Moreh Nevukhim
In his monumental medieval work Moreh Nevukhim (Guide for the Perplexed) the Rambam tries to explain two main ideas. The first is that a Jew has an obligation to understand and appreciate the physical world around him and try to make sense of it as the environment in which God put him in. The second is that God resides in the metaphysical realm and wants us to have a relationship with Him and appreciate Him for whom He is. Join Rabbi Daniel Korobkin live from the Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto (“The BAYT”) Congregation as he learns through the Moreh Nevukhim section by section, week by week, with the hope of understanding these ideas and making them meaningful to us in our lives.
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Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim: An Introduction to this course
In this introductory session Rabbi Daniel Korobkin and Rabbi Jeffrey Saks speak about the Rambam’s Moreh Nevukhim and the goals for this series.
Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim 1:54 (part 2)
Moreh Nevukhim: Lesson
We will be covering chapters 1:55 & 1:56 in this class. See attached handout.
Moreh Nevukhim: 1:67 – The Three Verbs of Sabbath or: Does God Rest?
Please note that we’ll be starting this and future courses at 7:45 pm EDT (15 minutes later than normal). Thank you for your patience during this recent lapse in the shiur.
Moreh Nevukhim: 1:68 – God’s Active Intellect and His Unity
Tomorrow’s shiur will be somewhat unconventional. No Hebrew sources. We will rather discuss some medieval philosophical ideas about intellect, and specifically an entity called the Active Intellect. To help get your feet wet, I’m attaching a paper I wrote on the subject several years ago. I’ll use this paper to elucidate the ideas of Moreh Nevukhim 1:68, many will recur in subsequent chapters. Tomorrow’s shiur is at approx 7:45 am EDT.
Moreh Nevukhim: 1:69 – An Introduction to Kalam, and the Four Aristotelian Causes
Tomorrow’s shiur in Moreh Nevukhim begins the last 7 chapters of the First Section. These chapters are unique in that they present a disputation with the Kalamists (Mutakallimun), a group of philosophers whom the Rambam assumes we already know. We will therefore spend the first part of the shiur defining whom they are and why they are the Rambam’s theological opponents. We’ll then begin 1:69 and discuss the Aristotelian Four Causes. We have two pdfs for tomorrow: (1) An excellent and concise presentation of Kalam from Prof. Alfred Ivry, and (2) An explanation of the Four Causes. Shiur begins Monday morning at 7:45 am EDT.
Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim
Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim
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Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim
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Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim
Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim
Moreh Nevukhim: Moreh Nevukhim
Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin is mara d’asra(senior rabbi) of Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto Congregation (“The BAYT”). Rabbi Korobkin holds a Master of Science degree from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Graduate School, as well as a Master of Arts degree in Medieval Jewish and Islamic Thought from UCLA. He is the translator and annotator of the Feldheim edition of Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi’s Kuzari. Rabbi Korobkin is the current president of the Rabbinical Council of America.