Maimonides and the Shaping of the Jewish Canon

'James A. Diamond's book is a wonderfully rich, subtle, and erudite exposition of Maimonides' central and complex place in the history of Jewish thought. In his emphasis on Maimonides as an interpreter of prior canonical texts and in his analysis of the complex and deep ways in which Maimonides' own works became, in turn canonical, Diamond makes a highly important and remarkable contribution to understanding Jewish thought as essentially an interpretative tradition.' Moshe Halbertal, New York University School of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and author of Maimonides: Life and Thought
'A fascinating consideration of Judaism's most important thinker and the battles that have been fought over his ideas in the centuries following his death. Diamond's study begins with a sustained look at Maimonides himself and the central place that the love of God occupied in his view of Judaism. From there the book goes on to consider various understandings, and misunderstandings, of the master by a series of later thinkers, from Nahmanides and Abarbanel to such diverse moderns as Hermann Cohen, the Netziv, and Abraham Isaac Kook. This book is an intellectual tour de force, but more than that, it is an essential guide to understanding the 'thinking' part of Judaism in our own day.' James Kugel, Harvard University, Massachusetts
'In this uncommonly stimulating and deeply learned book, James A. Diamond has captured not only the development of a particular tradition within Judaism but also the excitement of tradition generally. His account of the extraordinary afterlife of Maimonides, this saga of assents and dissents through the centuries, establishes the primacy, and the originality, and the beauty of interpretation as a mode of thought. This study of the sustenance of ideas is itself intellectually sustaining; it is itself a link in the chain that it skillfully portrays.' Leon Wieseltier
'… exemplifies a relatively new field of study … [This] book will be of major interest to academics, but any Jew who studies and struggles with Maimonides' thought will find it a compelling read … sure to be studied seriously around the world.' Martin Lockshin, The Canadian Jewish News