An unlikely pairing of scholars is at the heart of the groundbreaking new translation of Maimonides’ classic work, The Guide to the Perplexed. Lenn Goodman is a professor of philosophy and Jewish studies at Vanderbilt University and Rabbi Phil Lieberman is also a Vanderbilt professor as well as a Navy chaplain and former Wall Street investment banker. “Lenn and I come from very different places,” says Lieberman, “He is not someone who works on the history of ideas; he is working on the ideas themselves. So, he is in dialogue with Aristotle and medieval Muslim philosophers or Rambam himself. I’m a historian to the hilt, just figuring out what happened and what the world of the past look[ed] like.”
Nevertheless, the two came together to create what is being hailed as groundbreaking work and one that is accessible to even the lay reader. Rabbi Saul Strosberg of Congregation Sherith Israel says, “I also struggle with philosophy. But when you read the new translation of the Guide to the Guide (a prologue of sorts), it really comes easy. Part of it is their approach to translation which is novel and unique. It’s translated in a way that is simple for the reader to understand and loyal to the sentiment of the author.”
The notion that studying Maimonides is easy is relative, though. Goodman himself says, “The Guide to the Perplexed is very, very rich. It’s designed in such a way that a casual reader won’t get much out of it. Maimonides does not really want to invite people to get into those deep waters over their heads. But if you read it carefully, and ideally more than once, you learn from so much.” Goodman says he learned something new every day he worked on the book.
The work, according to both Goodman and Lieberman, was a true collaboration and one that began with Lieberman’s arrival at Vanderbilt. Goodman says, “A few years ago when we hired Phil, I was very excited about his arrival because he knows Arabic very well, and Hebrew and Aramaic.” The two began translating some texts and the next logical step became obvious. “There was a rumor going around that somebody’s got to do something about the Guide. And we became active and started working on translating it together. We would sit together at my desk, and I had the keyboard, but we discussed every word of Judeo Arabic in that work,” he says.
After a few years working on the Guide together, Lieberman needed to move onto other projects. Goodman completed the project and then went on to write The Guide to the Guide for the Perplexed. This work is designed as both an introduction to the Guide as well as providing context by way of biography of Maimonides’ life. Strosberg says this is a perfect companion for those who want to approach the Guide. “I had the privilege of reading Lenn’s rough draft of the Guide to the Guide on a trip to Israel and it took a lot of the plane ride, but it is the single best biography of Maimonides I’ve ever read.”
Although Strosberg urges the average reader to dive into both books, it is a work that scholars believe is historic. Ismail Kurun, a native of Turkey, is working on his PhD in philosophy at Vanderbilt and has been studying with Goodman for four years. He believes this work is a major event in Jewish philosophy largely due to its content. “What attracted me to Dr. Goodman’s work was the synthetic philosophy. By that I mean he synthesizes; he combines the elements of multiple but competing philosophical traditions into a compelling synthesis.”
In fact, he likens Goodman’s work to that of Maimonides himself. He says the combining of various traditions is the reason why Maimonides wrote the Guide to the Perplexed. “In my view, it is the task of a giant to show the elements of wisdom in multiple traditions and to ultimately combine those elements.”
For those who wish to study the Guide, Kurun says to keep a few things in mind. “In my mind, the way to be the most rewarded is to read the book by thinking and considering the challenges to Judaism in the 12th century, in Maimonides’ time.”
When it comes to real world applications of the lessons in the Guide, Kurun mentions a couple of key takeaways. “One of the nuggets I like most in the book was Maimonides’ discussion of moral and intellectual virtues, which means that only a morally virtuous person can attain the truth.”
Kurun offers up another practical lesson. “Understanding traditions should be how we pursue truth in our lives. Truth should not be pursued within one single tradition because one single tradition cannot claim the entirety of truth itself.”
Strosberg looks at the Guide as offering up alternative perspectives to traditional Bible stories. “There are a lot of people who have questions about the purpose of life and what we are supposed to do in this world, and this could be a go-to book for people who are serious.” He says people have been studying the Guide for hundreds of years, and the text and the accompanying notes offer something for everyone, both the lay person and the scholar. “It forces you to have a second look at stories in the Torah.”
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Lieberman sees yet another application for the modern reader. “The Guide is one of the most important medieval works. But the reason that it is important to us today is because in our world, we drive a wedge between religion and science.” He says that traditionally to be religious means to turn your back on science, but for Maimonides and in the Guide, the focus is seeing the links between the two. “For the Rambam, there’s physics and there’s metaphysics, theology.”
Lieberman says he believes the differences between him and Goodman are what helps to make this work relevant to the modern reader. “Lenn helps open up this whole world of Medieval Jewish philosophy. I hope what I brought to the project was my unique historical perspective.” He says despite the long tradition of scholars working solo, it is in the collaboration where the real progress lies. “Scholarship is a dialogue. It’s very important for our work to be in dialogue with other scholars, and there is no more intimate an experience than sitting in the room with someone and hammering out how you’re going to translate something.”
Both Goodman and Lieberman are working individually on their next books. Strosberg says it is this “embarrassment of riches” in the academic world that elevates Nashville’s Jewish community. “Just to see the amount of time that Lenn poured into this project. Anybody can say 10 years and it’s just a number. But if [only] you knew how many hours he was living and breathing this project while writing other books and teaching other students for over a decade.”