Statement

The need for commentary shows the peculiar mix of conservatism and innovation of the Jewish Middle Ages, an innovation fostered by the encounter with Muslim intellectual culture. Most of the Bible was already over a thousand years old, and the Talmud was harder still to understand. Through reason, commentators unraveled the puzzles of these texts, while Maimonides tried to cut through the tangled structure of Talmudic argument to a clear and, in his view, reasoned summary of the Oral Torah. Philosophy, poetry and biblical commentary all show Jews' religious traditionalism and their openness to outside ideas.

References

1. p. 176

   supports · main text · ch. 6

   Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.

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2. p. 176

   supports · main text · ch. 6

   Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.

   Verification anchor recorded · checked against the page text