Q&A: The Account of the Chariot According to Maimonides
The Account of the Chariot According to Maimonides
Question
Hello Rabbi, the Rabbi has claimed several times in his lectures that Maimonides understands the Account of Creation and the Account of the Chariot, in the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, as physics and metaphysics. I have just now read chapter two carefully, where Maimonides explains the fundamentals of the Account of the Chariot, and it seems that he is actually talking about something else entirely.
He understands the Account of the Chariot as knowledge of the angels, seraphim, and so on—that is, the levels above human beings and closer to the Holy One, blessed be He. If this reminds one of any doctrine, I would sooner think of Kabbalah.
Answer
Indeed. One should remember that Maimonides, like Aristotle, saw the angels and the spheres as part of his physics. But Maimonides was not familiar with Kabbalah, and he certainly did not mean that.