The "Mystical Chapter" of the Guide for the Perplexed

Описание: A walk-through of the most notorious chapter of the Guide to the Perplexed, 3:51, the so-called "mystical" chapter of the Guide. Tour through Maimonides’ Parable of the Palace. Learn How to Meditate like Maimonides and How to Die the Perfect Death.

Full “Maimonides and Mysticism” Series:    • Maimonides' Mysticism  

1 Biography: Who was Maimonides? The Genius who Reshaped Judaism: His Life, Works and Legacy:    • The Genius who Reshaped Judaism: Moses Mai...  
2 Literature Review: Survey of Scholars on Rambam - The Many Maimonides, from 13th-21st Century:    • How Many Maimonides are there?  
3 Reception History: Maimonides and the Kabbalists: Rejection, Acceptance, Influence and Secret Conversions:    • Maimonides and the Kabbalists  
4 Clarifying Terms: Kabbalah, Mysticism and Rationalism: Maimonides the Rational Mystic?    • Maimonides the Rational Mystic?  
5 A Guide to the Guide: Introducing the Greatest Book of Jewish Philosophy Ever Written:    • The Greatest Book of Jewish Philosophy Eve...  
6 The Forgery: The Theology of Aristotle and Maimonides Negative Theology:    • The Forgery that Fooled the Philosophers  
7 Cosmology and Prophecy: Maimonides on Cosmic Spheres, Flow, Active Intellect, Prophecy and Angelification:    • Becoming an Angel in Maimonides’ Magical U...  
8 How to Unite with the Mind of God: Maimonides’ Epistemology (theory of knowledge) and Providence:    • How to Unite with the Mind of God (Accordi...  
9 Maimonides’ Perfect Death: Walkthru of Guide 3.51, Maimonides’ Parable of the Palace:    • The "Mystical Chapter" of the Guide for th...  
10 Maimonides’ Path to God: 3.51’s primary themes, language and its relationship to mysticism and kabbalah:    • Maimonides’ Path to God  
11 Light, Love and Silence: Maimonides’ Divine Illumination, Religious Langue and Negative Theology:    • Maimonides’ Mysticism of Light, Love and S...  
12 Maimonides, Agnostic or Mystic: Does Maimonides believe that one can reach God?:    • Was Maimonides a Skeptical Agnostic or a S...  
13 Maimonides’ Last Puzzle: The Riddle at the End of the Guide, Maimonides’ Turn to Ethics:    • The Riddle at the End of the Guide for the...  
14 Maimonides and the Lost Secrets of Israel: Maimonides’ true goal of the Guide:    • Maimonides and the Lost Secrets of Israel  
Bonus:
15 Maimonides’ Hasidic Afterlife: Chabad and Rambam. Maimonides’ reception in the Chabad Hasidic movement:    • Maimonides’ Hasidic Afterlife  
16 Maimonides’ Crisis of Faith: Discussion with David Fried out what is going on in Maimonides’ Guide:    • Maimonides’ Crisis of Faith  


Check out‪@TheModernHermeticist‬ reading this chapter:    • Selections from the Guide for the Perplexe...  

Thumbnail art credit to: The Book Every Jew Needs to Know: Maimonides' Mishneh Torah    • The Book Every Jew Needs to Know: Maimonid...  

00:00 Intro to 3.51
02:50 Parable of the Palace
07:29 Instructions for Study
08:41 Worship
09:48 True Knowledge
10:37 The Bond of the Intellect
11:03 Reason for the Mitzvot
11:23 Mediation Plan
16:37 People who Reached
18:00 A Prayer
19:25 Theory of Providence
19:55 Problem of Evil
22:33 Kiss of Death. Death of Kisses
25:20 Immortality?
26:29 Close of the Chapter

Sources and Further Reading:
James T. Robinson, ‘Preface’ in The Cultures of Maimonideanism, James T. Robinson (ed.) 2009, p. ix
Chaim Navon, Introduction to The Guide, Lecture 26, “The Parable of the Palace and the Special Duties of Those who Attain Truths,” 2005
Hanna Kasher, “The Parable of the King’s Palace.”
Steven Harvey, “Maimonides in the Sultan’s Palace.”
José Faur, Homo Mysticus: A Guide to Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed, 1998
Yamin Levy, “How I was Taught to Read the Guide” in Principles, Essays on Halakha, Maḥshaba and History, Journal of the Ḥabura, January 2022, Edition 4

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