Rambam: On Learning Talmud - Part 2 (Letter to R' Yosef; Moreh ha'Nevuchim 1:34)

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This afternoon (10/19/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued our sidequest to understand the Rambam's view of learning talmud, on the one hand, and learning Talmud, on the other (and if that distinction is lost on you, then you REALLY need to listen to part 1). After reviewing what we learned yesterday, we set out to understand what the Rambam means in his statements about Davar Katon in Yesodei ha'Torah 4:13. We read the extremely harsh fragment of his letter to R' Yosef, in which he seemingly dismisses Talmud study as a waste of time, and attempted to be melamed zechus on his view ... or at least, to understand how he would be melamed zechus on our OWN involvement in Talmud. We then read the Moreh ha'Nevuchim 1:34, and were able to form a coherent explanation of Yesodei ha'Torah 4:13. We may not have answered all of our questions, but we defintely emerged from our sidequest with more clarity than we had going in.
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מקורות:
רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ספר המדע, הלכות תלמוד תורה א:י-יא; ד:ו
רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ד:יג
רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ספר זמנים, הלכות שבת י:י
רמב"ם - קטע מאגרת אל ר' יוסף בענין לימוד משנה תורה
רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים א:לד
רמב"ם - מאמר תחיית המתים
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Bekius Disclaimer: (see previous episode's show notes, since I ran out of space here)
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