כיצד אין לומדים רמב" ם? לתולדות שיטת הרמב" ם במקורו של מעשר ראשון

This article is a reply to D. Fixler's criticism, in 'First Tithe in Maimonides' (Tarbiẓ, 73 [2004], pp. 619—625), of one passage in the author's study 'On the History of Exegesis of the Pericopes Concerning Tithes: From the Temple Scroll to the Sages' (Tarbiz, 72 [2003], pp. 97—101). The author shows that, without foundation, Fixler attributed to him a totally groundless view of Maimonides' approach, so that Fixler's criticism is not relevant to what the author wrote. Furthermore, Fixler's proposed understanding of Maimonides' statement necessitates a farfetched interpretation of the biblical verse, an interpretation that Fixler attributes to the sages and to Maimonides with no support from original sources. All this is done with a forced, harmonistic approach, while refusing to acknowledge the many changes that took place in Maimonides' views and in his formulations in his various writings. In the course of the discussion new findings are presented concerning the text of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah regarding the issue under discussion. It is shown that Maimonides' original opinion, in Sefer HaMitzvot, was expressed at first in the Mishneh Torah as well. However, Maimonides changed his mind; subsequently, he changed the text both in Sefer HaMitzvot and Mishneh Torah accordingly. It is the corrective 'patch' which Maimonides attached to his earlier formulations that caused the difficulties found in our version of Mishneh Torah; indeed, these difficulties disappear upon reading the original formulation.