c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) It was quite a surprise when two famous people recently jumped out of the history books to join me in a fascinating conversation.

Here’s the transcript of the encounter between Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) and Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Although they lived about 600 years apart, it’s clear they share many similar beliefs about the human condition.

Franklin: I am honored to meet the great Rabbi Maimonides. In April 1788, I made a financial contribution to the building fund of Philadelphia’s Mikveh Israel synagogue. The congregation’s members mentioned your name many times; always with reverence. They said you were the greatest Jewish leader and thinker since the biblical Moses.

That year, I was too ill to attend the Independence Day parade, but I watched from my window and saw Christian clergy marching arm in arm with the rabbi. I’ve always thought that religions should work together and respect one another.

Maimonides: Thank you for the compliment and the positive account of Christians and Jews. Unfortunately, during my lifetime, the followers of Jesus and Muhammad both persecuted the Jews. My own family had to flee our home in Cordova, Spain, because the Ishmaelites treated us harshly and with contempt.

Rudin: Today Ishmaelites are called Muslims.

Maimonides: Thank you. Still, I wrote that the religions of Jesus and Muhammad “are all for the purpose of paving the way for the true Messiah, and are preparing the entire world to worship God together.”

Franklin: I regret the terrible things that have happened to Jews throughout the centuries. Religion should make people better and improve society. I once wrote that I could never believe in “any thing that should prejudice any one, of any sect.”

Maimonides: Indeed. I once said that religion should keep people “equidistant from extremes … not irascible or easily provoked to anger … they should only desire those things which are necessary and indispensable … should give to charity … and be not hilarious and mirthful, nor gloomy and melancholy … the middle course is the wisest.”

Franklin: Exactly! I see why you are so respected. I based my life on 13 virtues. I attempted to follow them, but not always with success.

Maimonides: That is true for every human. God wants us to turn from our evil ways and repent. Thirteen virtues? I, too, posited the exact same number of beliefs. Which were yours?.

Franklin: Temperance, a middle course of food and drink. Silence, so I may learn from others. Order, a set time for life’s activities. Resolution, do what life requires. Frugality, waste nothing. Industry, do something useful. Sincerity, hurt no one by deed or word. Justice, the basis of a good society. Moderation, precisely your “middle course.” Cleanliness, of body and residence. Tranquility, strike a positive balance in life. Chastity, never sexually abuse another person. And Humility, no false pride or hubris.

Maimonides: My list starts with the declaration that God exists, that God is one and unique, without bodily form and is eternal. Prayers are directed to God alone, who gave us prophets of truth, especially Moses and the unique Torah _ the collection of all Jewish wisdom and teaching. He is a God who knows our thoughts and deeds, who rewards and punishes. I finished up with a belief in the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead.

Franklin: You are far more theological than I. But we do have some similar concepts. A month before I died, Yale University President Ezra Stiles asked about my beliefs. I summed it up this way: “I believe in One God, Creator of the Universe, that he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is doing good to his other children.”

Maimonides: I made reason a core of my belief. In my book, “A Guide for the Perplexed,” I stressed reason as a foundation for religious belief, but it must be combined with personal piety.

Franklin: I share your love of reason. I wrote, “To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly … we cannot shut the Eye of Reason.”

Maimonides: I hope we shall meet again, dear Doctor.

Franklin: Indeed so. Shalom, dear Rabbi.

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of the recently published book “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us.”)

KRE/RB END RUDIN

A photo of Rabbi Rudin is available via https://religionnews.com.