Maimonides’ Torah Fundamentals

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

Maimonides opens his Mishneh Torah with the most fundamental truths:

The fundamental of all fundamentals and the pillar of wisdoms is to know that there is a first existence. And He brought into being all existences. All the beings of the heavens, Earth, and what is between them came into existence only from the truth of His being (Torah Fundamentals 1:1).

What’s the difference between “fundamental” of all fundamentals, and “pillar” of all wisdoms? And to what other fundamentals does Maimonides refer?

As our great Jewish leader Maimonides wrote about this topic, it is obligatory for every human to patiently and carefully grasp his message. This obligation is compounded by the fact that Maimonides commenced his masterpiece with this lesson.

Maimonides mentions "fundamentals" before he mentions "pillars of wisdom" because fundamentals are more essential. This means that wisdoms or sciences fall below fundamentals, as all sciences are built on fundamentals. I’ll explain.

Fundamentals exist physically, and more so, metaphysically. 

Physical fundamentals are substance (matter), form (shape, size), quality (weight, temperature, density), quantity, relation (location, dependence), essence, and accident. These are the rubrics of the entire physical world.  

But there exists something more grand: wisdom and laws, which correlate to a “plan” and a “guide” respectively. God employed His wisdom in planning the world, and then He formed laws to guide the world. God’s wisdom preceded the world, and laws do not exist “inside” the tree or human body, but exist separate and prior to all entities. The law that apple trees produce only apples is not found “inside” each apple tree. For if it did, the tree’s governing laws did not exist before the tree was made. Thereby, the tree would not be created to create only apples. For the law did not precede the tree. Thus, the law precedes the tree. Furthermore, only one law is needed to guide all apple trees. Similarly, we don’t say there are trillions of individual laws of gravity controlling each molecule. That’s not intuitive or efficient of such wise Creator. Rather, gravity is a single laws effecting everything. Now that’s more pleasant to the mind. 

Physical creations come into being only after their designs have been determined in abstract wisdom, just as a blueprint in the architect’s mind precedes his building. That mental blueprint is quite real, although intangible. But this is relegated to the physical only. What are the fundamentals in this abstract realm of wisdom? 

Cause and effect is behind everything, as is intelligent design. When we say the “fundamental of fundamentals,” we refer to that which is the substratum of all else: be it physics, justice or morality, we must assess a hierarchy of what is most essential, if we wish to know truths, and also what is best for our lives.

Fundamental of all Fundamentals

What determines what is most important? It is the first fundamental which gives value and meaning to all else, and that is God: the First Cause. That is, we must understand God’s will, as He defines what is most important, what is creation’s purpose. 

But before discussing creation, we must discuss God. God, being the first cause also sheds light onto our understanding of God. As the cause of all else including the cause of physicality, He does not have physical properties such as division or parts. Therefore, God is one, although not equatable to any “one” that we know. There are not two causes for creation in the world, only He alone. God does not exist within the spatial confines of His created universe, as some believe that He “fills” the universe spatially. As God created space, He exists without space…without location. Similarly, ideas are not here or there but they exist. We don't say the idea of addition or justice is on that chair or in this box. Ideas exist without location; without any physical property. God too exists without location. Therefore, God is not “in” the world, nor are people existing “within” God. Some believe that there is no creation that is bereft of His spirit “inside” of it. These are all fantasies. God existed prior to the universe, and thus, He exists separate from the universe. Therefore, God being the first cause dictates these other fundamentals just mentioned. God being the first cause is the fundamental of all other fundamentals concerning God. God also does not exist in time, as He created it. 

The Universe is not without Design

God’s amazing marvels and choreographed systems are unnecessary for Him. Even without their creations, He is aware of His amazing abilities and His potential creations. Therefore, creation must be for observers: angels and for man. We know of no other beings possessing intelligence. The universe is a laboratory for angels and man to admire God's wisdom and investigate greater truths.

Creation bears intricate design. The study of creation requires hierarchical categorization. For example, cause and effect is a most primary feature as it relates to how and why something exists. This is primary, as existence is the most primary feature of everything. All of the qualities and accidents of all creations first depend on the “existence” of that very thing. Existence underlies all other qualities. As the most primary feature, we must inquire as to the purpose of the existence of each and every creation. Understanding creations’ purpose educates us on man’s relationship to this creation, how to engage it or use it, conveying what God's will is for both the creation and man.

Without knowing God gave existence to everything—the fundamental of all fundamentals—all  fundamentals are bereft of their true meaning. In other words, without knowing God's existence, we may not suggest any design or purpose to creation. We are ignorant of a planner and His plan. We must then assume the accidental occurrence of the universe. But then we are confronted with the disturbance of such precise design without a designer. But by accepting God as the sole cause, we can investigate the design of everything: substance, form and governing laws, which unveil the purposes of creations. We find God’s will. For God created varying creations for a reason. Thus, the unique design of each creation reveals God’s will for its use by man. 

We must give equal importance to studying the human design and all of man's faculties and traits. King Solomon did so, and shared it in his book Koheles. And the Rabbis did so, and shared it in their work Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avos). Most primarily we have Torah with its positive and negative commands and depictions of the patriarchs’ and matriarchs’ values as our primary guide to truths, morality and justice.

The Universe Operates by Reason

This is another equally vital fundamental: extreme wisdom is found in every corner of the universe. Why is this so? We cannot explain wisdom by viewing the universe as an accidental occurrence. Here too Maimonides' primary fundamental of God's existence explains why there is wisdom everywhere: His creations reflect His wisdom.

What are the categories of evident wise design? Everything in the universe is composed of substance, form and governing laws. For civilizations to exist, land could not be soft to support populations and structures, so God created Earth as hard substances. For water to reach distant dry lands, God formed it to flow, and flowing is a natural law or property. Here we have examples of God’s design of substance, form and natural laws, which reveal God’s will for man to live suitably to his nature. Thus, man’s need for stable ground to build shelters, and his thirst, are accommodated by God’s natural design. Again, knowledge of a Designer is required to understand knowledge of creation. 

God also designed man with the affect that the perception of creation’s brilliance provides happiness. And God designed man with the intense energy to fuel his pursuit of knowledge.

Knowledge operates through certain functions and categories, such as equation. We observe multiple existences and through our innate faculty to make comparisons, we differentiate existences, we identify friends from enemies, food from inedible things, and so on. We didn’t have to learn to compare; that’s an innate function of the mind. Comparison also applies to all knowledge, like matters of justice. By comparing and distinguishing greed from charity, we can judge proper morality. 

We deduce that as God implanted in us the capacity to compare, induce and deduce, that He wants us to discover His intended lessons and live by them. Again we see that God's existence is necessary as the fundamental of all other truths.

Pillar of all Wisdom

This takes us to Maimonides’ second statement: the knowledge of a first cause is a “pillar of wisdom.” For without knowing God caused all, we dismiss an “authoritative” determination of morality. Only the creator of all life can determine in which cases life is precious, and in which cases life should be terminated. 

There is far more to discuss.