Translating the Greatest Work of Jewish Thought

In his own lifetime, Moses Maimonides encouraged a great rabbinic translator to render his philosophical magnum opus, the Guide of the Perplexed, from Arabic into Hebrew. In the subsequent eight centuries, it has appeared in multiple translations into Hebrew, English, and other languages. Lenn E. Goodman, who has recently, with Phillip I. Lieberman, completed a new annotated English version, along with a companion explanatory volume, discusses his own understanding of this profound text, his approach to translation, and Maimonides’ worldview. (Interview by Nachi Weinstein. Audio, 111 minutes.)