Q&A: A Mystical Consideration in Maimonides?
A Mystical Consideration in Maimonides?
Question
Maimonides, in the Mishneh Torah, rules in several places (the laws of neighbors, the laws of ???), following the Talmud, that Torah scholars are exempt from the tax for guarding the city, since their Torah protects them. How does this fit with Maimonides' rationalist approach?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. Rationalism is a label, and labels are always misleading and overly general. According to the law of the Talmud, Torah scholars are exempt from security taxes. Personally, I would interpret this in a non-mystical way: it is important that there be Torah scholars, and that protects the city in a spiritual sense (not that it saves it from enemies). And for the Sages it was important to sharpen this point and educate the public to value them. So that is one possible rationalist explanation, but I don’t see why it is needed for Maimonides.
Discussion on Answer
With Heaven’s help, 15 Tammuz 5781
Maimonides, as a clear rationalist, establishes in the Guide for the Perplexed, part 3, chapters 17-20, the principle of individual providence, which requires reward for a being with free choice in accordance with his choice—not only on the basis of the many verses in the Bible that say this, but also on the basis of the attribute of justice, which requires doing good to the good.
According to Maimonides there, the degree of providence over a person depends on the degree of his attachment to his Creator, such that the righteous merit the level of “He guards the feet of His pious ones,” whereas “the wicked are silenced in darkness.” The righteous therefore deserve physical protection as well from “natural occurrences,” and their merit also protects their city, as explained in God’s words to Abraham that He would even spare Sodom “if there are ten righteous people within the city.”
With blessings, Nehorai Shraga Agami-Psisowitz'
Nobody is required to believe this. There is a metaphorical expression here that the sages protect us and are therefore exempt from the tax. The question of in what way they protect us is a matter of interpretation. Beyond that, I offered my own interpretation, not Maimonides’, and perhaps not even that of the Sages.
Just to sharpen the point: the potential explanation you gave means that the Sages exempted Torah scholars from paying for physical security because the presence of Torah scholars elevates / preserves the spiritual level? In other words, so that the people would value Torah scholars, they need to think that their Torah study is important enough to physically protect the city, even though that is not really the case?