code

In the opening book of his monumental code of Jewish law, Maimonides declared, \”We are bidden to walk in the middle paths which are the right and proper ways….\” The great medieval sage was articulating the golden mean, the principle that we should avoid extreme behavior, ethical or physical, at all times. The person who succeeds — indeed, who navigates between indulgence and self-denial — is, by Maimonides\’ standards, the wise one.