Problems and Parables of Law

A rigorous analysis of Maimonides' and Nahmanides' explanations of the Mosaic commandments that challenges received notions of the relation between these two seminal thinkers. A central topic in medieval Jewish philosophy and thought was the explanation of the Mosaic commandments. From Philo and Saadiah on, thinkers sought to uncover "reasons for the commandments" (ta'amei ha-mitzvot) both to demonstrate the rationality of divine legislation and to motivate performance of the commandments. Like