Maimonides completes the Mishneh Torah

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The Cordoba-born Jewish philosopher, now settled in Cairo, finished the fourteen-book Hebrew code of Jewish law that he hoped would allow any educated Jew to look up an answer without consulting the entire Talmud. Its clarity and scope made it immediately controversial and indispensable. Rabbis debated whether Maimonides's systematic approach simplified or distorted the rich argumentative tradition of the Talmud, a controversy that continues to this day.