Acquisition

This chapter focuses on the Book of Acquisition (Sefer kinyan), which covers the law of contract and of property. It discusses the first section of the Book of Acquisition, Laws of Sale, that contains various mechanisms for acquiring real estate, chattels, slaves, and animals, and on fairness in sale transactions. It also explains the Laws of Acquisition and Gifts, which is about the acquisitions in which there is no consideration, such as the seizure of ownerless property and of gifts. The chapter talks about Laws of Neighbours, which deals with rights and obligations between owners and occupiers of neighbouring homes and fields. It points out that the Laws of Agents and Partners covers agency and partnerships in trade, while the Laws of Slaves, the final section of the Book of Acquisition, includes transactions in and treatment of Jewish and non-Jewish slaves.

Knowledge

This chapter describes the Book of Knowledge (Sefer hamada) as the most unusual of all fourteen books of the Mishneh torah, containing materials not ordinarily found in halakhic works. It covers the closing paragraph of the Book of Knowledge, which includes digressions to the opening paragraphs of the Mishneh torah, passages in Maimonides' Book of Commandments, including his discussions of love and knowledge of God, and of the patriarch Abraham. It also mentions Maimonides' explanation about the Book of Knowledge, in which it teaches that which one must know in order to make possible the fulfilment of the Torah's commandments. The chapter cites five sections of the Book of Knowledge that are considered relevant to an exposition of what must be known so that the commandments of the Torah may be properly obeyed. The sections compose of the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Laws of Idolatry, Laws of Moral Qualities, Laws of Torah Study, and Laws of Repentance.

Asseverations

This chapter centers on the Book of Asseverations (Sefer hafla'ah), which deals with the halakhic consequences of making various kinds of statements. It discusses the Laws of Oaths as the first section of the Book of Asseverations, which deals with oaths both as testimony to past events and as undertakings for the future. It also mentions the two types of vows in the Laws of Vows: vows of abstinence and vows of consecration. The chapter explores the Laws of Naziriteship, which considers the special case of a vow of abstinence in which a person undertakes to be a nazir for a period or even for life. It explains that the Laws of Valuation and Consecration covers a special case of vows of consecration in which a person vows to give their own value or that of someone else, or some possession, to the priests or for the upkeep of the Temple.

Temple Service

This chapter discusses the Book of Temple Service (Sefer avodah) as the eighth book of the Mishnah torah that includes nine sections about the Temple and its rituals. It examines the Laws of the Temple, which opens with the commandment to make a house for God established for the offering of sacrifices. It also covers the Laws of Temple Utensils and Servers that contains the anointing of high priests and kings, the organization and functions of priests, Levites, and lay representatives in the Temple, and the priestly garments. The chapter talks about the Laws of Entrance into the Sanctuary, which refers to preparations for and disqualifications from service in the Temple, wherein priests with physical deformities and people in a state of ritual impurity are excluded. It involves the Laws of Things Forbidden for the Altar, which discusses deformed animals and other things that may not be brought as offerings.

Agriculture

This chapter talks about the seventh volume of the Mishneh torah, the Book of Agriculture or the Book of Seeds (Zera'im), which deals with laws concerning agricultural issues. It includes the seven sections of the Book of Agriculture: Laws of Diverse Kinds, Laws of Gifts to the Poor, Laws of Heave Offerings, Laws of Tithes, Laws of the Second Tithe and the Fourth Year's Fruit, Laws of First Fruits, and Laws of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee. It also explores the final chapter of the seventh section that deals largely with the special restrictions of the Levites concerning land-owning, and other issues connected with the cities given over to them. The chapter provides context for the argument about the text at the end of the Book of Agriculture. It clarifies why laws concerning charity or gifts to the poor are included in the Book of Agriculture.

Seasons

This chapter focuses on the third book of the Mishneh torah, the Book of Seasons or the Book of Appointed Times (Sefer zemanim), which contains ten sections and is considered the longest book in the work. It points out that the Book of Seasons deals with commandments that are to be fulfilled at specific times. It also mentions Solomon Gandz, who wrote that the first four treatises in the Book of Seasons represent a scale of descending degrees of holiness and strictness, while the rest of the sections deal with the other appointed times in the Jewish calendar. The chapter clarifies the significance of Maimonides' decision to end his discussion of Purim and Hanukah with a passage about lighting the Hanukah lamp. It reviews Maimonides' account of the festival of Hanukah that commemorates the miracle of the oil or the victory of the Hasmoneans over the Hellenists.

Love

The chapter begins with the theme of the Book of Love (Sefer ahavah), constant awareness of God. It elaborates that in the introduction to the Mishneh torah, it states the Book of Love includes all the precepts needed to always love God and be ever mindful of Him. It also explains that the Book of Love gives practical expression to the ideal of the unceasing love of God, which appears at the end of the Book of Knowledge. The chapter includes six sections of the Book of Love: Laws of Recitation of the Shema, Laws of Prayer and the Priestly Blessing, Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah, and Torah Scroll, Laws of Fringes, and Laws of Circumcision. It clarifies that in the introduction to the Mishneh torah, Maimonides justifies the inclusion of circumcision in the Book of Love as a purpose similar to that of commandments performed regularly.

Introduction

This chapter attempts to assemble a picture of what Maimonides sees when he lifts his gaze from the technical details of halakhah. It stresses that the vision that Maimonides sees is universalist as all the Mishneh torah is a code of Jewish law. It also discusses weak universalism, which is to say that Maimonides sees the commandments of the Torah as a particular means to a universal end. The chapter explains that the universal end is that of Torah in the larger sense, which, according to Maimonides, encompasses the universal disciplines of physics and metaphysics. It considers the universal disciplines as the pinnacle of Torah study, representing the content of what the rabbis called ma'aseh bereshit and ma'aseh merkavah, or collectively, pardes.

Ritual Purity

This chapter discusses the Book of Ritual Purity (Sefer tohorah), which covers a large and complicated area of Jewish law that was once as important to observant Jews but has been mostly without practical application since the destruction of the Second Temple. It stresses Maimonides' point that the bar on admission to the Temple is the main consequence of most types of impurity. It also explains that the laws of purity and impurity demonstrate anticipation of the messiah and the Temple's reconstruction. The chapter describes the Book of Purity as part of a meaningful structure whereby Maimonides conveys what he sees as the timeless value of comprehending the Torah in its entirety as a system of divine law. It relates the Book of Purity to universal philosophical concepts.

Offerings

This chapter examines the Book of Offerings (Sefer korbanot), which is described in the Mishneh torah's introduction as being about individual offerings. It includes six sections of the Book of Offerings, such as the Laws of the Passover Offering, about the paschal lamb that is slaughtered in the Temple and the Laws of the Festal Offering, about the three kinds of offerings that each householder brings on the three pilgrim festivals. It also mentions Maimonides, who characteristically stresses the obligation to give portions to the poor and the Levites so that they too will rejoice on the festival. The chapter cites the commandment of hakhel, the ceremony held every seven years on the festival of Tabernacles following the sabbatical year. It covers the Laws of Substituted Offerings, which is about the prohibition against substituting an animal designated for sacrifice with another one.