How I Use the Mishneh Torah

My last post on Bizui Talmidei Chachamim violated some fundamental rules of my understanding of the operating system of the Mishneh Torah. Thanks to Matt for catching it. I wanted to detail what I think the proper way in general to approach the work is and then delineate the misstep that I took in the last post.

The Basic Organization of the Mishneh Torah
As I stated in the presentation of Psalms 119 earlier, the Rambam had a very specific organizational scheme in the writing/ presentation of the Mishneh Torah. The work is comprised of 14 books. The entire Mishneh Torah is headed by two verses,

בשם ה', אל עולם בראשית כא,לג
אז, לא אבוש--בהביטי, אל כל מצוותיך תהילים קיט,ו

33 {And Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer-sheba}, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God

6 Then should I not be ashamed, when I have regard unto all Thy commandments.

Immediately after the initial two verses the Rambam places his Hakdamah, his preface to the entire work.The Hakdamah itself has multiple parts, first the preface, then the minyan Hamitzvot the numbering of the commandments both aseh and Lo Ta'aseh and the chalukas haSeforim the delineation and division of each book including the theme of each book and the entire list of every commandment in each book. Following the end of the Hakdamah there again is a verse which heads the first book sefer HaMada'a.[ Sefer HaMada'a I believe is the first book because of its fundamental necessity to the entire corpus of knowledge to follow]. After the verse at the head of each book is the listing of the Halachik sections that are included in the book, these are divided into the mitzvot in each section. Each Halachik section is titled and headed. The heading counts the number of commandments included and lists them. After the heading "Koteret" the chapters begin. Each chapter is divided into laws, each progressing into the next.

How to utilize the Organization

To my knowledge and according to my understanding of the training I have recieved from the scholar of Maimonides' System I have come up with the following rules to properly using the Mishneh Torah.

The Hakdamah is of utmost importance. This is true of any work of a chacham and especially true with Maimonides. The Rambam wrote the preface to give a background and explanation for the necessity of the Mishneh Torah. Within the Hakdamah the numbering of the commandments and divison of the books are carefully written to instruct about the organization of the system. Before using the Mishneh Torah it is highly important to carefully study the preface.

Each book starts with an initial verse. [ This paragraph applies to the two verses before the hakdamah as well] These verses give a general guidline for what the book is about. For example, the verse at the head of Sefer Hamada'a is :
משוך חסדך, ליודעיך; וצדקתך, לישרי לב
This verse " continue your kindness to those who know you and your Justice to the upright of heart" contains ideas that are necessary to the understanding of each and every law contained in the book.

Each Halachik section contains the heading with the number and formulation of the commandments contained in it. It is necessary to read through this section carefully noting the formulation of the commandments. Each Law will fit into one of the commandments listed.

Each chapter is a progression Law into Law principle into principle. Therefore , it is necessary to read the ENTIRE CHAPTER in order and NEVER to CHERRY PICK an individual law.

The order of each chapter is itself intentional. Ideally one should read the entire section thoroughly and see a progression from chapter to chapter.

In other words, the verse at the head of the work contains a general idea into which the entire work will fit, each and every law. The individual book in turn has a verse that contains the principle that the entire book, each and every law will fall in line with. Each section's heading contains the commandments that will be dealt with in that section. Each law must follow from one of the listed commandments. It is possible to go from the verse at the head of the work to the verse at the head of the book to the section, commandment, chapter and eventually down to the very individual law and they will all fall into a hierarchichal system. [ Or vice versa, it is possible, and a good excersize that I was shown by the scholar of Maimonides' System to go from law, to chapter, to commandment to verse all the way up the ladder to the core principle of the work]


It could be that one who carefully studies the Mishneh Torah will come to see that the system works differently than I have described. I would not be surprised. It is clear however, that there IS a system of the Mishneh Torah. If one fails to study this system they will be failing to utilize the work as was intended. If you do not think this is important look at it like this. You go to the dealership and buy a brand new sports car. Its a hot little number and you can not wait to go out on the highway and get it up to speed, Oh to think about just how much joy this little blue car will give you! There is only one problem. The car is a stick shift and Alas!, you only know how to drive automatic. You would not risk ruining your investment , burning out the clutch and ending up a heaping wreck on the side of the road after deciding not to learn how to drive a manual. What you would do is go to a teacher and make very sure that you know how to drive that car so that you ensure that you get the maximum returns on your investment and G' forbid destroy it before you even got to enjoy it. I think the same is true with the Mishneh Torah. The author carefully organized and formulated the entire work. It is important to understand what the organizational scheme of the work is and how it is meant to be used so that you ensure the proper functioning and maximum returns.