[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.05,0:00:04.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s an understood feature of human psychology\Nthat people are influenced by the environment
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.28,0:00:08.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which they grew up, but it’s a little\Nmore rare for someone to embody the entire
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.43,0:00:10.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ethos of their hometown.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.18,0:00:14.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So lets wind our clocks back to the Medieval\NIslamic Golden Age and zoom into the southern
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.12,0:00:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Iberian Peninsula, and we’ll land in the\Ngreat city of Cordoba — quite possibly one
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.30,0:00:22.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the best tickets to draw in the Historical\NLottery of Where To Be Born.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.28,0:00:26.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cordoba was the heart of a thriving medieval\Ncivilization in what is now Spain but what
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.06,0:00:28.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was then known by its Arabic name Al-Andalus.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.65,0:00:32.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although it was ruled by Muslims for several\Ncenturies, Al-Andalus was multiethnic and
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.69,0:00:37.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,multifaith, being the longtime home to Christians\Nand, critically for our story today, several
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.15,0:00:38.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Jewish communities.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.46,0:00:42.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is where we meet our protagonist:\Na Jewish scholar from Cordoba who became the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.24,0:00:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,foremost legal authority on the Hebrew Bible,\Nan invaluable philosopher of the relationship
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.48,0:00:50.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between reason and spirituality, and, while\Nhe was at it, the personal physician to one
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.71,0:00:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the most powerful kings in medieval history.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.18,0:00:57.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His Muslim peers knew him as Mūsā Bin Maymūn,\Nwhile fellow Jews called him by his Hebrew
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.27,0:01:02.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,name Moshe Ben Maimon, and European Christians\Nused the Latin rendering of Moses Maimonides.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.15,0:01:06.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, it is critical to disclose our personal\Nbiases when doing historical analysis, so
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.34,0:01:10.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I must alert you to the fact that Maimonides\Nis kind of the coolest.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.15,0:01:14.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,SO, to see how this man of many names grew\Nup in a land of many cultures and became a
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.21,0:01:16.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,man of many, many talents, Let’s Do Some\NHistory.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.95,0:01:22.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the time of Maimonides’ birth in Cordoba\Nin 1135, Al-Andalus had quite a history behind
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.84,0:01:23.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.84,0:01:26.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Umayyad Caliphate first conquered Iberia\Nfrom the Visigoths in the 710s, and in the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.79,0:01:30.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,decades after it became the independent Emirate\Nof Cordoba (756), and later the Caliphate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.71,0:01:32.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Cordoba in 929.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.35,0:01:35.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At that point, Al-Andalus was a prosperous\Ntrading hub with links to the Mediterranean
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.81,0:01:40.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Muslim world as well as the Merchant Republics\Nof Italy and even the actual Vikings up along
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.25,0:01:41.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the north Atlantic.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.50,0:01:45.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Seeing as it was great business to be a relatively\Nopen society, Al-Andalus attracted talent
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.71,0:01:49.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from its non-Muslim subjects and from travelers\Nall over the medieval world, so the state
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.39,0:01:52.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,went out of its way to let these people actually\Nfunction in society.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.70,0:01:57.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cordoba was one of many Muslim states to implement\Nlegal and religious protections for non-Muslims,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.09,0:01:58.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,known as Dhimmi.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.20,0:02:01.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Religious toleration is of course nice for\Nits own sake, but enshrining those protections
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.96,0:02:06.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Law made for a much more stable society\Nthan, say, the European states where Jews
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.84,0:02:11.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or Muslims might sometimes be allowed to live,\Nbut could easily be kicked out on a whim.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.04,0:02:13.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It makes a ruckus and it’s bad for business.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.16,0:02:18.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though Cordoba was remarkable by the standards\Nof the day, it was hardly a utopia, as political
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.06,0:02:22.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,authority was pretty handily concentrated\Namong the Arab ruling class, and all Dhimmi
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.12,0:02:23.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had to pay a special tax.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.41,0:02:28.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That would still prove, quite literally, a\Nsmall price to pay, as this mosaic of Islam
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.12,0:02:34.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christianity and Judaism produced a treasure-trove\Nof cross-cultural art and, critically, scholarship,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.07,0:02:37.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stretching from the classical period to the\Nmost groundbreaking modern writings.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.33,0:02:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this was the intellectual environment\Nin which Maimonides grew up, with one of the
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.04,0:02:44.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,medieval world’s best libraries and universities\Njust a quick walk across town.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.51,0:02:48.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But soon, the rest of the world would have\Nan opportunity to catch up, as the magnificent
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.60,0:02:52.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,multiculture of Al-Andalus got quite thoroughly\Nsmushed in 1148.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.10,0:02:57.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, when Maimonides was 10, the ruling Almoravid\Ndynasty disintegrated into several independent
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.32,0:03:01.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,states (this is actually the second time that\Nhappened but it’s fine), and 3 years later
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.94,0:03:05.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cordoba was conquered by the Moroccan-based\NAlmohad dynasty.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.18,0:03:09.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They differed slightly from their predecessors\Nin that they hated everything that Al-Andalus
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.07,0:03:13.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had previously stood for, abolishing Dhimmi\Nstatus and forcing non-Muslims to convert,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.66,0:03:15.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leave, or die.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.04,0:03:20.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So young Moshe Ben Maimon and his family were\Na little stuck, and they seem to have chosen
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.38,0:03:25.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to fake a conversion publicly while continuing\Nto study and practice Judaism in private,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.05,0:03:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where Maimonides continued learning from his\Nvery well-educated father.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.97,0:03:32.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their next decade spent in and around Cordoba\Nwas a tad bit tense, what with the looming
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.52,0:03:36.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,threat of death and the acute possibility\Nthat their neighbors knew them just well enough
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.21,0:03:40.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to see through the ruse, SO, in 1159 they\Nhopped across the Straits of Gibraltar to
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.61,0:03:42.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,settle in the Moroccan city of Fès.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.33,0:03:46.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The downside is they were right in the Almohad\Nheartland, but now they were anonymous, so
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.71,0:03:52.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their disguise of We Totally Converted For-Real\NWe Super Promise was far more believable.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.73,0:03:54.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This worked fooooor 6 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.40,0:03:59.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1165 a Rabbi who helped teach Maimonides\Nand his brother was found out to be Jewish.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.45,0:04:05.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He refused to convert, so he was executed,\Nand this was the sign to pack it up and go.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.09,0:04:08.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They travelled east across North Africa for\Nthe next few years, intending to settle in
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.53,0:04:12.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Holy Land, but discovering upon their\Narrival that the Christian Crusader Kingdom
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.06,0:04:14.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Jerusalem was quite unwelcoming of Jews.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.96,0:04:20.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Presumably their quota of Token Jewish Friend\Nwas filled by Jesus, so the rest could scram.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.27,0:04:24.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As such, Maimonides and family doubled back\Nto the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate, which had
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.31,0:04:27.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many of the same policies on religious toleration\Nas good old Al-Andalus.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.100,0:04:33.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This marks the extraordinarily rare occasion\Nin which Openly-Jewish man named Moses finds
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.16,0:04:38.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unexpectedly warm welcome in Egypt — not\Nwhere I expected that story to go!
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.59,0:04:43.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After arriving in 1168, Maimonides spent the\Nremaining 36 years of his life in Cairo.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.23,0:04:47.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for many of the reasons I hyped up Cordoba\N(for trade, cultural fusion, religious toleration,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.97,0:04:52.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,baller architecture, the list goes on), Medieval\NCairo is absolutely insane.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.32,0:04:57.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When legendary travelers like Ibn Battuta\Ngo out of their way to come back to Cairo
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.09,0:05:01.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,again and again, writing passages about how\Nit’s the most majestic city in the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.38,0:05:04.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we ought to recognize that it was a neat place.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.05,0:05:09.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,SO, Maimonides, now living openly-Jewish in\None of the most splendid locations on earth,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.02,0:05:13.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had access to incalculable volumes of collected\Nscholarship from the eastern Islamic world,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.63,0:05:18.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which added to his already-bursting knowledge\Nof Jewish theology, biblical law, and classical
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.73,0:05:19.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,philosophy.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.73,0:05:23.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, his career as an independent scholar\Nwould be derailed by two massive shocks.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.36,0:05:27.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first was personal, as Maimonides’ brother\NDavid sailed out to the Indian Ocean in the
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.56,0:05:31.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hopes of getting rich but drowned at sea,\Nlosing the entire family fortune in the wreck
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.63,0:05:34.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and leaving Maimonides to take care of his\Nwidow and daughter.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.46,0:05:38.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The tragedy left Maimonides bedridden with\Ngrief for an entire year, and for the rest
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.60,0:05:42.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of his life he was inconsolable for the loss\Nof his beloved brother.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.03,0:05:46.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So now needing to financially support two\Nfamilies, Maimonides set aside his private
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.04,0:05:48.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,scholarship and put his knowledge to use as\Na physician.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.76,0:05:53.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Second major shock was political, as a\NFatimid Vizier declared himself the Caliph
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.05,0:05:58.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a new dynasty in 1174, and so Saladin became\Nthe man in charge of Egypt.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.55,0:06:01.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maimonides may well have been frantically\Nrecalling his childhood memories of when the
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.80,0:06:06.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Almohads came into town, but unlike last time\NSaladin was perfectly happy to keep everything
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.28,0:06:10.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,running smoothly, and that meant continuing\Nthe policy of religious toleration, so Maimonides
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.74,0:06:11.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was in the clear.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.83,0:06:16.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact, these two plotlines converge,\Nas his career as a physician swiftly made
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.27,0:06:22.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,him famous in Cairo and resulted in him becoming\Nthe personal physician to Sultan Saladin himself.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.08,0:06:26.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is even more bonkers when we recall that\Nmedicine was Maimonides’ fallback job, and
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.61,0:06:30.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he used his prestige from working in\Nthe royal court to promote his philosophical
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.22,0:06:31.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and legal scholarship.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.48,0:06:36.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,SO, all that biographic context brings us\Nto the point of what Maimonides was actually
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.16,0:06:37.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing about.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.29,0:06:41.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because his life’s story is inherently fascinating\Nfor the places he lived and the huge historical
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.55,0:06:46.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,events he witnessed firsthand, but his books\Nare the reason he is, to this day, so highly
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.74,0:06:50.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,esteemed in Philosophy and Law in general\Nand Judaism in particular.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.66,0:06:54.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the course of his life he wrote dozens\Nof books and treatises on a variety of topics,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.77,0:06:55.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but three stick out.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.88,0:07:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His earliest Big Boy Smart Book was the Commentary\Non the Mishna, published shortly before his
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.26,0:07:01.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,arrival in Cairo.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.26,0:07:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s a comprehensive analysis of the entire\NOral Torah, and while scholarly commentary
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.36,0:07:10.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on Biblical law was a tradition dating back\Nmillennia, no one did it all at once like
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.87,0:07:11.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.87,0:07:14.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The introduction section to the work also\Nincluded several relevant philosophical essays
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.93,0:07:17.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a set of 13 principles defining the Jewish\NFaith.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.94,0:07:22.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like all but one of Maimonides’ works, this\Nwas written in a hybrid language called Judeo-Arabic,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.73,0:07:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is Arabic speech transliterated into\Nthe Hebrew script.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.98,0:07:30.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The only exception to that trend was his next\Ngreat book, The Mishne Torah, which was written
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.35,0:07:35.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,entirely in Hebrew, and casually sets out\Nto explain every aspect and detail of Jewish
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.70,0:07:36.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,law.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.70,0:07:37.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.70,0:07:38.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whole thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.70,0:07:39.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just casj…
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.70,0:07:43.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This absolute mammoth of a task was accomplished\Nby cutting through centuries upon centuries
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.72,0:07:48.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of previous scholarship and distilling complex\Nissues into simple and straightforward principles
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.25,0:07:53.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that any Jewish reader could understand, and,\Ncritically, have access to all in one place.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.37,0:07:58.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With the Jewish Diaspora spread so far across\Ncivilizations, scholarship from, say, Al-Andalus
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.18,0:08:01.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,developed along a different trajectory from\Nthat of, say, Egypt.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.68,0:08:05.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So having been to many different places and\Nhaving conversed directly with Rabbis from
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.40,0:08:09.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,various local communities, Maimonides was\Nin an excellent position to bring together
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.27,0:08:11.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,disparate interpretations into one book.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.60,0:08:15.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn’t just say that “these are the\Nrules, you gotta do them, book says” but
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.30,0:08:18.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he explained why the rules are there and what\Nthey accomplish.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.77,0:08:22.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His greatest philosophical work is the Guide\Nfor the Perplexed, written in the style of
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.44,0:08:27.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a letter, a very long letter, from him to\Na student of his that is unsure of whether
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.03,0:08:29.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to purse religious studies or philosophy.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.40,0:08:34.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The answer of course is “Porque no los dos?”\Nas Maimonides harmonizes the rationalism of
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.30,0:08:38.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aristotelian philosophy with the prophetic\NRevelation that’s central to Jewish theology.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.89,0:08:43.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, taking a cue from the earlier Muslim scholars\NAl-Farabi and Ibn Sina, Maimonides takes his
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.96,0:08:48.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,own crack at fortifying theology with reason\Nby using philosophy as a vehicle to explore
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.29,0:08:49.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the majesty of divinity.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.82,0:08:55.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This does require wrangling some pesky contradictions,\Nsince Genesis doesn’t really jive with classical
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.21,0:08:59.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,physics, but Maimonides argues that much of\Nthe narrative in the Torah is allegorical
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.17,0:09:04.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than literal: because while human reason\Nis powerful, it’s limited, and the actual
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.11,0:09:09.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nature of God is far more complex than our\Npuny human minds can comprehend, so us smooth-brain
Dialogue: 0,0:09:09.69,0:09:12.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dum dums can only understand Him allegorically.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.31,0:09:16.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this supports his conception of Negative\NTheology: We can’t know what God is, so
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.79,0:09:19.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can only describe him by what He’s not.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.39,0:09:22.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s a swerve, but it works!
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.11,0:09:27.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These were of course rather spicy positions\Nto take, so The Guide was periodically banned
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.19,0:09:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even burned, but Maimonides’ didn’t\Ncare.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.06,0:09:34.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He retorted that he’d rather teach truth\Nto one intelligent man than entertain 10,000
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.56,0:09:38.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fools, and damn if those aren’t words to\Nlive by.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.01,0:09:42.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He may have been writing to a mainly Jewish\Naudience but man was he dropping some universal
Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.46,0:09:43.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,truths.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.46,0:09:46.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maimonides remains a monumental figure in\Nthe history of Jewish thought, and his work
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.93,0:09:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inspired centuries of later philosophers and\NAbrahamic theologians.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.98,0:09:53.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, I haven’t even mentioned his\Nmedical writings, but they were a crucial
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.90,0:09:55.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,step in medieval science.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.52,0:09:59.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even though his specific prescriptions are\Nnow out of-date, his systematic approach to
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.29,0:10:04.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,medicine, focus on the patient’s well-being,\Nand attention to public hygiene all remain
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.54,0:10:07.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,foundational to the way doctors and nurses\Nto their work.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.22,0:10:08.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think that’s neat.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.80,0:10:13.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maimonides himself is not a historian and\Nhe didn’t write about the history he experienced,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.18,0:10:16.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but his life and his ideas derive directly\Nfrom the world he lived in.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.93,0:10:20.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maimonides is so fascinating because his life\Nserves as a viewpoint through which we can
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.72,0:10:25.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,clearly experience a massive and winding period\Nin History that’s usually pretty tough to
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.60,0:10:26.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pin down.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.60,0:10:30.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He leads us through the glories and struggles\Nof two towering civilizations on each end
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.29,0:10:34.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Mediterranean, but his experience as\Na Jewish scholar in particular gives us an
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.24,0:10:39.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,extra angle into Medieval Islamic multiculture,\Nand the tangible result of all that are his
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.12,0:10:43.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writings: carrying the torch from Muslim thinkers\Nbefore him by investigating Judaism with a
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.62,0:10:45.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,philosophical perspective.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.02,0:10:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To me, he embodies the history and the character\Nof the Islamic Golden Age in a way that few
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.60,0:10:50.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,others can…
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.96,0:10:52.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he was Saladin’s DOCTOR.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.48,0:10:55.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,GOD he’s so cool!
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.29,0:10:56.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you so much for watching.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.34,0:11:00.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had to stretch a little to make Maimonides\Ncount as a History-Maker but seeing as I make
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.78,0:11:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the rules around here I’m confident in my\Nchoices.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.47,0:11:07.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It had been entirely too long since I last\Ntalked about Al-Andalus, so I’m glad I was
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.34,0:11:08.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,able to rectify that here.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.87,0:11:11.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Special thanks to our community of supporters\Non Patreon, if you’d like to see your name
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.84,0:11:14.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up here like these cool cats, hop on over\Nto Patreon.com/OSP.