[Avodah] Rambam intent

[H Lampel via Avodah]

> From: Micha Berger Thu, 1 Sep 2016 13:47:12 -0400
>
>
> ...LAD, the Rambam wrote Mishnah Torah as shelish bemishnah, still requiring
> shelish begemara (lehavin davar mitokh davar, etc...) for those who are
> capable of it.

In support of this, when Rav Pinchas HaDayyan chided the Rambam for what 
he wrote in the introduction to his Mishneh Torah, the Rambam responded 
(Letter to Pinchas HaDayyan) as follows:

    ...you write, ''It would be proper for your eminence to edify the
    world with the instructions not to neglect toiling in the Gemora...''

    It is proper for me to edify you regarding this entire matter, and
    let you know that I understood quite well what you have in mind,
    even though you have only hinted to it and not expressed it
    explicitly. Know, first of all, that never did I, /chas v’shalom/,
    say ''do not occupy yourself''—either regarding the Gemora, the
    halachos of the Rif or anything else. Anyone aware of the facts can
    testify that for roughly the past one and a half years, only three
    or four of my [regular] group [of students] have studied some of my
    work under me. The majority of students desired to study the
    Halachos of the Rif, and I taught them all those halachos many
    times. And two of my students asked to learn Gemora, and I taught
    them the /mesechtos/they requested. Did I command them, or did it
    enter my mind, that I would burn all the works composed by those
    before me because of my work? *Have I not explicitly said at the
    beginning of my work that I only composed it because there are those
    who, due to the lack of ability, are unable to plumb the depths of
    the Talmud, and who cannot decipher from it that which is prohibited
    and permitted? And I elaborated upon this greatly.*


I admit that I find it hard to produce said elaboration, but this is 
what the Rambam says he meant.


Zvi Lampel

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