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MaimonidesonthePreservationofHealth
GERRITBOS
Itiswell-known thatMaimonides(1135-1204),oneof thegreatestphilosophersand
expertsinJewishlaw(Halakhah),was aneminentphysicianaswell.Heprobablystudiedmedicineduringhissojournin Fez(Morocco)between1158and1165,afterheandhisfamilyhadfledfrom his nativecityCordoba,becauseofthepersecutionsbythe fanatical
Muslimregimeofthe Almohades.
In1165hesettled withhisfamilyinFust?t,the ancientpartofCairo,where hestartedtopractisemedicine foralivingafter his fatherdiedin1166andhisyoungerbrother
David,whosustained thefamily,perishedinashipwreck shortlythereafter.Around theyear1181hewasappointed physicianatthecourtof theSultanin Cairo.
Hewastokeepthispositionuntilhefellillin1200,whenhehadtolaydown hisofficial
duties,and died afteraprolongedillnessin1204.1
While Maimonides'sworksinthe fields ofphilosophyandJewishlaw have all been
edited,translatedandinterpretedtimeandagain,thisisnotthecasewith his medical
works.Ofhismajorworks theK.al-Fus?l(Aphorisms),theSharhfus?l Aburqr?t
(CommentaryonHippocrates's Aphorisms),and theK.al-sum?m(OnPoisonsand theirAntidotes)areonlyavailableineditions of thethirteenth-centuryHebrew translationsand
inmodernEnglishtranslations basedontheHebrew.2These Hebreweditions,prepared
byS?ssmanMuntner,areunsatisfactoryaccordingto ourmodernstandards ofeditorship,which demandacriticaleditionof thetext,basedonanevaluation ofallthe availableMSS,andacriticalapparatusreferringtovariantreadings.3Butwhatisworse,theArabicoriginalsof these worksarestillunedited,whileitiswellknownthattheysometimeshave different versions andadditionsincomparisonwiththe1ForMaimonides'sbiographicalandbibliographicaldataseeMaxMeyerhof,"Themedical workofMaimonides,"EssaysonMaimonides,anOctocentennialVolume,ed. SaloWittmeyerBaron(NewYork,1941),pp.265-99;HarryFriedenwald,ThefewsandMedicine,Essays,2vols(Baltimore,1944,repr.NewYork,1967),i,pp.193-216;ManfredUlimann,Die Medizin imIslam,HandbuchderOrientalistikI,Erg?nzungsbandVI,1(Leiden/K?ln,1970), pp.167-9.2TranslatedbyFredRosner,TheMedicalAphorisms ofMaimonides,MaimonidesMedicalWritingsIII(Haifa,1989);Maimonides'CommentaryontheAphorisms ofHippocrates,MedicalWritingsII(Haifa, 1987);TreatisesonPoisons,Hemorrhoids,Cohabitation,MedicalWritingsI(Haifa,1984,2nd ed.1988).3Forasurveyof editorsand translators ofMaimonides'sworksseeJacobI.Dienstag,"Translatorsand editorsofMaimonides'medicalworks",Memorial VolumeinHonorof Prof. S?ssmannMuntner,ed.byJoshuaO.Leibowitz(Jerusalem,1983),pp.95-135;for Muntner'sactivityseeespeciallypp.116?21;seealsoFredRosner,TreatisesonPoisons, Hemorrhoids, Cohabitation,pp.1-17.JRAS,Series3,4,2(1994),pp-213-235
 
214
GerritBos
Hebrew translationsas,forinstance,inthecaseof theKal-Fus?l(Aphorisms).Afourth
majorwork,theMukktasar?tli-kutubJ?l?nus(selectionsfrom theWorks ofGalen),which
onlysurvives inpart,isnotavailableatall inprint,neitherintheoriginalArabic,norinanytranslation.Ofhissmallertreatisessomehave beenedited,namely,(i)theK.ftal-jim?'
(OnSexualIntercourse)writtenattherequestof the Sultan'Umaribn Nural-D?n,
nephewofSaladin,ofwhichtwoversionsexist,alongerandashorterone4;(2),the Ft
tadb?ral-sihha(OntheRegimenofHealth),writtenin1198attherequestoftheruleral-AfdalNural-D?n'Al?;5(3)theMaq?la?bay?nal-a'r?dwa-al-jaw?b'anh?(OntheCauses
ofSymptoms),written for thesamerulertwoyearslater when his condition didnot
improve;6(4)theSharkasm?'al-uqq?r(CommentaryontheNamesofDrugs);7and(5)
theRis?laf?al-bawas?r(OnHaemorrhoids).8Oneminortreatise,namely,Maq?la?al-rabwi
(On Asthma)isstillunedited andagainonlyavailableinanuncritical editionof the
medieval HebrewtranslationbyS?ssmannMuntner,9andinEnglishand FrenchtranslationsbasedontheHebrew.
Thisunsatisfactorysituationinthefield ofthe textualeditionsof Maimonides'smedical
worksrepeatsitself in thatofthesecondarystudies.Thoughthe numberofsecondarystudies of his medical worksissignificant,noneof themgives,asfarasIknow,adetailedtextualanalysisdealingwiththesourcesandunderlyingtheoreticalconceptions,next to
acritical evaluation ofitscontentsinthelightof relevant Islamic medicalworks. TheonlyexceptionsI knowofarethe detailedanalysiscontainedin the edition ofhisMaq?la?bay?n
al-a'r?dwa-al-jaw?b'anh?,and the critical introductiontothe editionof hisSharkasma' al'uqq?r.Thisneglect,as weshallsee,hasledtoexaggerationsintheappreciationofMaimonides'sgreatnessandoriginalityasaphysician.This unfortunate situation alsoholdsgoodfor hismostpopularandmostinfluentialwork,namely,F?tadb?r al-sihha(OntheRegimenofHealth),writtenin1198attherequest4The Hebrewtranslationsoftheshorter versionandof thelongerversion,whichaccordingto somescholarsisspurious,havebeen editedbyHermann Kroner in:EinBeitragzurGeschichtederMedizin desXII.JahrhundertsanderHandzweier medizinischerAbhandlungendesMaimonidesaufGrundvon6unediertenHandschriftendargestelltund kritischbeleuchtet(Oberdorf-Bopfingen,1906).The Arabicoriginalof theshorterversion hasbeeneditedbyKroner in: "EinemedizinischeMaimonides-HandschriftausGranada",Janus,XXI(1916);pp.203-47.RecentlyanothertextascribedtoMaimonides,dealingwith sexualintercourse and writteninHebrew,has beenpublishedbyMordechaiL.Wilenski;seehis"Hanhagatha-Beri'utba-MishgalLaqu'ahmi-RabbiMoshehMaim?nZikhronoli-Bherakhah",AAJR,Proceedings,LVI(1990),pp.101?13.5"F? tadb?ral-sihhat,Gesundheitsanleitungdas Maimonidesfur den Sultan al-Malikal-Afdal",ZumerstenMaleimUrtexteherausgegeben,insDeutsche?bertragenund kritischerl?utertvonH.Kroner,Janus,XXVII(1923): pp.101-16,285-300;XXVIII(1924):pp.61-74,143-52,199-217,408-19,455-72;(1925):pp.235-58.Englishtranslation:Moses Maimonides'Two TreatisesontheRegimenofHealth,fttadb?r al-sihhaandMaq?laf?bay?nal-a'r?dwa-al-jaw?b'anh?,translatedfrom the Arabicand editedinaccordancewiththeHebrewand LatinversionsbyArielBar-Sela,HebbelE.Hoff,and EliasFaris,TransactionsoftheAmericanPhilosophicalSociety,NewSeries-Volume54,Part4,(Philadelphia,1964).6MosesMaimonidesontheCausesofSymptoms, Maq?laf?bay?nal-a'r?dwa-al-jaw?b'anh?,Ma'amarhaHaqra'ah,DeCausisAccidentium,editedbyJ.O.Leibowitzand ShlomoMarcus,with thecollaborationof M.Beit-Ari?,E.D.Goldschmidt,F.Klein-Franke,E.Lieber,M.Plessner(Berkeley-LosAngeles-London,1974).7Sharhasmaal-uqq?r, (L'explicationdesnomsdesdrogues).Unglossairedemati?rem?dicalecompos?parMa?monide. Textepubli?pourlapremi?refoisd'apr?sle manuscrituniqueparMaxMeyerhof(Cairo,1940).8"DieHaemorrhoideninder MedicindesXIIundXIIIJahrhunderts."An derHand einermedicinischerAbhandlungdesMaimonides ?ber die HaemorrhoidenunterZuziehungeinergleichnamigenmedicinischenAbhandlungdesSalomobarJussufIbnAjjub,aufGrund8 unedierten HandschriftendargestelltundkritischbeleuchtetvonH.Kroner,Janus(1911), pp.441-56,645-718.9RabbeinuMoshehBenMaim?n,Seferha-Qazeret0Seferha-Mis'adim.Be-Targumoha-Ivrishelha-RofeR.ShmuelBenveniste,edited with introductionandcommentarybyS?ssmannMuntner(Jerusalem,1940).
 
Maimonidesonthe PreservationofHealth
215
oftheruleral-Afdal.Onlyonearticlepartlydealswithits sectiononfoodstuffs inacritical,
comparative way.10
Theintentionofmyarticle istoprovidethekind of criticalanalysisandevaluation
mentionedabove.Sincethesubjectofthepreservationof one's health also featuresinsomeofhisothermedicalworks,as,forinstance,inhisAphorisms,TreatiseonAsthma,andOn
theCausesofSymptoms,Iwill refertothese worksinmytreatmentof thissubjectaswell.
Iwill,moreover,consulthisnon-medicalworks,suchashis halakhicwork,the MishnehTorah,orhisphilosophicalworktheMorehNevukhim,where theseproviderelevantinformation.BeforeenteringadetaileddiscussionofMaimonides'smedicalrulesconcerningthepreservationofhealth,itmaybeusefultoseewhathe hastosayabout thissubjectfromanon-medical,religious pointof viewas,forinstance,inhis HilkhotDe'ot,where he
declares:"Since,by keepingthebodyin healthandvigour,onewalksinthewaysofGod-itbeing impossibleduringsicknesstohaveanyunderstandingorknowledgeofthe
Creator-it isaman'sdutytoavoid whateverisinjurioustothebody,andcultivatehabits
conducivetohealthandvigour."11Accordingtothe authorahealthy bodyisof vitalimportancetomansinceit istheonlywaybywhich hecanfulfil his finalpurpose,namely,
toserveGod,totreatin hisways,andtoobtainknowledgeof God.Thispurposecanonly
beachieved,accordingtoMaimonides the Aristotelianphilosopher,bymeansoftheactivationof man's intellectandbyhisstudyofnature(physics).Butthis isimpossibleforasickman,impededashisintellectisbyhissickbody.Moreover,hecannotreach
immortalitywhich,accordingtoMaimonides,isreservedsolelyfor thosewhoseintellecthasbecomeactivatedand thus hasbecome immaterialandimmortal. Itisthereforea
religious obligation,aMizwah,toavoid that which makes thebodysick,andtosticktothat whichmakes ithealthy.Itisclearthatthebodyis inhisopinionsubservienttothe
soul,andinparticulartoitsintellectualpart.Evenmoreoutspokeninstatingthetruepurposeof thepreservationof one'shealthiswhathe hastosayin hisintroductiontohiscommentaryonthePirkeiAvot,called
ShemonahPeraqim,wherehestates:"Thepurposeofthehealthof hisbodyisthathissoulwillfindhealthyandperfecttoolstoacquire(knowledge)ofthe(physical)sciences,moral
virtues and intellectual achievementssothathis soulwillreachthatultimategoal (namely,apprehensionofGod)".12Accordingtothe authorahealthy bodyisaperfecttoolforthesoul,bywhichheunderstandsitsintellectualpart,toobtainscientificknowledge,whichis inhisphilosophytheonlywayformantoknowGod.Moreover,bymeansofahealthybodyhecanacquiremoral virtuesandintellectualachievements,sothat hemayreachhisultimategoal, namely,apprehensionof God.Onemightsaywith MuntnerthatMaimonides'ssloganwouldnotbe "menssanaincorporesano"asthe ancient Romansstated,but"corpussanumpromentesana".10JacobLevinger,"Maimondes'Guideof thePerplexedonforbiddenfoodin thelightofhisownmedicalopinion", PerspectivesonMaimonides,PhilosophicalandHistoricalStudies,ed.JoelL. Kraemer(Oxford,1991), pp.195-208.Forasurveyofeditions,translationsandsecundarystudiesonMaimonides'sRegimenofHealthseeJacobI.Dienstag,"Bibliographyof Maimonides'RegimenofHealth",Maimonides,ThreeTreatisesonHealth(MedicalWritings4),translatedandannotatedbyFredRosner(Haifa,1990),pp.98-116.11Mishneh Torah,Seferha-Madda,HilkhotDelot,IV,1;The BookofKnowledge,editedandtranslatedbyMosesHyamson(hereafterHyamson) (Jerusalem-NewYork,1974),50a.12ShemonahPeraqimV.
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