The reader who makes his way through the storm of ideas that the Rambam unleashed in the Guide, who successfully negotiates complex discussions about religious language, proofs for the existence of God, dilemmas around the question of creation, and debates about prophecy, providence, the problem of evil, and the reasons for the commandments, finds himself at the end of the book in a discussion about the purpose of life.
What is the true purpose of life? In part 3 of the Guide, Maimonides presents three possibilities: in chapter 51, mystical contemplation; in chapter 52, stronger dedication to halakhah; and in chapter 54, a life of social and political action. Which path does the Guide direct its readers to follow? Each has supporters who claim that theirs is the true path that Maimonides advocates. Some have argued that meditative contemplation leading to mystical ecstasy is the true goal of life for the Rambam.1 Others have claimed that a stronger commitment to halakhah is the purpose he advocates.2 Still others have insisted that he believes engagement in social and political life is the ultimate purpose.3
In the end the issue remains open. Maimonides does not proclaim that any one of these options is superior to the others. He walks with his readers to the border of the promised land—a whole, fulfilled life—but does not enter it with us. Like Moses the son of Amram, he remains behind, looking down from the mountain, enabling his readers to make their own way onward.