The Rambam's letters and introductions
This is a series built around a specific body of texts, not a profile of an individual teacher. Its subject is the Rambam — Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, Maimonides — approached through two kinds of writing that often get less attention than his codes: his letters (iggros) and the introductions he wrote to his larger works.
These texts include famous pieces such as Iggeres Teiman, the Epistle to Yemen, written to a community under pressure to abandon its faith, along with the prefaces the Rambam placed before his Commentary on the Mishnah and other works. Studied together, they show the Rambam speaking directly, both to individuals in crisis and to future students of his thought.
Why the introductions matter
The Rambam's introductions are far more than throat-clearing. In his introduction to the Mishnah he lays out how the Oral Torah was transmitted from Sinai, and in his introduction to Perek Chelek he sets down the Thirteen Principles of Faith that became a cornerstone of Jewish belief. These prefaces frame everything that follows them.
Reading them first is like being handed the author's own map. Before diving into the details of the Mishneh Torah or the Moreh Nevuchim, a learner who has studied the introductions understands what the Rambam was trying to do and why — which makes the harder material that follows far more approachable.
A focused way into Maimonides
Because it centers on letters and prefaces rather than a full code, this series is an accessible entry point into the Rambam's world. The pieces are relatively self-contained, and each opens onto a large idea without demanding that a learner first master an entire volume of halacha.
That makes the series useful both for newcomers meeting the Rambam's thought and for those who know his rulings but have never read the framing around them. It restores the human and philosophical voice behind the famously precise legal writing.
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At a glance
Key takeaways
- This is a shiur series on the Rambam's letters and introductions, not an individual speaker.
- His letters include Iggeres Teiman, written to a community under religious pressure.
- His introduction to Perek Chelek is the source of the Thirteen Principles of Faith.
- The introductions frame his major works and make them easier to enter.
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