Chapter Numbers in Maimonides’s Mishneh Torah

Maimonides` magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, is divided into fourteen books. Each book deals with the particular Halachic details of the overall title of that book. These Halachic sections are divided into units, which subdivide into chapter, and subsequently individual paragraphs.

An insightful, but speculative, comment was offered by Rabbi Haym Soloveitchik [Rabbi of Brisk] that the ten chapters in Maimonides` treatment of repentance [Teshuva] corresponded to the ten-day period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. His grandson, Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik reported that his grandfather, R` Haym, would indulge in the study of a chapter per day of this Maimondean unit throughout the High Holiday season.

This idea stimulated the research into examining the significance of the numbering system throughout the Mishneh Torah.

Specifically, it was found the minimum number of chapters in any given unit is three, while the maximum is thirty. This seemingly insignificant piece of information corresponds precisely with the minimum/maximum chapters in the Mishnah corpus. It can be demonstrated that Maimonides viewed his own Mishneh Torah as an extension and expansion of the Mishnah enterprise of a thousand years earlier. Parallels exists between Maimonides` reason for composing his Mishneh Torah and the emergence of the Mishnah edited by R` Judah the Prince. Maimonides carefully chooses Mishnaic Hebrew as the choice language for his Mishneh Torah as opposed to various other options. Apparently, the minimum/maximum numbering policy in Maimonides` Mishneh Torah stems as well from the Mishnah corpus.