Mishneh Torah משנה תורה
The Rambam's complete code of Jewish law—fourteen books covering the whole Torah without a single citation.
The Mishneh Torah is the boldest project in the history of halakha. The Rambam worked on it for ten years and produced a book covering the entire law—not only what was practised but the laws of the Temple, offerings, kings and wars, and ritual purity, unused for centuries.
He did two things that were argued over for ages. He wrote in the clear Hebrew of the Mishna, without Aramaic or talmudic digression. And he gave no sources and no dissenting views—only the ruling. His preface explains why: so that a person who has read the Torah and this book would know the whole Oral Law and "need no other book between them". The Raavad began objecting in the margins at once, and his glosses have been printed alongside ever since.
It has fourteen books, from the foundations of belief to the laws of the Messiah.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- Rambam, introduction on Mishneh Torah — the plan: the whole law without citations or disputes
- Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah — a model: the code speaks to the mind and to the heart alike
- Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 11–12 — the laws of the Messiah — sober and without miracles
- Raavad's glosses — a contemporary’s critical notes, printed alongside
Basis: tradition.