By Diane M. Bolz Maimonides Illuminated  One of the finest and most elaborate illuminated Hebrew manuscripts in existence is now on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  The extremely rare 15th-century handwritten and illustrated copy of medieval philosopher Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah was jointly acquired by the Met and Jerusalem’s Israel Museum in April 2013.  Now displayed for the first time since that acquisition, the manuscript, previously in the collection of Judy and Michael Steinhardt of New York, will be exhibited at the two museums on a rotating basis. Assembled between 1170 and 1180 by the esteemed rabbi, physician and scholar Mosheh (Moses) ben Maimon—known to English speakers as Maimonides (1135-1204)—the Mishneh Torah was the first systematic consolidation of Jewish law into a comprehensive anthology. The publication of this 14-volume compendium established Maimonides as...

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