Moses Maimonides (1138-1204), physician, scientist, astronomer, philosopher, and theologian, emerged as a halakhist through his classic work, Commentary on the Mishnah, in which he sets out to explain to the layman the meaning and the purpose of the Mishnah, while bypassing the often complicated and concentrated discussions of the Gemara. It was Maimonides' wish to popularize the Mishnah and to make it easily accessible to the general reader. He did so by extracting the underlying principles involved in lengthy, often abstract, talmudic discussions and stating the halakhic decisions derived therein, interspersing them with ethical insights and philosophical teachings. In the introduction to his commentary, Maimonides recounts the story of Mount Sinai and the transmission of the Torah from God to Moses, Aaron, and the children of Israel, thus providing the reader with a vivid description of the development of the Oral Law. Maimonides then cautions the reader about the use of prophecy as a means of interpreting the Torah. He elaborates on the types of prophets that exist, the requirements for becoming a prophet, the punishment for false prophets, and the manner of testing the authenticity of a prophet. Maimonides provides a classification of the various types of laws contained in the Mishnah and discusses the intent of the compiler of the Mishnah, Rabbi Judah HaNasi, in subdividing all this information into six others. He also explains why Judah HaNasi found it neccessary to record both sides of the controversy surrounding a final ruling. Following this, Maimonides considers every individual tractate of each order of the Mishnah, remarking that Berakhot is the first tractate because it contains the duties of reciting benedictions that are the daily obligation of Jewish men. He then discusses the reasons each tractate follows or precedes the tractate it does, and he shows an orderly sequence in the consecutive orders. Maimonides describes the Tosefta and Beraita, elaborating on their purpose and their authorship, followed by an account of the compilation of the Gemara, or Babylonian Talmud. He then embarks on a lengthy discussion of the value and neccessity of homiletical exposion. The final section of Maimonides' Introduction to His Commentary on the Mishnah deals with lineage, genealogy, and enumeration of the sages of the Mishnah. The introduction, as the rest of the commentary, is simple, concise, and orderly. Much is said in a few words despite the lengthy side discussions of basic tenets in Judaism, which Maimonides stresses and expounds upon in various places of this work.
Translated by Fred Rosner