[Avodah] Rambam on Maaseh Merkava/Bereshit = Physics and Metaphysics

[Michael Makovi]

On http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol25/v25n072.shtml#06 I remark that

Rambam as is well known, was essentially reconciling the science of
his day with Torah, much as many do today [Editorial addition: See Rav
Hirsch's 19 Letters which takes this for granted, and Rabbi Eliezer
Berkovits God Man and History who explains in detail. Obviously,
sources for this could be multiplied generously]. So if Aristotle (who
could
not be wrong) had proved such-and-such about Hashem or the world, then
surely the Torah concurs (for how could the Torah contradict that
which has been proven?), and so the only thing left to do is show how
everything in the Torah agrees with everything proven by Aristotle.
Those things not proven by Aristotle (such as eternity of matter,
according to Rambam) we need not be concerned with. But even there,
Rambam offered a way to reconcile Torah with eternity of matter (much
as Rav Hirsch in his Chumash rejects evolution, but offers a
hypothetical solution in his Collected Writings, to how we would deal
with evolution were it proven).

Anyway,

Rambam was of the opinion that Aristotelian philosophy was identical
with Chazal's Maaseh Merkava/Bereshit. Rambam himself said that this
knowledge has been lost, and that he had to recover it himself from
whatever he could find it. He masked much of his intent in the Moreh
Nevuchim, to avoid the proscription against teaching Maaseh publicly.

I am still amazed by the fact that Rambam wasn't puzzled by the fact
that the possessors of Maaseh Merkava/Bereshit were the Greeks; is
this not strange that the Jews lost all knowledge of this facet of
Torah knowledge, and yet the Greeks possess it abundantly? Perhaps
this was influenced by the philosophic conception of revelation, that
revelation simply gets you the information sooner, but does not reveal
anything that rational speculation could not get eventually (see
Emunot v'Deot, Hovot haLevavot; however, the former admits that
revelation is needed for precise detailed parameters of ethics and
laws, even if speculation can get you the basic gist); if Rambam
accepted this, then it is understandable how the Greeks could possess
a Jewish science. It still seems a bit strange to me, i.e. surely it
should have set off a red alarm for Rambam, for being suspicious. Be
that as it may...

It just occurred to me - this entire post was merely a lead-up to this
following point - that by conflating Maaseh Merkava/Bereshit with
Physics/Metaphysics, the Rambam has simultaneously turned Chazalic
proscriptions against teaching Maaseh, and proscriptions against Greek
philosophy, into one and the same! Just an interesting thought.

Mikha'el Makovi