Friday, April 2, 2010

The Rambam on his son, Rabbeinu Aḅraham

Aḅraham ben Maimonides was a Judeo-Ṣūfī, author of Kifāyat al-`Abidīn, the head of the Egyptian Jewish community, who readopted the ancient Jewish practice of Salāh and instituted it for Egyptian Jewry. The Rambam said the following of his son, lest any imagine the controversial views and practices of Aḅraham were disavowed by his father:

When I consider the current state of the world, only two things console me: my involvement with wisdom, and the fact that my son Aḅraham has been blessed by God with the grace and the fits of the one whose name he bears [Aḅraham Aḅeinu] trusted, sustain, preserve, and lengthen my son's life and years. He is humble and unassuming when among others, in addition to all his other fine qualities. His mind grasps even the subtlest concepts, and he has a fine disposition. Without a doubt, he will be prominent among the great men of the generation, with God's help. I entreat God to watch over him and maintain His kindnesses to him. - Igros Ha'Rambam [Sheilat], vol. 1. p 424

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