AZR describes Maimonides as a synthesis of faith and philosophy ("what they share in common — the conquest of the passions"), and the polished style of the "Mishneh Torah," but he points to the moments where "this great Hebrew heart grows warm." From Maimonides he quotes precisely what is dear to him:
"Thus you have learned that the laws of the Torah are not vengeance upon the world, but compassion, lovingkindness, and peace in the world." (Maimonides, Laws of the Sabbath) · And on wars: "like a pack of dogs fighting over a carcass" — "he understood well the nature of wars… and knew their base purpose." AZR, "Maimonides," "Historical Sketches"; Project Ben-Yehuda.
AZR even seeks to bring Maimonides to the common people — "worthy of being a constant book on the table of every Jew" — and defends him against a false accusation (that he supposedly converted to Islam): "it is a false libel" — again, his ethos of truth (see "AZR the Historian"). "From Moses to Moses, none arose like Moses."
In a bold sketch AZR presents Bruriah as a woman who broke through the bounds of her time:
"We find one woman… who distinguished herself by her strength of spirit and also went beyond the narrow sphere that confines woman, and rose in knowledge of the Torah to be as one of the masters of halakha." AZR, "Bruriah, Wife of R. Meir," "Historical Sketches"; Project Ben-Yehuda.
AZR explicitly rejects the slanderous legend of her fall as a baseless defamation, designed to punish a learned woman:
"This is a legend which certainly has no foundation whatsoever, but which came to besmirch the memory of Bruriah, who dared to think that women too have settled judgment, and that it is not to be belittled." Ibid.
This position accords with his defense of women's dignity in his contemporary articles (see "Morality, Social Justice," "Compassion").
A martyrological sketch: Adil of Lvov, wealthy and charitable, was framed in a blood libel (a priest and his maidservant hid a dead child under her bed). To save the community she took the guilt upon herself:
"Indeed God has found out my iniquity: it was I who slaughtered this child, I alone; no one was with me." AZR, "Adil Daughter of R. Moshe," "Historical Sketches"; Project Ben-Yehuda.
And when she was offered conversion to save her life, she refused with self-sacrifice:
"A Hebrew woman I was born, and a Hebrew woman I shall die!" Ibid. (According to the story she was buried in Lvov; on her tombstone: "who sanctified the Name and gave her life… 27 Elul in the year 5407" / 1647.)