxQQVo
2 Literature Review: Survey of Scholars on Rambam: youtu.be/UbjX-ypvEys
3 Reception History: Maimonides and the Kabbalists: youtu.be/8fpQPAMqATk
4 Clarifying Terms: Kabbalah, Mysticism and Rationalism: youtu.be/z-GpetIEpQw
5 A Guide to the Guide: youtu.be/X7myP0Yo7Xk
6 The Forgery: youtu.be/m8ZpFPp93U4
7 Maimonides' Cosmology and Prophecy: youtu.be/G3lG4u2xF28
8 How to Unite with the Mind of God: youtu.be/V4_TD3ff5Qc
9 Maimonides’ Perfect Death: Walkthru of Guide 3.51: youtu.be/QP4T057lRa8
10 Maimonides’ Path to God: Analysis of 3.51: youtu.be/at5B7KcTObk
11 Mysticism of Light, Love and Silence: Theology: youtu.be/p82LcUxtxjk
12 Maimonides, Agnostic or Mystic: youtu.be/RHWfh7kWRxU
13 Maimonides’ Last Puzzle: The Riddle at the End of the Guide: youtu.be/g7eeJ5LZQQo
14 Maimonides and the Lost Secrets of Israel: youtu.be/iNmY5Ft5Z5g
Bonus:
15 Maimonides’ Hasidic Afterlife: Chabad and Rambam: youtu.be/SSSqkPMrXz4
16 Maimonides’ Crisis of Faith: Discussion with David Fried: youtu.be/udW6B9wu47Q
00:00 Intro
01:13 Rationalist and Mystic
02:00 Bad Mysticism
03:08 Knowledge of God as the Pinnacle
03:36 The Four Perfections
05:43 Maimonides the Arch-Rationalist
06:27 A Different Ending – Ethics
08:02 Actions of Attributes, not Essence
08:41 Imitato Dei, 1.54
11:42 Imitato Dei in Halacha
13:04 Compassion, even to a Slave
15:19 Mysticism tho…
20:04 Resolution
18:41 Why we do this
22:53 Technical Again
24:16 Concluding Prayer
25:11 Afterthought
27:25 Thank you
Sources and Further Reading
• Jonathan Gorsky, “Maimonides Spirituality: Intellectual Mysticism and the Love of God,” in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Mystical Perspectives on the Love of God, S. T. Hidden (ed), 2004
• Julius Guttmann, “Introduction” in Maimonides, The Guide of The Perplexed, An Abridged Edition, East and West Library New York, 1947
• Shlomo Pines, "The Limits of Human Knowledge According to Alfarabi, Ibn Bajja, and Maimonides," Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature, vol. 1, ed. I. Twersky, 1979
• Joseph Citron, Maimonides and Mysticism, unpublished
Join us:
facebook.com/seekersofunity
instagram.com/seekersofunity
twitter.com/seekersofu
seekersofunity.com
Thank you to our beloved Patrons: Etty, Stephen, Arash, William, Michael, Matija, Timony, Vilijami, Stoney, El techo, Stephen, Ross, Ahmed, Alexander, Diceman, Hannah, Julian, Leo, Sim, Sultan, John, Joshua, Igor, Chezi, Jorge, Andrew, Alexandra, Füsun, Lucas, Andrew, Stian, Ivana, Aédàn, Darjeeling, Astarte, Declan, Gregory, Alex, Charlie, Anonymous, Joshua, Arin, Sage, Marcel, Ahawk, Yehuda, Kevin, Evan, Shahin, Al Alami, Dale, Ethan, Gerr, Effy, Noam, Ron, Shtus, Mendel, Jared, Tim, Mystic Experiment, MM, Lenny, Justin, Joshua, Jorge, Wayne, Jason, Caroline, Yaakov, Daniel, Wodenborn, Steve, Collin, Justin, Mariana, Vic, Shaw, Carlos, Nico, Isaac, Frederick, David, Ben, Rodney, Charley, Jonathan, Chelsea, Curly Joe, Adam and Andre.
Join them in supporting us:
patreon: patreon.com/seekers
paypal: paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=RKCYGQSMJFDRU
Something very odd happens in the very last chapter of Maimonides’ Guide which remains an elusive puzzle even today, 800 years on.
Maimonides, in Guide 3.51, lays out in stunning detail, the pinnacle of religious worship and human striving, culminating in an immortal union with the divine, what he calls the ‘kiss of death,’ the peak of his mystical journey.
However, the Guide does not end with that peak of religious experience and erotic mystical ecstasy, nor with the striving to know (and unite with) God intellectually, neither does it in the depths of silent praise in which nothing at all can be said of God. But it ends instead with a final beautiful idea which combines all three.
Join us as we take a final journey through the final chapter of the magnificent Guide, to see Maimonides final teaching to the perplexed, to make sense of his ultimate word to the seeker.
Check out the rest of our Maimonides series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_7jcKJs6iwXUKaVOvNJWr5DSLPTYV0j9
1 Biography: Who was Maimonides?: youtu.be/w4ZgHJxQQVo
2 Literature Review: Survey of Scholars on Rambam: youtu.be/UbjX-ypvEys
3 Reception History: Maimonides and the Kabbalists: youtu.be/8fpQPAMqATk
4 Clarifying Terms: Kabbalah, Mysticism and Rationalism: youtu.be/z-GpetIEpQw
5 A Guide to the Guide: youtu.be/X7myP0Yo7Xk
6 The Forgery: youtu.be/m8ZpFPp93U4
7 Maimonides' Cosmology and Prophecy: youtu.be/G3lG4u2xF28
8 How to Unite with the Mind of God: youtu.be/V4_TD3ff5Qc
9 Maimonides’ Perfect Death: Walkthru of Guide 3.51: youtu.be/QP4T057lRa8
10 Maimonides’ Path to God: Analysis of 3.51: youtu.be/at5B7KcTObk
11 Mysticism of Light, Love and Silence: Theology: youtu.be/p82LcUxtxjk
12 Maimonides, Agnostic or Mystic: youtu.be/RHWfh7kWRxU
13 Maimonides’ Last Puzzle: The Riddle at the End of the Guide: youtu.be/g7eeJ5LZQQo
14 Maimonides and the Lost Secrets of Israel: youtu.be/iNmY5Ft5Z5g
Bonus:
15 Maimonides’ Hasidic Afterlife: Chabad and Rambam: youtu.be/SSSqkPMrXz4
16 Maimonides’ Crisis of Faith: Discussion with David Fried: youtu.be/udW6B9wu47Q
00:00 Intro
01:13 Rationalist and Mystic
02:00 Bad Mysticism
03:08 Knowledge of God as the Pinnacle
03:36 The Four Perfections
05:43 Maimonides the Arch-Rationalist
06:27 A Different Ending – Ethics
08:02 Actions of Attributes, not Essence
08:41 Imitato Dei, 1.54
11:42 Imitato Dei in Halacha
13:04 Compassion, even to a Slave
15:19 Mysticism tho…
20:04 Resolution
18:41 Why we do this
22:53 Technical Again
24:16 Concluding Prayer
25:11 Afterthought
27:25 Thank you
Sources and Further Reading
• Jonathan Gorsky, “Maimonides Spirituality: Intellectual Mysticism and the Love of God,” in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Mystical Perspectives on the Love of God, S. T. Hidden (ed), 2004
• Julius Guttmann, “Introduction” in Maimonides, The Guide of The Perplexed, An Abridged Edition, East and West Library New York, 1947
• Shlomo Pines, "The Limits of Human Knowledge According to Alfarabi, Ibn Bajja, and Maimonides," Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature, vol. 1, ed. I. Twersky, 1979
• Joseph Citron, Maimonides and Mysticism, unpublished
Join us:
facebook.com/seekersofunity
instagram.com/seekersofunity
twitter.com/seekersofu
seekersofunity.com
Thank you to our beloved Patrons: Etty, Stephen, Arash, William, Michael, Matija, Timony, Vilijami, Stoney, El techo, Stephen, Ross, Ahmed, Alexander, Diceman, Hannah, Julian, Leo, Sim, Sultan, John, Joshua, Igor, Chezi, Jorge, Andrew, Alexandra, Füsun, Lucas, Andrew, Stian, Ivana, Aédàn, Darjeeling, Astarte, Declan, Gregory, Alex, Charlie, Anonymous, Joshua, Arin, Sage, Marcel, Ahawk, Yehuda, Kevin, Evan, Shahin, Al Alami, Dale, Ethan, Gerr, Effy, Noam, Ron, Shtus, Mendel, Jared, Tim, Mystic Experiment, MM, Lenny, Justin, Joshua, Jorge, Wayne, Jason, Caroline, Yaakov, Daniel, Wodenborn, Steve, Collin, Justin, Mariana, Vic, Shaw, Carlos, Nico, Isaac, Frederick, David, Ben, Rodney, Charley, Jonathan, Chelsea, Curly Joe, Adam and Andre.
Join them in supporting us:
patreon: patreon.com/seekers
paypal: paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=RKCYGQSMJFDRU
