Not only the bold philosophical ideas, but also the halakhic writings of Moses Maimonides caused much controversy in the Jewish world in his own day and for at least a century after his death. Tamar Marvin profiles one of the lesser-known Jewish intellectual giants of the Middle Ages, who played a pivotal role in these controversies:

To say that Rabbi Meir ha-Levi (Ramah) ben Todros Abulafia ha-Nasi (ca. 1170–1244) was a consummate Sephardi rabbi and the preeminent authority in Spain in the first half of the long 13th century is still, somehow, an understatement. A member of an illustrious family of authorities honored with the title nasi (“prince,” “lord”), Ramah was also a precocious Talmud prodigy who commanded attention and respect already as a young man in his twenties. Much of his voluminous commentary on the Talmud has, sadly, been lost, but Israel Ta-Shma, the eminent halakhic historian, considered it to be the culmination of Sephardi Talmud commentary.

He was a . . . Sephardi intellectual of the old school, with knowledge of Arabic, a propensity for writing belletristic prose and poetry in the Sephardi style, and an abiding interest in astronomy and other rationalist pursuits.

One might think this sophisticated thinker would have admired Maimonides, the Spanish-born Jewish rationalist par excellence, but in fact Ramah was a fierce opponent who, as Marvin describes, tried to organize French rabbis in his anti-Maimonidean campaign.

Last week, Jordanian police arrested sixteen members of the country’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood for acquiring explosives, trying to manufacture drones, and planning rocket attacks. The cell was likely working in coordination with Hamas (the Palestinian offshoot of the Brotherhood) and Hizballah, and perhaps receiving funding from Iran. Ghaith al-Omari provides some background:

The Brotherhood has been active in Jordan since the 1940s, and its relations with the government remained largely cooperative for decades even as other political parties were banned in the 1950s. In exchange, the Brotherhood usually (but not always) supported the palace’s foreign policy and security measures, particularly against Communist and socialist parties.

Relations became more adversarial near the turn of the century after the Brotherhood vociferously opposed the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. The Arab Spring movement that emerged in 2011 saw further deterioration. Unlike other states in the region, however, Jordan did not completely crack down on the MB, instead seeking to limit its influence.

Yet the current Gaza war has seen another escalation, with the MB repeatedly accusing the government of cooperating with Israel and not doing enough to support the Palestinians.

Jordanian security circles are particularly worried about the MB’s vocal wartime identification with Hamas, an organization that was considered such a grave security threat that it was expelled from the kingdom in 1999. The sentiment among many Jordanian officials is that the previous lenient approach failed to change the MB’s behavior, emboldening the group instead.