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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Learn Maimonides' Mishneh Torah daily, either one chapter per day, three chapters per day, or sections of Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot (Book of Commandments), as promoted by the Lubavitcher Rebbe's 1984 campaign. The video presents Mishneh Torah as a complete, organized system of Jewish law that Rambam said would make a reader "fluent in Jewish law" after studying the Torah of Moses.
Key Points
- Mishneh Torah is a 14-book series that Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 12th-century Egypt) spent 10 years writing, written in Hebrew, unlike his other works, which were in Arabic.
- The name "Mishneh Torah" means "second to the Torah," and the video says it covers every aspect of Jewish life from birth to death.
- Historically, despite various efforts to popularize it, Mishneh Torah has for the past 800 years been used mainly as a reference book for Talmudic analysis rather than for regular study.
- Past popularization efforts included a Hebrew-Arabic dictionary by Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi, a poetic rearrangement by Shlomo Ibn Muvchar in 17th-century Turkey, and an abridged "Kitzur Mishneh Torah" published in Italy after the printing press.
- The video says that although contemporary Halachah does not always follow Mishneh Torah's rulings, studying it still offers a way to learn "KOL HATORAH KULAH," the entire Torah.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Choose one of three daily study options from the 1984 Lubavitcher Rebbe campaign: (1) learn one chapter of Mishneh Torah per day, (2) learn three chapters per day, or (3) learn sections of Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot, the Book of Commandments.
- To find an answer on a specific Jewish law (Halachah), open the relevant section of Mishneh Torah, since the laws are arranged in an organized system.
- Rambam was the personal trusted physician of the powerful Emperor and warrior Saladin of Egypt, and some of his medical books were written exclusively for the royal family.
- Rambam was also called Ibn Ovadiah by many Jews of his era, named for Ovadiah, the patriarch of his family seven generations back.
- The video notes his Moreh Nevuchim (Guide of the Perplexed) has 83 commentaries and is still studied as a classic of philosophy.
- The video mentions his gravestone called him "Mivchar Ha'anushi" (the best of mankind), and that Yemenite Jews prayed for him during Kaddish.
Bottom Line
Mishneh Torah is presented as a complete, organized guide to Jewish law that the video urges every Jew to study daily through the 1984 campaign's chapter-based options.
