20 Facts About Mishneh Torah

The Mishneh Torah was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE, while Maimonides was living in Egypt, and is regarded as Maimonides' magnum opus.

Mishneh Torah drew upon the Torah and the rest of Tanakh, both Talmuds, Tosefta, and the halachic Midrashim, principally Sifra and Sifre.

Mishneh Torah was strongly opposed almost as soon as it appeared.

Mishneh Torah had not composed this work for glory; he desired only to supply the necessary, but lacking, code, for there was danger lest pupils, weary of the difficult study, might go astray in decisions of practical importance.

Mishneh Torah noted that it had never been his intention to abolish Talmudic studies altogether, nor had he ever said that there was no need of the "Halakot" of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, for he himself had lectured to his pupils on the Gemara and, at their request, upon Alfasi's work.

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Mishneh Torah stated that in-depth study of Talmudic discussions was "a waste of time", for the sole purpose of study was to know how to practice the law.

Mishneh Torah said that his omission of his sources was due solely to his desire for brevity, although he regretted that he had not written a supplementary work citing his authorities for those halakot whose sources were not evident from the context.

Mishneh Torah was involved in the burning of a number of copies of the Sefer ha-Madda in the 1240s.

Mishneh Torah set out to the Land of Israel, to ask forgiveness on Maimonides' grave in presence of ten witnesses, but failed to continue to his destination.

Mishneh Torah composed a classic work on penitence during his soul-searching.

Mishneh Torah's Mishneh Torah is indeed still very popular, but there has been no cessation in the study of other works.

Various commentaries have been written which seek to supply the lacking source documentation, and, indeed, today, the Mishneh Torah is sometimes used as a sort of an index to aid in locating Talmudic passages.

Mishneh Torah itself has been the subject of a number of commentaries, the most notable being Magid Mishne by Vidal de Toulouse, Kesef Mishne by Yosef Karo, Mishne la-Melech, Lechem Mishne, Rabbi David ben Zimra and Hagahot Maimoni .

In-depth study of Mishneh Torah underwent a revival in Lithuanian Judaism in the late 19th century.

Today, thousands of Orthodox Jews, particularly Chabad Hasidim, participate in one of the annual study cycles of Mishneh Torah, innovated by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in the spring of 1984.

The Mishneh Torah had always been a leading authority in the Baladi Yemenite community – as a matter of local custom.

Yosef Qafih is credited with the publication of an almost encyclopedic commentary to the entire Mishneh Torah, including his own insights, set to a text of the Mishneh Torah based upon the authoritative, hand-written manuscripts preserved by the Yemenite Jewish community.

The introduction to his edition of the Mishneh Torah is well known in itself as a defense for the keeping of halakha according to the Mishneh Torah.

Besides the works of Qafih and Arusi, there are a number of other commentaries to the Mishneh Torah written by leaders of the Yemenite Jewish community.

Yale Judaica Series edition of the Mishneh Torah was started in 1949 and is almost complete, except "the Book of Knowledge", which is in progress:.