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———— FOUNDER'S MESSAGE
A Word from
Rabbi Yamin Levy
Founder and President of the Maimonides Heritage Center, distinguished Sephardic rabbi, educator, and author — Rabbi Yamin Levy has devoted his life's scholarship to the study of Maimonides and the Andalusian Jewish intellectual tradition. What follows is a personal message about the mission he founded, and why it matters more than ever.
To all who care about the future of Jewish heritage
I have spent the better part of my life studying Maimonides. I have read his words in Cairo, in Jerusalem, in New York, and in Tiberias — and the longer I study him, the more certain I become that there is no figure in Jewish history more urgently needed by the world we live in today.
The Rambam was a man who believed that reason and faith were not opponents, but partners. He believed that the pursuit of truth — through science, through philosophy, through honest inquiry — was itself a form of devotion. He believed that extremism in any form was a corruption of the human soul, and that the middle path was not a compromise but a perfection. He was a physician who healed bodies, a jurist who codified law, a philosopher who wrestled with the deepest questions of existence — and through it all, he remained a profoundly humble servant of God and of his people.
"The Rambam did not build a monument to himself. He built a body of wisdom designed to outlast him — and it has, by eight hundred years and counting.
I first visited his burial site in Tiberias with a group of friends in 2004. What I found there broke my heart. The grave of this extraordinary man — a figure revered equally by scholars in Jerusalem and Cairo, by philosophers in Paris and Toledo, by halachic authorities across the entire Jewish world — was surrounded by neglect. The building that stood adjacent to his resting place had fallen into disrepair. The site felt forgotten. And something in me refused to accept that.
I returned to New York knowing that I had to act. I had spent years writing and teaching about the Rambam — about his ideas, his courage, the sheer breadth of his genius. And here was a chance to do something that went beyond words. To take everything I believed about his importance and express it in stone and mortar and programming and community. To build something worthy of him at the very site where he rests.
Together with my dear friend Joshua Setton and the remarkable Mia Cohen, we founded the Maimonides Heritage Center. We acquired the building. We raised the funds. We renovated the site from the ground up. And what emerged from that effort — what you can visit today in Tiberias — is something that continues to astonish me every time I walk through its doors.
Every year, tens of thousands of people come to this place. Birthright groups who had never heard of the Rambam leave knowing that he changed the world. IDF soldiers who come for a brief educational stop remain for an hour, asking questions. Scholars arrive from universities on three continents. Families on pilgrimage to Israel make this a centerpiece of their journey. Schoolchildren from across Israel sit in the courtyard where he is buried and listen to his ideas for the first time — and something in them wakes up.
"This is not a museum. It is a living school. And the Rambam is still its greatest teacher.
But I want to be direct with you: this work is not finished. The Maimonides Heritage Center has accomplished more than I dared hope in those early years, and the need for what it offers has only grown. In a world that often rewards certainty over inquiry, ideology over reason, and division over dialogue, the Rambam's life and thought offer a profoundly different model — one that we desperately need.
Our educational programs reach audiences that no traditional institution touches. Our soup kitchen feeds the hungry in the very shadow of the Rambam's grave — an expression of tzedakah that he himself would have recognized and approved. Our visitor experiences connect secular and religious, Israeli and diaspora, young and old, in a space where Jewish history becomes tangible and personal.
I did not found this Center as a tribute to the past. I founded it because I believe the Rambam's ideas are an answer to the present — and a gift to the future. Every program we run, every visitor we welcome, every meal we serve, is an act of faith in that conviction.
If you share that conviction — even a part of it — I invite you to become part of this work. Support the Maimonides Heritage Center. Visit us in Tiberias. Bring a group. Study with us. And help us ensure that what the Rambam built with his mind and his life continues to reach the people who need it most.
The light he lit has not gone out. We are simply tending the flame.
With gratitude, with hope, and with faith in the enduring power of wisdom —
Rabbi Yamin Levy
FOUNDER, MAIMONIDES HERITAGE CENTER
A distinguished Sephardic rabbi, educator, and author, Rabbi Levy has served the American pulpit for nearly four decades. A leading voice in Sephardic scholarship, his work centers on Maimonides and the Andalusian Jewish intellectual tradition.
He has published seven acclaimed books and lectured internationally, bringing the Rambam's ideas to scholars and general audiences alike.
Rabbi Yamin Levy
FOUNDER, MAIMONIDES HERITAGE CENTER
SELECTED WORKS BY RABBI LEVY
An exploration of the mystical dimensions within the Rambam's philosophical masterwork.
Jewish Mysticism: Essays on Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
Tracing the roots of Sephardic spiritual thought from Rav Saadia Gaon through the medieval era.
The Mysticism of Andalusia
A portrait of the generation that produced Maimonides and shaped the Sephardic world.
Founding Fathers of Sephardic Jewry, 1150–1232
Seven books in multiple languages, and an extensive library of online lectures available at rabbiyaminlevy.org.
Additional Works & Lectures
——— THE FOUNDER'S CONVICTIONS
Why This Work Cannot Wait
Reason and Faith Are Not Enemies
The Rambam spent his life proving that intellectual inquiry and deep religious commitment are not only compatible — they are mutually reinforcing. In an age of polarization, this message is more urgent than ever. The Maimonides Heritage Center exists to make that argument, not in the abstract, but in person, at his grave, with every visitor who walks through the door.
The Middle Path Is a Discipline, Not a Compromise
The Rambam's opposition to extremism was not timidity — it was wisdom. He taught that the golden mean, pursued with rigor and conviction, was the highest form of human character. This teaching has never been more needed. The Center actively promotes the Rambam's approach to ethics, law, and thought as a living guide for contemporary life.
A Legacy Without an Address Is a Legacy at Risk
Ideas require institutions. The greatest thinkers in history have been forgotten when the places that housed their memory fell into neglect. The Maimonides Heritage Center is that address — a physical home for the Rambam's legacy, maintained and animated by people who believe that his ideas deserve to be studied, celebrated, and shared with every generation.
——— FROM THE RAMBAM HIMSELFE ———
"Teach your tongue to say 'I do not know,' lest you invent something and be caught.
MAIMONIDES — MISHNEH TORAH
——— AN INVITATION ———
Join Us in Tending
the Flame
——————
The light the Rambam kindled eight hundred years ago has never gone out. The Maimonides Heritage Center exists to make sure it never does. If this mission resonates with you, we ask you to become part of it — through a gift, a visit, a study session, or simply by sharing this work with someone who needs it.
The Rambam built for the ages. So are we.