*“Our goal tonight is to try and rescue the Rambam/Maimonides (1135C.E.-1204CE) from the clutches of the Kabbalists/Mystics.”
“Our task really is to try to explain what went wrong. How could it be that one of the great rationalists of all of Jewish history, namely the Rambam/Maimonides. How could it be that he was captured by what some may call the non-rationalists or perhaps if you will the irrationalists, who are known as the Mekubalim/Mystics? And yet, it’s true they captured him, they adopted him, they took him over and it took a mighty effort and we haven’t fully succeeded either to regain our Rambam/Maimonides. The search for an answer to this question, how the kabbalists succeeded in capturing the Rambam/Maimonides is going to teach a lot about Kabbalah/Mysticism and a lot about the Rambam/Maimonides. Truth to tell, my agenda here is a bit different than that as well, and that is if one does not study appropriately and seriously and not make the right distinctions, then one will never achieve the truth. It would be equivalent to, in the 20th century if someone wanted to revision/repaint the Rav/Rabbi Soloveitchik (1903C.E.-1993C.E.) as a right wing extremist, as a pre-modern personality that would not be true to the person.” (4:15-6:01)
*“Some people repainted him as a right wing extremist and pre-modern , and that would not be true to the personality. And those who are students and admirers of the Rav, would have the obligation of rescuing him. How dare one distort the historical record about any great personality, yet it happens all the time. Where their are those who want to adopt a certain personality revisionistically and say he’s one of us, but really he would not be one of them whatsoever. So this is a serious issue. Here, we are battling with truth and my broader agenda is to make sure that it doesn’t happen, to the Rambam/Maimonides, the Rav/Rabbi Soloveitchik or any other great personality. It’s a criminal act if one were to steal a person from his own appropriate moorings and adopt him, and we all understand why this is so.” (6:02-6:50)
*“It’s interesting, because I once came across this idea, in another hero of mine which may jar you a little bit, with regard to Nietzsche. Nietzsche is one of the great minds of all time, a great philosopher and of course I was very disappointed when I found out that he was stolen from the realm of appropriate philosophy to the Nazi movement. Hitler adored Nietzsche, and Hitler used Nietzsche’s ideas of the Übermensch/superman- that he was beyond all morality to support the Nazi Movement. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nietzsche had a lot of interesting and intriguing and fantastic ideas and yet to be stolen from who he really was, and to transform him into a Nazi is a criminal act. Therefore one must be careful with whatever one studies to make sure one understands the perimeters of that personality. If one is going to write about science and religion, one has to know religion and one has to know science, and to do any less than that and to have some awareness of it, is a criminal act.” (6:51-7:58)
*As always, please listen to the class in full to understand the context and depth of the quotes above.
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