Page:Eight chapters of Maimonides on ethics.djvu/21



the lifetime of Maimonides, there were many who bitterly assailed him, declaring that his Talmudical knowledge was faulty, that his writings were un-Jewish, that he sought to introduce strange elements into Judaism, and that he desired his works to supersede the Talmud. Some of Maimonides' opponents were animated by a spirit of true criticism, but other attacks made upon him were partly due to personal feelings of envy. The opposition continued for a while after Maimonides' death, but it was not long before the true character of this master's works became universally recognized. The feeling, minus the personal element, that Maimonides wished to have his works take the place of the Talmud, has, however, persisted to this day. Thus, we find Luzzatto stating that Maimonides wrote his Mishneh Torah in order to do away with the study of the Babylonian Talmud. Beer, supporting the same opinion, maintains that Maimonides saw the disadvantages of the study of the Talmud, was aware of the uselessness of some of its parts, and considered its extended study a waste of time. As proof of this he quotes from the introduction to the Mishneh 

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