We Must Learn Rambam – Daily Chizzuk by Rabbi Eliezer Berland Shlit”a

THE DAILY CHIZZUK BY MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A

EVERYONE NEEDS TO CLING TO RAMBAM.  IT IS WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT CHILDREN THE AGE OF THREE CAN UNDERSTAND IT.

The Rambam wrote his composition over a period of ten years.  He closed himself up and did not leave the house.  He knew all of Shas by heart.

He said, “I wrote the [commentary on] the Mishnayot at sea.”  This is written at the end of Uktzin.  He writes, “I wrote this while I was at sea.  I travelled from sea to sea.”

He left Spain.  He writes that he left the Salt Sea.  The Salt Sea mentioned in the Torah always refers to the Mediterranean Sea, the salty sea, where the water is salty.  Therefore, everything is lost there [when throwing things in there so that they will dissolve].

The Rambam says, “I wrote the commentary on the Mishnayot when I was travelling from sea to sea without books.”  He did not have any books, and he already knew all of Shas.  Everything was organized in his mind like in a drawer, like in boxes, like in an encyclopedia, which is arranged by entries – everything was organized in his mind already by the age of 17.

The Rambam was born in Spain, but they had to flee from the Almohads [a Berber Islamic dynasty founded in the 12th century] and the Muslims, and they moved to Fez [the second=largest city in Morocco].

He arrived in Fez at the age of seven and remained there until the age of 21.  Then he decided to travel to the Land of Israel.  After staying in Israel, he went to Egypt.

The Rambam writes that whoever says that a certain bird is forbidden by Torah law detracts [from the Torah].  One needs to know the entire Rambam, to start specifically with Shoftim, because this is the easiest.  Shoftim deals with the laws of kings.  These are simple matters:  what is permitted for a king, what is forbidden for a king, when war is permitted, what is a mandatory war, what is an optional war.

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