<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 9/24/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">David Riceman</b> <<a href="mailto:driceman@att.net">driceman@att.net</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Celejar (or possibly RAF?) wrote:<br><br>> R. Abraham Maimonides says very flattering things about the Sufis (IIRC he describes them as, of his contemporaries, the closest in behavior to the Biblical prophets). I don't know to what extent his father agreed with that opinion, but he's very careful never actually to disagree with his father.
<br><br>David Riceman<br>_______________________________________________<br></blockquote></div><br>I don't know if R. Avraham disagreed with his father or not but his bent towards Sui'ism is seen as a break from his father's philosophy.
<br><br>Or to frame it another way, R. Avraham's hashkafa migth have been 180 degrees differnet from his father but he did not necesarily rebel against his father nor did he see his father WRONG in any way. He just might have needed a different derech for himself.
<br><br>And he might have even defended his father's position [both Hlachically and Hashkafically] w/o agreeing with him on the overall approach.<br><br>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br><br>AISI in general, the Rambam - as a religious persons believing in a Transcendent God and and an immortal soul MUST have had elements of Mysticism in his outlook. He just did not have a mystical system akin to "Qabblah". I am confident he saw Transcendental themes in the Merkava literature etc.
<br><br>He probably simply did not believe in MAGIC, that miracles literally happened like changing vinegar to oil willy-nilly on this plane.<br><br>Thre is a sugya in Yoma re: the mistake of seeing Moonbeams in the morning and confusing it wtih Dawn. IIRC The Gemara [or the rishonim] reject that event as being on Yom Kippur since the Moon is not in the proper position on the 10th of the month to affect this phenomenon. I have always wondered: To those who see "magical" stuff all the time in the Talmud, why not say that this one incident MIRACULOUSLY happened on the 10th of Tishre? After all It is a better read into the Mishna in Yoma to presume that the g'zeria was dealing with YK! So what if it is astronomically impossible?
<br clear="all"><br>This kind of Magical read into the story I believe is what the Rambam rejects. The idea of <br>a Navi connecting in a "gnostic" way with God is an entirely other matter.<br> <br>Gmar Tov<br>
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