The Torah and Nature in Maimonides’s Writings

The "Guide of the Perplexed" draws parallels between nature and the Torah, which can be called: "purposefulness," "artfulness" and "generality." The book analyzes these parallels and demonstrates how the Torah as a "political constitution" imitates nature and continues its operative principles on the artificial level of human existence. "Purposefulness" finds expression in the use of means in order to achieve ends in the material world, and "artfulness" and "generality" characterize the limitations of these means. Inasmuch as it operates in the material world, the Torah must adopt these principles in its modes of operation.

The account of God's revelation to Moses in the cleft of the rock serves as the foundation for this correspondence, and in it Moses' scientific recognition is translated into models of human governance. An analysis of this story indicates that the three principles, "purposefulness," "artfulness" and "generality," parallel the thirteen attributes of mercy that were revealed to Moses, and later reduced by Jeremiah to three: "lovingkindness," "righteousness" and "justice." The book shows that, according to Maimonides, these three principles also underlie the commandments and are reflected in the structure of the "Mishneh Torah." From this perspective, Maimonides' philosophical thought is profoundly reflected in his halakhic writings.