The Great Eagle (2017): Season 1, Episode 3 - Episode #1.3 - full transcript

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A series by Uri Rosenwaks

Research and Production
Sharon Garber

Scientific Consultant
Aviad Stollman

From Moses to Moses
There Was None Like Moses

Cinematographer
Rotem Yaron

Editor
Miri Lauffer

Original Music
Avi Belleli

Design and Illustrations
Yaniv Shimoni

Animation
Dotan Goldwasser

Image Design
Aharon Pe'er



Narrator
Haim Uliel

Soundman
Eli Bain

Soundtrack Design
Ophir Lokay Eliasaf

Directed and Produced by
Uri Rosenwaks

May his wings spread
over the whole world

The Great Eagle
In Search of Maimonides

The Palace Parable
Moreh Nevuchim 3:51

I begin this chapter with
a parable...

The king is in his palace.

Some of his subjects are in the city
and some are outside the city.

Among those in the city are those
who turn their backs on the king's palace

and look in another direction,

and those who face the king's palace
and wish to go in

and stand before him.



Among those who face
the king's palace

there are those who walk around it
looking for the gate

and those who enter the gate
and walk through the corridors.

Prof. Sarah Stroumsa
The Hebrew University

He tells us in Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for
the Perplexed) in Chapter 71 of Part 1

that there was philosophy in Jewish culture
but it vanished because

it was never written down.

And Rambam sees himself...

He ignores
the previous Jewish philosophers

and sees himself as the one who restores
philosophy to its former glory.

The Talmud forbids
talking about these things

because they're liable to reach people
who misunderstand them

and misinterpret them
and that can only cause harm.

The Perplexing Guide

The Royal Library
Copenhagen, Denmark

From 1187 to 1191. Rambam wrote
"Moreh Nevuchim" (The Guide to the Pereplexed).

Moreh Nevuchim
Handwritten copy written in Barcelona in 1348

God Almighty knows
that I was very hesitant to write

the things I wish to write
in this book

since they are hidden matters.

Dr. Micha Goodman
The Hebrew University

This book is problematic
on so many levels,

first of all, it purports, at least,

to decipher the secrets of the Torah
using Greek philosophy as the key.

He doesn't learn medicine
from the Greeks.

He learns metaphysics, the doctrine
of divinity, from the Greeks,

and reveals the secrets
of the Torah throught it.

He goes as far away as possible

to acquire the tools he needs to reveal
the most hidden and concealed doctrine.

You can understand why this made
some people feel uncomfortable.

Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik
Chairman, Treasures of the Land Assoc.

What's dangerous about it?
He adopted Aristotle.

And once you adopt Aristotle

you may not know where to stop.

If someone says, "Look, Aristotle was right,"
where does it end?

It's dangerous because
it's radical in many ways.

And Rambam hid the roots
of his philosophy from the masses

because true knowledge
is always dangerous.

You burn your heretics,

why do you turn a blind eye
to our heretics?

Burn our heretics, too,

and command that the "Book of Knowledge"
and the "Guide" to be burned.

Letter to the Inquisition
by Rambam's detractors

Baek to our study
of the Guide for the Perplexed.

Part 3, Chapter 12.

Frwn the beginning?
-Yes, starting from the beginning.

This is one of the most important
chapters in Rambam's philosophy,

it's about why evil exists
or what causes evil.

And he uses the example
of the Muslim doctor Alrazi

And he uses the example
of the Muslim d®ef®r Alrazi

who wrote a book called
Al-llahiyat, "Divinity,"

i.e., the opinions,
the views, the theories

that have to do with metaphysics.

Is that clear?
The concept of divinity.

The science of divinity in the Middle Ages
is metaphysics,

that which is beyond nature.

Who is God?
What is His essence?

How was the world created?
What are we doing here?

All these are lofty questions

and to Rambam they're an integral part of
Jewish knowledge which everyone should know

because man doesn't only
do things,

he also has to understand
why he does them.

Why? Why do I serve God?

What purpose does it serve?

To him, it's an integral part
of Judaism.

So these circles rejected it for fear
that people would become heretics.

Prof. Moshe Halbertal
The Hebrew University

It begins with

one question

which is at the root of...

the whole project of the
Moreh Nevuchim.

And this is a central question
that troubled Medieval philosophers,

the question of Divine will.

Does God desire?

Once you say that God desires,
you attribute a lack to Him

because desire means wanting
something that isn't there.

You attribute change to Him,
you undermine His perfection.

If you say that God has no will,
then there is no revelation,

because revelation is God's willful,
sovereign commandment

to man.
He commands.

And there's no Divine Providence,
either,

and the whole essence of Judaism

as a Torah-based religion
is liable to be undermined.

Selihot (Supplications)
at the Western Wall

The Torah requires certain beliefs,

the belief in which its essential
for political situations,

such as that we believe that He will be
angry at those who disobey Him,

which is why we must be fearful
and avoid sin.

He writes here in Ch. 3,
Paragraph 28 of the Guide.

about two different types
of belief in the Torah.

He says there are true beliefs

and what makes them true
is that they're true.

And there are necessary beliefs,

which we don't measure
by their degree of truth

but by how beneficial they are,

that they're beneficial when
many people believe in them.

The belief that God gets angry
and punishes the wicked

isn't a true belief according to Rambam,
it's a necessary belief.

Yom can see how necessary it is

because when society believes that
God gets angry and punishes thieves,

if thousands believe that,
we don't need so many policemen, right?

He says: There are things
stated in the Torah

for political reasons,
which are politically beneficial,

but aren't necessarily
accurate theologically.

To say that God gets angry
is to say that God isn't God.

According to Rambam, truthfully
speaking, He doesn't get angry,

but let's not tell everyone.

Rambam proposes a God who is
perfect and beyond comprehension,

and therefore He cannot be changed.

This theory brings up
serious questions.

It certainly does, at least
as Rambam presented it,

which is why, at certain times,

when I identified with these things,
I was badly shaken.

So you now live according to,

to put it bluntly, a Kabalistic perception
that there's... -That's right.

There's a dialog, man influences God.
-Absolutely,

yes.

Yes, I...

I live according to that,
at least on the simple level.

I myself perceive this
on several levels,

but on the everyday level
I definitely live as if it were true,

that there is dialog and change
in terms of my acts vis-a-vis God.

There is Divine Providence.

Absolutely. No doubt about it.

So Rambam's theory about
necessary beliefs and true beliefs...

I don't accept it

certainly not on the radical level,

not even on the minimal level.

I live with the concept of
Divine Providence in its literal sense.

God gets angry, loves,

rewards, punishes, and so on.

The katie Kabbir-Yosef Kappa
One of the greatest Rambam commentators.

Faith means trusting someone whom
you can't perceive through knowledge.

If you can perceive him
through knowledge, that isn't faith.

You have to learn a lot.
First of all, study science.

Quadruple your mind ,
enhance it...

because Rambam believes thcTt if you
don't know God, you're an idolater.

Because how you imagine God,
His size, width, length, depth,

form, beauty, ugliness,
is all in your mind.

If you serve according to your imagination,
you serve your imagination, not God.

One must divide
one's study into three:

One-third, the Written Torah,
one-third, the Oral Torah,

and one-third understanding
the first principle...

and this is what is called Talmud.

Dr. Meir Buzaglo
The Hebrew University

Rambam tells us specifically

what the scholar's schedule
should be.

He doesn't put it abstractly,

he says specifically what
the scholar's schedule should be

from youth until old age,
and based on a Talmudic statement

he divides the day into thirds

an at a certain age one s ou stu y
more Torah and Bible and Talmud.

Over time everything becomes

more about reflection, observation,
meditation, maturation.

Prof. David Henshke
Bar-Han University

Talmud is the path of deduction,

how you can deduce new answers
to new questions based on existing laws.

But he leaves the whopper
for the end:

"And matters known as 'Pardes'
included in the Talmud."

"Pardes" its a Talmudic term usually
associated with mysticism, with Kabbala.

For Rambam,
Pardes includes two things:

Creation and Chariot Mysticism.

He defines Creation simply
as physics.

And Chariot Mysticism
is metaphysics.

Traditionally, Jewish mysticism
has two dimensions,

Creation and Chariot Mysticism.

Rambam identifies Creation
with the natural sciences,

biology and physics
and chemistry and so on,

that pretty much makes up Creation.

Chariot Mysticism is the study
of the non-physical world.

The prime element is God, of course.

So if you think God is a great body,
a shining light, something tangible...

Human traits.

Exactly, human traits,
you don't mean God.

Maybe you mean
an elephant or something,

but you don't mean God.

Rambam sees the study of physics
and metaphysics

as an actual Torah commandment.

I disagree with Rambam.

I have no doubt that
Rambam's interpretation

of Creation and Chariot Mysticism

isn't the historical interpretation.

Rambam identifies Creation

with physics, biology, chemistry.

That's definitely not true.

I'm sure that,
historically speaking,

that wasn't what
the Mishnah meant.

And personally,
when I feel the need

to study Creation and Chariot Mysticism
I don't look for them in physics.

I will now explain my parable:

Those outside the city are those who have
no faith, intellectual or traditional.

They are like mindless animals.

They aren't on the level of humans,
they're lower than humans

but higher than apes.

Those who face the palace
and want to enter

but have never seen the palace

are the religious masses,

the simple people
who fulfill God's commandments.

Lior Tai
VP Content, Kolot

"Know, my dear son,"

here he uses interesting wording,

"Know, my dear son,

"that as long as you occupy yourself
with mathematics and logic

"you are going around the palace,
looking for the gate."

And later he explains that
"being in the palace"

is the combination of studying
math and logic with Torah wisdom.

At a much earlier stage
I must study math and logic,

what we call science
and philosophy,

in order to enter the courtyard
in the first place.

If I haven't studied math and logic

no matter how much Torah I know.

You can't even think about Rambam without
taking general studies into account,

they're so fundamental to him,

so much so that he has a term

that he uses occasionally,
"ignorant rabbis."

What's an "ignorant rabbi?"

A rabbi who's studied Torah

but is ignorant in all the important
areas that are "beyond Torah."

That's why I think Rambam
would insist strongly

on the study of science
and philosophy

as part of religious studies.
That's more radical than what people say.

studies and secular studies

and Rambam would want us
to study both.

Wrong. Rambam sees them
as religious studies.

Note that he calls wise men

by an interesting name,

"the men of justice."

Or "the men of truth," if you will.

Who is he addressing here?
-The Jews.

Not necessarily.
The philosophers.

The "men of justice" or "truth"
are the philosophers. Why?

Because they've been through
the whole process of human thought

and have learned to distinguish
good from evil,

whereas Rambam,
as a religious man,

believes that beyond philosophy
there is a Creator

who only good.

When you understand the natural sciences
you are inside the palace

and, you are walking
through its corridors.

When you understand both
physics and metaphysics

you have reached the inner court
and are in the king's presence.

That is the level of the sages.

Here we don't frighten away
the Divine Presence, God forbid

Here there are no computers or devices
with access to the internet or movies

The modern Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) world
doesn't follow Rambam.

How dare you speak on his behalf
when you're outside the palace?

You don't even know
what the palace looks like,

you don't even know
the palace exists.

There's always an intellectual elite
that knows it all or at least wants to.

Do the rabbinic leaders
study Rambam's works?

That's a complicated question.

Haredi society is complicated.
-Yes.

Most of the leaders of recent
generations aren't intellectuals,

they don't study Judaism.

Haredi society doesn't really
concern itself with Judaism.

A philosophy of how to live, yes,

but not the roots of the ideology

of Judaism.
-As a defense mechanism?

Certainly. You could call it
a defense mechanism,

you could call it fear
or you could call it wisdom and sobriety.

This disconnection from knowledge
distances them from Judaism.

They close themselves off
in many ways.

You and your children,
I assume,

don't study secular subjects
at all, right?

As a rule?
-That's right.

You only study Torah...
-Right.


e learn the minimum
that the Haredi schools require,

I'm referring to the boys, of course.
The girls are another matter.

They learn a bit of math,
a bit of Hebrew, a bit of history,

but no more than that.
Like a regular Cheider (religious school).

What would happen

if they studied physics or biology
or English in a Haredi school?

Secular studies get in the way
of focusing on the spiritual life

which is the important thing.

And practically speaking
I can't see myself

sending my son into the world

and being able to rest assured
that he'll remain true to the Torah

and to God.

So physics or biology or whatever

endanger the life of Torah?
-That's right.

So you're totally anti-Rambam?

I relate to Rambam
in a more internal way

and I know that for Rambam, too,

ultimately, the purpose of living
is to serve God. -Right.

But regarding Gemara...
-Hold on.

And although it was appropriate
in Rambam's time,

I know it isn't appropriate now.

I'm not ready for it
and the community isn't ready for it.

By "community"
I mean the Haredi community,

and I won't put
its spiritual life at risk

for other purposes when I know
that its wholeness is at risk.

Beit Shemesh

The Biblical Museum of Natural History

Okay.

So here we have our animals.

Now, the first thing you're wondering is,
are these animals real?

And the answer is yes,
they are all real.

Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin
The Biblical Museum of Natural History

I grew up in Manchester, England
in a religious family.

My father of blessed memory
was a professor of physics

so I had a strong science background
and also a strong Torah education.

Now, Rambam says
that it's a Mitzvah from the Torah

to be familiar with the signs
of kosher animals.

Right? Now, everybody learns in school
what the signs of kosher animals are,

but most people don't
really know what they look like.

So we're gonna fulfill a Mitzvah
from the Torah according to Rambam.

The signs of a kosher animal, firstly,
it has to have hooves that are split.

So here we have a hoof,
but it's not split.

So this is not a kosher animal.
What's this?

A zebra. -A zebra, right,
this is a foot of a zebra

made into an ashtray,
I got it in Africa.

So if you go to Africa and you see
a 3-legged zebra smoking,

you'll know why.

And then here we have the split hoof
of a kosher animal.

This is the split hoof
of a kosher animal. What's this?

No, this is a'baby giraffe.

Right? So giraffes have split hooves
and they also chew the cud,

so giraffes are kosher.

I knew it wasn't so popular
in the wider community

to speak about certain aspects
of modern science,

but I figured that if you show people,
look what Rambam said in Moreh Nevuchim,

then nobody could possibly argue with it
because it's the Rambam.

For example, the salamander.

Now, there are two things that
the Talmud says about the salamander.

It says that it's born in fire
and that it can live in fire.

And both those things, modern science
says is absolutely not true.

So originally, learning these accounts in the
Talmud it was very hard for me to understand

because I'd been brought up
with the idea that

the Talmudic sages
are basically infallible

and knew everything, so how could
they say something that's wrong?

What answers did you get from
your teachers, from your rabbis?

In the yeshivas I went to

the rabbis were not equipped
to answer these questions

and they would just
say things like:

The Talmudic sages say it,
you have to accept it.

But then, thank God, I met some other
rabbis who learned Moreh Nevuchim

who pointed out to me
how Rambam says that

it's true that the Talmudic sages
were tremendous geniuses in Torah,

but when they spoke about matters
to do with modern science

that wasn't something that they received
from Mt. Sinai or by Divine inspiration,

they just accepted what was
common knowledge in those days.

Do not ask me to correlate
the astronomical matters they mentioned

with reality

because mathematics was faulty
in their time.

Why did you publish the book?

My initial idea was that if science
has proved something

and if Rambam says it's okay,

then how could anyone
possibly argue?

That was naive, huh?
-That was very naive. Yes.

Not only how could people argue,

I also figured,
why would anyone argue?

What do you mean?

Why would anyone have a problem
with it if Rambam says that it's okay?

And that too was very naive.

What happened?

Well...

there was this reaction that these books
are, number one, heretical,

and number two,
that they are dangerous,

that it's gonna lead
all kinds of people astray

because it's gonna make them question things
that they didn't question beforehand.

I was defending,
showing that my book is not heresy,

that I didn't come up with something new,

that this whole idea of Creation
does not need to be entirely literal

and that we can accept the truth
from wherever it comes,

I'm showing that that has precedent in the
Rambam, that this is a traditional approach.

Now, one of your rabbis came here to help
you out, to try to persuade the rabbis, right?

From the United States, yeah.
-What... who did he...?

He went to speak to
Rabbi Elyashiv.

What Rabbi Elyashiv said was:
Yes, it's true

that Rambam and Rabbi Avraham
son of Rambam

and Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch and
there were others wbo took this approach,

however, he said, we can't
take this approach nowadays.

What was interesting is that
when he was asked:

But didn't’Ram bam say the same things
in Moreh Nevuchim?

What Rabbi Elyashiv said was:
And if there was gonna be a popular edition

of Moreh Nevuchim,
I would ban that also.

So it was a very difficult
period for me.

What happened
around that time is that

I moved out of the Haredi world
to the religious-nationalist world

because I realized that for somebody
like me that this is so important to me,

I can't be in a community where those views
are considered to be unacceptable.

Or Vishua Hesder Yeshiva
Haifa

Greetings, gentlemen.

Today we'll take a deeper look
at a subject we touched on before,

but now we'll look at it
a little more thoroughly.

Rambam's exact approach

to Greek philosophy
and Aristotle in particular.

Why do I say "Aristotle in particular"?
Because in Rambam's time

the intellectual star of the entire
civilized world was Aristotle.

And to this day,
almost without exception,

the research world presents Rambam
as an Aristotelian philosopher.

That's false for several reasons,

first of all, to make
a genius of Rambam's stature

intellectually inferior to Aristotle

is like saying that the Torah
has mothing to say

without foreign cultural influence.

We reject that out of hand.

There's a fear of dealing with a book
like this that's liable to mislead people.

When the debate over
Rambam's books came up

which lasted a few decades
and eventually died down

about a century after it began,
Ramban, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman,

summed it up very nicely.

He said:
The only problem with this book

is its title. He called it
The Guide for the Perplexed

when it should be called
the Perplexing Guide.

Why the debate with Aristotle,
regarding Creation in particular?

Because Aristotle
came up with the idea

that it's impossible
that God created the world.

I call Aristotle
the first heretic in history

because he denies Creation.

Until the modern physical theory
of the Big Bang came along

which blew apart not only
the beginning of Creation....

but the Aristotelian theory as well

because it proved
the Creation theory.

The world must be either
primordial or renewed.

If it's renewed,
someone must have renewed it,

and if it's primordial,
there must necessarily be

an entity besides
every entity in the world

which is neither a body nor a force
and which is unique, constant and eternal.

The question is: Was the world
created or did it always exist?

What does Rambam do?

He listens empathetically to all
the theories in his cultural milieu

which refute the idea
that the world was created

and he's convinced, ostensibly.

But he also listens empathetically
to all the refutations of the idea

that the world always existed

and he's convinced by them, too.

Now, if you're convinced that the world
couldn't have been created

but it can't always have existed either,

it must be one or the other...
We're here, right? -Right.

So one must be true,
but neither are true,

and that's a situation which, centuries
later, Kant would call antinomy

and Rambam calls
an intellectual standoff.

I'm convinced that the world
wasn't created,

I'm convinced of the opposite,
and I'm in the middle.

But Rambam says

he's convinced that the theory
that the world was created

is more likely than
that the world always existed.

He won't say it's for sure.
It's very likely.

Rambam says to his readers:
Let's see you live

in a world of likelihood,
not certainty.

Let's say

we're talking about Creation
as it's perceived in the modern world,

or the theory of evolution,

if we compare them,

where do they conflict?

You're going straight to...


e spoke generally about
physics and biology

and now you're touching on
the most sensitive points.

So...

first of all, again,

as a Torah Jew I know
what I need to concern myself with,

it's with Divine Revelation.

To learn evolution
or the theory of creation

from a heretical teacher

is out of the question.

And when you want to learn it
from a religious place

I divide it in two.

First of all, I know what
the Torah wanted to teach us.

The Torah wants to teach me
that the world was created in six days.

I trust the Torah and God

that the way the story is told
is sufficient and true enough

to allow me to look at the world
from a Torah perspective.

Rambam formulates the principles of faith
which he believes are incumbent on all Jews

and if you reject them
you aren't a Jew.

And one of these 13 principles
which are sung in every synagogue today

speaks of the Resurrection,

that we must believe in the Resurrection.
It's a principle of faith.

And Rambam says again and again:
A Jew must believe this.

And this sparks debate since people say
that since he was a philosopher,

like all philosophers he's suspected
of disbelief in resurrection.

Now, Rambam says this
again and again:

A Jew must believe in this principle.

He doesn't say anywhere:
This is the truth.

It's a principle that we must believe in.
How? I don't know. Just accept it.

Now, when he speaks of truths
he uses different language

and his readers notice
this difference

and attack him for it.

True human perfection, which is
the attainment of intellectual prowess...

This is the ultimate goal which brings man
to a state of true perfection

and there is no other.

And this imbues man with
eternal existence

in which man is man.

He says that the Resurrection

is a miracle.

A miracle? Yes,

we know it's a miracle
after it happens.

Before that there's no way of knowing
whether it's a miracle.

So there's no way of knowing
whether it's true.

Of course not. It's beyond nature.

Within the laws of nature,
resurrection is impossible.

Now, can something exist
outside the laws of nature?

If so, it's a miracle,

and we only know that a miracle
took place after it happens.

In your opinion, Rambam says

that as long as he hasn't seen
the Resurrection

he can't know if it's true or not.

Of course not.
There's no way of knowing.

What do you think?

Rambam says in more than one place
that the body is superfluous

and that there's no reason
to want to have one again.

So he agrees with Aristotle.

I think so.
From Rambam's perspective

the longing for the soul to remain...
-Is intellectual.

It's intellectual and it's real
and it's very present,

the longing for the mind to remain,

not just the soul but the mind,
is very real.

While Rambam writes Moreh Nevuchim,
Kabbala comes out of the closet.

And a few decades later
the Kabbala's masterpiece also appears,

The Zohar.

An interesting question,

here we have two different interpretations
of the essence of Judaism,

Rambam's interpretation,

it's rational,
God is perfect and absolute,

a religion that doesn't change God,
it changes those who follow it,

and Kabbala, which is irrational.

A religion that not only
changes God but,

in certain radical versions,
actually controls God,

a belief system...

Who will win the battle
for the Jewish soul?

Moreh Nevuchim or the Zohar?

Rambam or the figure
who's associated with Kabbala

more than any other, the Ari?

Who's going to win?

The Ari is ahead now, isn't he?
-I think we can say

that we left the Middle Ages
when Rambam was beaten

and Kabbala became
the dominant voice of Judaism.

Tiberias

Welcome to the tombs of Rabbi Moshe
beh Maimon.

The souils of the right righteous
aren't built on their graves;

their words are their legacy
and one should not visit their graves.

We see mystification

crop up and flourish everywhere

and populist faith takes over

which is clearly the result
of populism and ignorance,

people don't want to study,
they adopt superstitions

such as the Evil Eye, demons
and spirits, Asmodeus and Lilith,

all sorts of things in that grey area,

and they see them as freedom of speech
or freedom of opinion,

and then rational religion,
realistic religion,

the religion on which we base
our daily lives,

has no place any more.

If Rambam were to rise up today,

how would he feel?
-I don't think he'd rise up,

he'd say: I don't want to see this.

Here lies Rabbi Mtesike ben Maimon,
the finest of men.

To get to the crux of the matter,

do I think that amulets and tombs
have value?

Absolutely.

Coming from the place of a Kabbalist
who's very concerned with the Ari,

with the souls of Zaddikim,
through unifications,

through the connection of souls,

I definitely think they're
important and worthwhile

and I agree that Rambam
wouldn't tolerate them,

but...

I'm happy with them.

Traditional Judaism clearly
cherished and supported them

and I accept and live them.

The religious viewpoint can't accept

the view of one individual person ...

What do you do with his statements?

I'm sorry,
I'm not allied with Rambam.

Rambam is strongly opposed
to praying at gravesites, amulets,

everything from the mystical realm

which can't be proven rationally,

but I always wonder

how he could oppose

when the foundation of his life,
his belief in the Creator,

is eminently irrational.

He tried..

To claim that it is rational.
-Yes.

But we both know that, ultimately,
faith is irrational.

And if you try to force it into

rational dimensions
you do it an injustice.

Often when I study
Moreh Nevuchim

I wonder smilingly:
Who was Rambam trying to convince,

me or himself?
You know?

Rambam has always been there
and he'll always be there.

And I think it's a profound thing,

regardless of whether it failed,

as a Jewish option

that says that thought isn't a threat
to faith. On the contrary,

it's the most profound
manifestation of faith,

and philosophic debate enriches

and deepens

the inner life, human life.

Rambam will always be there.

The State of Israel creates a space

in which Rambam's Judaism
can be revivified

without endangering
Judaism's continuity

since Judaism here is so protected,

unlike in the Diaspora,

that it can be more intrepid.
-But the opposite is happening. -True.

Paradoxically, the only place where
Rambam's Judaism can flourish is Israel

and the only place where
it doesn't flourish is Israel.

But I'm optimistic,
I think Zionism is creating the conditions

for a renaissance of Rambam.

Tiberias, 1913

When the Temple was first built,

the Sanhedrin met in its chambers
which were in the Israelite section...

and when its continuity was broken
it wandered from place to place,

to ten different places,
and ended up in Tiberias...

And the tradition is that in the future
it will return first to Tiberias

and move from there
to the Temple.

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