In this class we look at the background to one of the Maimonidean controversies which led to the burning of Sefer Hamadah and The Guide to the Perplexed, and shortly afterwards led to the burning of the Talmud in Paris.
We discuss Rambam (and Rav Sa’adiah)’s view of metaphor to explain the Torah and midrashim, and contrast it with the view of the French Rabbis, most explicitly by Rav Moshe Taku, that insist on the literal meaning of the verses and statements of Chazal.