Morning Musing:
Rambam in his introduction to his comprehensive compendium of Jewish law declares that Jewish law is based on the rulings found in the classical sources up until the closing of the Talmud.
After that, all opinions are equal and we go with the most reasonable opinion; all new enactments are local and we don’t coerce any community to adopt the practices of another community.
As is well known, Rambam specifically calls out the Geonim of Babylonia as lacking binding authority over the Jewish people, rejecting their equally well-known claim to a continued institutional monopoly over Jewish law.
Yet, throughout his legal masterpiece Rambam references Geonic interpretations and enactments, sometimes citing them anonymously as a class, more often including their rulings without distinction alongside rulings found explicitly in the Talmud. The source of these rulings is the discourse of “al-Talmud Lana,” the oral tradition and textual culture accompanying the transmission of the Talmud through the Geonim to the communities and schools of the Judeo-Arabic diaspora, including Rambam’s native al-Andalus.
This adds an obvious layer of difficulty to the project of halakhic observance that Rambam sets out in his introduction – what are the parameters of that observance? Who sets the boundaries of Jewish law – the rabbis of the Talmud or the rabbis after the Talmud?
According to Rambam, what options, what readings of the sources, are truly available to Jewish individuals and communities today, and which are truly off-limits?
There are answers. But I’m about to step into the office. 😉