The Rambam: Difference between revisions

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (known as the Rambam) (14th of Nissan 4895 - 20th of Teves 4965) is among the greatest poskim of halacha, author of the Mishneh Torah. The gedolei hadoros expressed about him: "From Moshe until Moshe there arose none like Moshe."

After a journey of wandering that lasted about ten years, the family tried to settle in the city of Fez in Morocco. In Fez, the Rambam apparently wrote Iggeres HaShmad, addressing the proper Jewish response to the phenomenon of forced conversion in Morocco and Spain. But their tranquility there did not last long, and after five years they were forced to leave the city due to growing Muslim zealotry and Morocco becoming a dangerous place for Jews.

In 4926, the Rambam and his family sailed from Ceuta to Acco in Eretz Yisroel, where they settled. The Jewish community in Acco was in those days one of the largest in Eretz Yisroel, and received the Rambam's family with great honor. The rav of Acco, Rabbi Yafes ben Rabbi Eliyahu, formed a close friendship with the Rambam that continued through correspondence even years later, and eventually through Rabbi Yafes's appointment as one of the dayanim in the Alexandria community, which was under the Rambam's authority as head of Egypt's rabbonim. Five months after arriving in Eretz Yisroel, the Rambam, his father, and Rabbi Yafes visited Yerushalayim and davened at the Kosel HaMaaravi. From there they traveled to Chevron and davened at Me'aras HaMachpelah.