Maimonides' Medical Writings Volume 4: Three Treatises on Health by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Moses Maimonides) Translated by Moses & Fred Rosner Maimonides Research Instritute, (1990)

Reviewed by Israel Drazin - April 1, 2010

Maimonides studied medicine long before he decided to enter the profession because he knew that good heath is important to a satisfying life. He taught that prevention of illness and the maintenance of good health is the major goal of physicians and non-physicians alike. He focused his attention not only on the body, but also on the mind, the environment, a proper attitude, good interrelationships, the avoidance of stress, and other similar subjects.

Maimonides was very modern in his approach to good heath by stressing exercise, proper foods, sufficient sleep, and recognizing that nature by itself, without the aid of a physician, can resolve many illnesses. His advice on health, contained in his medical, philosophical and legal writings, remains worthwhile reading today.

Yet, Maimonides lived over eight hundred years ago in a culture that was not well informed about science as the modern world. Thus some of his teachings, such as bloodletting and the avoidance of fruits, do not conform to modern thinking.

This volume contains three of Maimonides treatises on health.

• Maimonides Medical Writing, Volume 2, by Moses Maimonides.
  Maimonides' teachings are based on the unique combination of Torah, science and medicine. This volume contains Maimonides' commentary on the aphorisms of Hippocrates.
  
  
• Maimonides after 800 Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Influence, edited by Jay M. Harris.
  This volume of sixteen thought-provoking and very informative essays is a collection composed by Maimonides scholars to commemorate the eight hundredth year since Maimonides' death in 1204.