A Discourse Concerning the Homilies of the Sages, by Rabbi Abraham son of Maimonides, of blessed memory

Translated from the Arabic language into the Holy Tongue*)

"You shall judge with righteousness" Deuteronomy 16:20, etc. And it says, "You shall not show partiality in judgment," etc. Deuteronomy 1:17. There is no distinction in accepting a certain opinion and upholding it without proof, or in believing its speaker and showing them partiality and relying upon them. For the truth is truth without doubt. Because someone is a great man in wisdom, wealth, or knowledge, this is not evidence; rather, it is forbidden. According to this premise, we are not obligated—because of the high status of the Sages of the Talmud and their perfection in the knowledge of the Torah, its minute details, and the precision of their statements in explaining its general principles and specifics—to rely upon them and uphold their opinion in all their sayings regarding medicine, natural science, and astronomy, and to believe them as we believe them in matters of the Torah, for the essence of its wisdom is in their hands, and to them it was delivered to instruct humanity. As it is said, "According to the instruction of the Torah which they shall teach you," etc. Deuteronomy 17:11. You see the Sages, concerning matters that were not clarified to them through their own logic and debate, saying: "Even if Joshua the son of Nun said this, I would not listen to him." This refers to the Talmudic principle that even a prophet cannot override a consensus of legal reasoning (Bava Metzia 59b). That is to say, I would not believe him, even though he is a prophet, since he does not have the ability to convey the matter definitively through logic, debate, and the methods by which the Talmud is interpreted. This is sufficient proof and evidence, and we shall not listen to them further, since we find them making statements that have not been verified or sustained in the Gemara—such as their medical sayings, or the matter of the even tekumah preservation stone which it is said prevents miscarriages, which has not been verified. Similar to this are many matters discussed in the chapter "The Eight Reptiles" in Tractate Shabbat, etc., and in other places: things that examiners have tested, which were heard among them, and upon which they relied. However, a true physician or an intellectual person will not acknowledge the truth of these things.

Know that it does not follow from what we have said that we should disregard the saying of our Sages: "If you are hungry, eat; if you are thirsty, drink; if the pot is cooked, throw it into the storehouse." Based on the principle of acting according to natural biological needs. The things we have said [are different]; for this maxim is the foundation of health, as testing and medical practice have confirmed. That is to say: a person should not eat until hungry, and should not drink until thirsty; and when one needs to, one should not delay in drinking; and when food is digested in the intestines, one should expel it and not delay it; for if one needs the latrines, one should not delay them. Similarly, we should not argue for Aristotle and say: "Since he is the master of the philosophers and established true proofs for the existence of the Creator—may He be blessed—and similar true things which came by proof and through the way of truth," for he also found truth in believing the eternity of the world, and that the Creator—may He be blessed—does not know the particulars, and things like that. Nor should we falsify him and say: "Since he erred in believing these things, he erred in all his sayings." Rather, we and every intelligent and wise person must examine every opinion and every statement in the way it ought to be examined: to verify and uphold what is worthy of being upheld, and to nullify what is worthy of being nullified. And we must refrain from passing judgment on matters where one of two opposites has not been decided, as we have said. We see them, of blessed memory, say: "If it is a law, we accept it; if it is for debate, there is an answer." Thus they do in matters where one of two opposites is not determined, leaving it by saying "Let it stand" teiku unresolved question. They also admit to the truth of an opinion that has been proven to them, saying in many places: "So-and-so retracted his words," or "The School of Hillel instructed to rule according to the words of the School of Shammai." Greater than this in their confession and love for the way of justice is when they said: "Rava appointed an interpreter for himself and lectured, saying: 'The things I said before you were an error on my part.'" These matters and those like them should not be understood or examined because someone was great in counsel and wisdom, but because of the proofs and evidence that exist for them. This is what my father, my teacher—of blessed memory—said in his explanation. It is a clear matter and an easy thing in the eyes of anyone who turns away from the letter to the substance. I have seen fit to bring here a saying of our Sages—of blessed memory—and I will explain it to you so that your love for the truth and your acknowledgment of it will be settled and accepted in your mind. Our Sages said in the Gemara of Pesachim: "Our Sages say the celestial sphere is fixed and the constellations revolve," etc., until Rabbi said: "Their words seem correct, for in the day the springs are cold and at night the springs are hot." Now hear this statement: Know that according to the Sages of Israel, the sphere is fixed and standing, and it does not sway or move, and the stars and constellations are the ones that are moving and wandering. And according to the sages of the nations of the world, the sphere moves and wanders, and the stars and constellations have no motion, but they are like nails planted, moving with the movements of the sphere, not by themselves. To answer the opinion of the sages of the nations of the world and say that the sphere is fixed—for we see the small constellations, the left one and the right one—the left one is never found on the right, and the right never on the left, but they stand in their place and do not move from there. This is what the Sages said: "The Great Bear is never seen in the South, nor Scorpio in the North," etc. The nations of the world are not obligated by this, except in saying that the cause of the sphere and its movement is from North to South or South to North. But since they believe that the movement of the upper sphere is from East to West, and the constellation sphere...

I have seen fit to explain the terms and subjects in this book: the homilies, the deeds, and the legends aggadot narrative lore. I say: The term derashah homily is the seeking of a matter and its investigation to arrive at its nature, from the phrase "you shall investigate and seek" Deuteronomy 13:15. That is to say, the thing being investigated in a matter is known, sought, and found; that is what is called a derash. This is the rule: Every statement that is an interpretation of a verse, or is attached to the interpretation of a verse by way of the methods of homily, or an explanation of matters that are outside the laws of the Torah—the rules of forbidden and permitted, obligation and exemption, impure and pure, valid and invalid—is called a derash. The term ma'aseh deed/story [refers to] any thing or matter that occurred and was done, from the language "what will be done" Exodus 12:28. Its benefit to the one who understands is that it is a sign and instruction: he sees the deed and recalls the law. The term aggadah legend is from the language "he told you, O man, what is good" Micah 6:8; they tell of events that happened. Its meaning is close to the meaning of ma'aseh, but there is a difference between them: the ma'aseh tells of a thing done in the days of the narrator or in the days of a known and remembered person, while the aggadah tells of a thing that happened without being identified in this manner. If it should enter your mind to say: "How can these matters be great teachings, stated for all who have eyes, and their heads reaching the heavens, yet the Mishnah did not speak of them, and we do not find in it homilies, legends, or deeds, except for the homily of 'Moses's hands' in Rosh Hashanah, and in Ta'anit the deed of Honi the Circle-Drawer, and nothing else?" The answer: Know that our Holy Rabbi and his colleagues did not intend to explain in the Mishnah things that were well-known and settled in their time, even though those things require great explanation for those who come after. The proof of this is that you do not find in the Mishnah that it is a commandment of the Torah to recite the Shema at night and in the day, in Hebrew, and in the morning. Similarly, you do not find in the matter of Shabbat that it is forbidden to do work on it, for this explanation is revealed and known from the Mishnah: "From when do we recite the Shema in the evening and morning?" and "What is the number of the primary categories of labor? Forty minus one," etc. Similarly, he did not need to speak of matters of faith, nor of other sciences, nor of other topics, because it was simple to the people of his generation and known. Their minds were keen in them, and wisdom did not elude them, as they said regarding the understanding of the Sages of the Talmud and their colleagues: "Therefore, the first ones were like the opening of the [Temple] hall, and the last ones are not even like the eye of a needle." This matter and its conclusion will be explained in the second chapter, well explained.

And here has come the language of the copyist? from R.? Sh. n. Dina?, of blessed memory.

I found it written for the Rabbi, R. Abraham, son of the Rabbi, our teacher Moses, of blessed memory, in his books which he composed in the Arabic language, which they call Kitab al-Kafiya The Sufficient Book, these things which have great benefit for that which I need to copy them into the Holy Tongue. May I live and see it:
Know that all that is found in the Talmud and other compilations of the Sages—of blessed memory—the masters of homilies and deeds, the interpretations of verses that we now have are few and hidden from the eyes of all who study them. The majority of commentators have not laid their hands upon them, and their souls have not entered into their secret. My teacher, of blessed memory, considered composing a book of commentaries as he mentioned at the beginning of the commentary on the Mishnah, but eventually he desisted, for "Moses was afraid to approach" Exodus 3:6, as he said at the beginning of The Guide [for the Perplexed]. After his passing, I explained a little bit of this matter, but I did not focus on it because I was occupied with compiling this book, for I saw its great and faithful benefit from the very beginning. Nevertheless, I awaken your heart and your study. You, open your eyes to this path by which the Sages spoke in the homilies that they have, and from it their intention will be apparent and will be for you as a god referring to a guide, and you will be to it as a mouth. By this, your soul will be saved from mocking the words of the Sages, or from denying the truth of their words, or from thinking they are acts of miracles as was done for the prophets, or that this is done for every wise and pious man, and that there is no difference between the splitting of the Red Sea for Moses and the emigrants from Egypt, and the crossing of the Jordan for Elisha and Elijah, or for another besides them. All this you are obligated to do if you take those homilies according to their literal meaning or according to what appears from them at first glance. It is sufficient for us to teach that there are homilies and deeds that have a hidden, internal meaning beyond the external, apparent meaning, and all the more so in what my father, my teacher—of blessed memory—revealed in his books regarding this. If not for my desire and will to add explanation and to inform you of deeds by classifying their types, as I will classify for you shortly, and by parables I will illustrate for you in this chapter, I would have seen fit to preface this for you:
Know that you are obligated to know: anyone who wishes to uphold a known opinion, and show partiality to its speaker, and accept his opinion without examination and understanding of that opinion—whether it is true or not—this is among the evil opinions. It is forbidden according to the way of the Torah and also according to the way of reason. It is not fitting according to the way of reason because it necessitates a deficiency and lack in contemplating what one must believe. It is forbidden according to the way of the Torah because it turns away from the path of truth and turns away from the straight line. The Holy One—blessed be He—said: "You shall not show partiality to the poor, nor honor the face of..."

) This discourse is found among the manuscripts of the Rabbi, the Gaon, David Oppenheim, of blessed memory, located in Oxford, and from it the copyist extracted it. It is surely the discourse of the Rabbi from his holy house, from which the book The Guide was translated from Arabic to the Holy Tongue, and they spoke rightly regarding Midrash Rabbah*.