Is it possible that the Rambam made mistakes? I think so. And I’ve wondered sometimes about all the “Torah” written trying to resolve apparent contradictions in the Rambam. Are all those resolutions no matter how wonderful they are… really the Emes? Perhaps. But maybe the Rambam simply just made mistakes.
The Rambam wrote his magnum opus, The Yad HaChazaka alone. He did not do it together with other scholars. Learning Torah without a Chavrusa is an inferior way of learning. Without having another Talmid Chacham learning with you to “Sharpen your mind” …errors can inevitably result.
The Gemarah in Taanis (7A) tells us: R. Chama said in the name of R. Chanina, What is the meaning of the phrase “Barzel B’Barzel Yachad” …Irons sharpens iron… (Mishlei 27:17) ? “Lomer Lecha: Ma Barzel Echad Mechaded Es Chavero, Af Shnei Talmidei Chachamim Mechad’din Zeh Es Zeh B’Halacha. …Just as iron sharpens iron, so too, two Talmudic scholars sharpen each other with respect to Halacha… In other words by debating with one another the truth will more likely be found.
Nowhere is this illustrated better than in the Gemarah in Bava Metzia (84A). There the Gemarah tells us of both Reish Lakish’s rise to glory and his ultimate death at the “hand” of Rav Yochanan. He was responsible for Rish Lakish dying. The story is as follows.
They were learning Torah together. After a retort by Reis Lakish to a comment made to him by Rav Yochanan, Chalesh Daateh D’Rav Yochanan. R. Yochanan was visibly shaken. That “look” so affected Reish Lakish, he became seriously ill and subsequently died. Rav Yochanan was never the same after that. Reish Lakish was his constant Chavrusa and whenever they learned together Reish Lakish would pose 24 questions and the subject would become clearer. In other words Rav Yochanan’s mind was sharpened by his Chavrusa. After Reish Lakis died, Rav Yochanan could not be comforted. He would go around tearing Kriya and crying “Heichan At Bar Lakisha, Heichan At Bar Lakisha”. So despondent was Rav Yochanan that he ultimately lost his mind and died.
And this brings me back to the Rambam. He did not have a Reish Lakish when he composed the Yad. He did it alone. Had he written it with other Talmidei Chachim, The Rambam wouldn’t have anywhere near the criticism he had. Many of the questions are so strong that they require far-fetched speculation and elaborate Pilpul.
Ultimately the Rambam himself admits to the error of his ways. In a translation of the Makor Baruch by Rav Baruch HaLevi Epstein, he mentions (through the Netziv) that the Rambam said to the Chachmei Luniel that he rejected many of his own Teshuvos and was mistaken about them. The Rambam himself was not as committed to his Teshuvos the way many of the late Achronim who are… who use forced logic to defend the Rambam’s words.
The Netziv is quoted as saying that the Rambam declared in his introduction to the Yad and in many letters that he “worked for ten full years closeted in the solitary isolation of his room, not discussing his writings with his colleagues – designing and building his work on his own. If, during the course of his work, he would have consulted other Talmudic scholars there is no doubt that they would have pointed out many of the questions that have been raised in the hundreds of years following the work’s publication. He obviously would have made many corrections before allowing the book to see the light of day.”
I think that's at least as likely the truth as is all the Piplul written about the Rambam's words.
