The goal of the present volume is to shed light on a number of traditions of Maimonideanism that have hitherto little been explored. Maimonides (1138 1204) was the most important medieval Jewish philosopher and also made lasting contributions to many other fields. The essays in the first part examine aspects of his work in medicine, Jewish law, and liturgy. The essays in the second part look at how Maimonides was read, misread, and creatively reinvented in a wide range of contexts in the East and in the West from medieval Cairo to Crown Heights in Brooklyn. Written by a group of leading scholars, the essays illustrate the breadth of Maimonides' work and the fascinating history of its reception from the 13th century to the present.

PART ONE - FROM THE WELFARE OF THE BODY TO THE WELFARE OF THE SOUL: MEDICINE, LAW, AND LITURGY 1. Critical Remarks on Medical Authorities: Maimonides' Commentary on Hippocrates' Aphorisms, Samuel Kottek 2. Dissemination of Maimonides' Medical Writings in the Middle Ages, Lola Ferre 3. Maimonides' Contribution to Women's Healthcare and His Influence on the Hebrew Gynaecological Corpus, Carmen Caballero-Navas 4. The Structure of Mishneh Torah, Joseph Tabory 5. Maimonides on the Prayers, Stefan C. Reif PART TWO - FROM CAIRO TO CROWN HEIGHTS: INTERPRETING MAIMONIDES IN THE EAST AND IN THE WEST 6. Maimonides-Father and Son: Continuity and Change, Paul B. Fenton 7. Abraham Maimuni's Prayer Reforms: Continuation or Revision of His Father's Teachings?, Mordechai A. Friedman 8. Sharh al-Dalala: A Commentary to Maimonides' Guide from Fourteenth-Century Yemen, Y. Tzvi Langermann 9. From Maimonides to Samuel ibn Tibbon: Interpreting Judaism as a Philosophical Religion, Carlos Fraenkel 10. Ahabah ba-Ta'anugim: A Fourteenth-Century Maimonidean Encyclopedia, Esti Eisenmann 11. Late Medieval Jewish Writers on Maimonides, Angel Saenz-Badillos 12. Maimonides' Disputed Legacy, Menachem Kellner 13. The Image of Maimonides in Habad Hasidism, Naftali Loewenthal 14. Anthropomorphisms in Early Rabbinic Literature: Maimonides and Modern Scholarship, Yair Lorberbaum