Life Goals of Maimonides

Hi,

"One who follows a healthy lifestyle is not following a good path if his goal is only to have his body complete, and his children doing his work and supporting him. Rather, his goal should be to have a complete and strong body so his spirit will be straight, in order to know Gd. One cannot understand and examine wisdoms when he is hungry or ill or one of his limbs aches. And his goal should be that his children might become sages and leaders in Israel…"

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deiot 3:3)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

In praise of silence

Hi,

"One should always practice great silence. He should speak only words of wisdom or words he needs for the sake of his existence. They said that Rav, student of Rabbeinu haKadosh, never spoke empty speech – and this is the speech of most people… Thus the sages instructed (Pirkei Avot 1:17), 'One who increases words introduces sin,' and 'I have found nothing better for a body than silence.'… (Avot d'Rabbi Natan I 22)"

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah Hilchot Deiot 2:4)

Have a good day,

Mordechai

Go to a spiritual healer...

Hi,

"Those who are physically ill taste the bitter as sweet and the sweet as bitter. Some ill people desire and long for inedible foods, like dust and charcoal, and despise good foods like bread and meat, all according to the particular illness. So, too, people whose spirits are ill desire and love bad traits, and despise the good path and are too lazy to follow it, and they find it very heavy, due to their illness… 

"They should go to sages who are healers of spirits, and they will heal their illness by teaching them good traits, until they bring them back to the good path…"

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deiot 2:1)

המצפה לישועה,

Mordechai

Taking the middle path

Hi,

"There are many traits in each human being; this one is different from that one, and extremely distant from him. Some are people of rage, always angry. Some have settled minds, never angry – and if they are ever angry, it is once in many years. Some are extremely arrogant, and some are extremely humble, and some are desirous, never satisfied from pursuing desire, and some are of very pure heart, not desiring even the little that the body needs. And some have a broad spirit, unsatisfied even with all of the world's wealth, like Ecclesiastes 5:9, 'One who loves silver will never have enough silver.' And some reduce their spirit, sufficing with even a little that isn't actually enough for them, and not pursuing all of their needs…

"Between each trait and its extreme opposite are intermediate traits, equidistant from each end. And in the set of all traits, some traits are congenital, per the nature of one's body, and some are traits toward which a person's nature is directed and which he will acquire more quickly than other traits, and some traits are lacking in a person from birth, but he learns them from others, or he turns himself to them independently due to a thought in his heart, or he hears that this is a good trait, worthy of following, and he habituates himself to it until it is established in his heart.

"The two extremes in each trait are not a good path; one should neither follow them nor teach them to himself. Should he find that his nature is inclined toward one of them or prepared for them, or he has already learned one of them and practiced it, he should bring himself back to the good and travel the path of the good, the straight path."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deiot 1:1-3)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Peace first

Hi,

"We may not declare war upon any human being, anywhere, until we first sue for peace. This applies both to 'authorized wars' and 'obligatory wars,' as it is written, 'And when you come close to a city to fight against it, call to it for peace.' Should they make peace and accept the laws in which Noachides are instructed, we would not kill anyone there. We would collect taxes, as it is written, 'They will pay tribute to you, and they will serve you.'"

(Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 6:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

What to look for in a neighbourhood

Hi,

"A city must possess ten things before a Torah scholar may live there: A doctor, a phlebotomist, a bathhouse, a latrine, a ready water supply, like a river or spring, a synagogue, a teacher of children, a scribe, tzedakah collectors, and a court that strikes and imprisons."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deiot 4:23)

[Compare with Sanhedrin 17b here.)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Responsibilities of Citizenship

Hi,

"One who dwells in a land for thirty days is compelled to give tzedakah to the kupah with the citizenry. One who dwells there for three months is compelled to give to the tamchui. One who dwells there for six months is compelled to give clothing for the local needy. One who dwells there for nine months is compelled to give tzedakah for burial."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Needy 9:12)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah as Protection, Part 5

Hi,

"When one enters and departs [a room] one should encounter the unification of Gd’s Name, and remember love of Gd, and awaken from his slumber and his errant involvement in temporary vanities, and he will know that nothing lasts forever, other than the knowledge of the Rock of the World. Immediately he will return to his proper mind and travel a just path."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Mezuzah 6:13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah as Protection, Part 2

Hi,

"The practice has spread, to write on the external surface of the mezuzah, opposite the blank space between paragraphs, Shin-Daled-Yud. There is no loss in this, for it is on the outside.

"Those who write the names of angels inside, though, or the Holy Names, or a verse or a seal, are in the category of those who have no share in the next world. It is not enough for these fools that they annul the mitzvah! They also take a great mitzvah, the declaration of the unified Name of Gd, love of Gd and service of Gd, and treat it as an amulet for their personal benefit, as it has entered their foolish hearts that this is something meant to provide them with pleasure in this vain world!"

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Mezuzah 5:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Compelling a debtor to swear to his poverty, Part 3 of 3

Hi,

[continued from yesterday's post]

Preface: In order to encourage payment of debts, the sages enacted a rule permitting a creditor to demand that a debtor in default swear that he does not have the means to pay his debt. Regarding this, Rambam comments:

"The general principle is this: As long as a judge does one of these things, and his intent is only to pursue righteousness, which we have been instructed to pursue, and not to trespass the law [in abuse of] one of the litigants, he is licensed to do it and he will be rewarded – so long as his deeds are for the sake of heaven."

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Lender and Borrower 2:4)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Compelling a debtor to swear to his poverty, Part 2

Hi,

[continued from yesterday's post]

Preface: In order to encourage payment of debts, the sages enacted a rule permitting a creditor to demand that a debtor in default swear that he does not have the means to pay his debt. Regarding this, Rambam comments:

"And so I also say that if a person is established as a cunning person, and his commercial activities are corrupt, and he has means, possessing funds, and he claims that he has nothing and he runs to take this oath, then it is not appropriate to make him swear.

"Rather, if the judge is able to compel him to pay his creditor, or to excommunicate him until he pays, this is what he should do, since this person has means. Paying a creditor is a mitzvah.

[to be continued]

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Lender and Borrower 2:4)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Compelling a debtor to swear to his poverty, Part 1

Hi,

Preface: In order to encourage payment of debts, the sages enacted a rule permitting a creditor to demand that a debtor in default swear that he does not have the means to pay his debt. Regarding this, Rambam comments:

"Regarding one who is established as indigent and a proper person, acting in sincerity, and this is known clearly to the judge and to most people, and whose creditor then comes to demand that he take this oath. If it is established that the plaintiff is not going to be satisfied with the borrower's indigence, but will wish to pain him with this oath only to make him suffer and to humiliate him in public as a form of vengeance, or in order to goad him to borrow from a non-Jew or take his wife's assets to pay the debt and save himself from this oath, then it appears to me that a Gd-revering judge may not compel him to swear this oath. 

"If the plaintiff does compel this, he violates a biblical prohibition, 'You shall not be as a claimant.' Further, the judge should rebuke the plaintiff and chase him away, for he is nursing a grudge and acting on his personal whim.

"This oath was enacted only because of cunning people... This person is established as indigent, and not as someone cunning, and so one may not compel him to swear."

[to be continued]

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Lender and Borrower 2:4)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Would you lie for someone else?

Hi,

"One who is suspected regarding a particular sin is not credible to say that his product is free of that sin, but he is credible regarding another person's product. It may be assumed that one would not lie purely to help someone else."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Shemitah and Yovel 8:17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

How the amidah was born

Hi,

"When the Jews were exiled among the nations during the time of evil Nevuchadnezzar, they mixed among the Persians, Greeks and other societies. Their children were born in the lands of the nations, and their languages were confused, the language of each a mixture of many languages. When one would speak, he could not recite all he needed to say in one tongue, but in a mixture of tongues…

"When Ezra and his court observed this, they enacted eighteen structured blessings. The three initial blessings praise  G-d, and the three closing blessings are of thanks. The intermediate blessings contain requests for all needs, as central blessings meant to include all individual and communal needs. This way, the prayers would be structured in the mouths of each person, and each person would learn the prayers, and so the prayers of these poor speakers would be complete, like the prayers of people whose command of the language is pure…"

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer 1:4)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Respect the mitzvah, Respect the One who commanded it

Hi,

[The Torah instructs us to bury the blood of certain animals, as well as birds, after performing shechitah.]

"When one buries the blood, he should not bury it with his foot, but with his hand, or a knife, or another tool, so as not to treat it with disgrace and degrade the mitzvot for himself.

"This honour is not due to the mitzvot themselves, but to the Blessed One who issued them, rescuing us from feeling our way in the dark and preparing for us a lamp by which to straighten the crooked and a light to show the paths of righteousness. Thus Tehillim 119:105 says, 'Your words are a lamp for my feet, and light for my path.'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Shechitah 14:16)

המצפה לישועה,

Mordechai

Korbanot are coming back!

Hi,

"The king, Mashiach, will rise and return the monarchy of David to its ancient status and reign, build the Temple and gather in the scattered of Israel, and all laws will return in his day as they once were. They will bring korbanot, and they will practice the Sabbatical and Jubilee years according to all of their laws stated in the Torah."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 11:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

The "ger toshav"

Hi,

"Anyone who accepts the seven mitzvot and is careful to practice them is of the pious of the nations of the world, and owns a portion in the next world, assuming he accepts them and practices them because Gd instructed them in the Torah and informed us via Moshe Rabbeinu that Noachides have long been instructed in them. However, if he does them because of his own decision, he is not a ger toshav and he is not of the pious of the nations of the world or their sages."

כל המקבל שבע מצות ונזהר לעשותן הרי זה מחסידי אומות העולם, ויש לו חלק לעולם הבא, והוא שיקבל אותן ויעשה אותן מפני שצוה בהן הקב"ה בתורה והודיענו על ידי משה רבינו שבני נח מקודם נצטוו בהן, אבל אם עשאן מפני הכרע הדעת אין זה גר תושב ואינו מחסידי אומות העולם ולא מחכמיהם. 

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 8:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Suicide by beit din

Hi,

"We are biblically instructed that a court may neither execute nor lash a person on the basis of his own admission, without the word of two witnesses... for perhaps the person is not sane in this matter. He may be of those who struggle, with bitter spirit, who wait to die, who stab swords into their bellies and throw themselves from rooves. Perhaps this person will come and say he did something which he did not do, so that he will be killed. In general: This policy is a decree of the King."

גזירת הכתוב היא שאין ממיתין בית דין ולא מלקין את האדם בהודאת פיו אלא על פי שנים עדים... שמא נטרפה דעתו בדבר זה, שמא מן העמלין מרי נפש הוא המחכים למות שתוקעין החרבות בבטנם ומשליכין עצמן מעל הגגות שמא כך זה יבא ויאמר דבר שלא עשה כדי שיהרג וכללו של דבר גזירת מלך היא. 

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sanhedrin 18:6)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Why do we trust prophets?

Hi,

"Those to whom Moshe is sent are witnesses to the truth of his prophecy, and he need not perform any other sign for them; they and he are witnesses, like two witnesses who see an event together. Each of them is a witness that the other's statement is true, and neither needs to prove it to the other. So, too, for Moshe Rabbeinu, all Israel were witnesses for him after the Gathering at Mount Sinai, and he did not need to provide a sign for them…

"We would not believe any prophet who would arise after Moshe Rabbeinu due to a sign alone, such that we would say, 'If he performs a sign when we will listen to all he will say.' Rather, we would believe because of the command Moshe issued in the Torah (Devarim 13 and 18), 'If he provides a sign, listen to him.' Just as Moshe instructed us to settle matters with two witnesses even if we don't know whether they are lying or telling the truth, so we are commanded to listen to such a prophet, even if we don't know whether the sign is genuine or comes via other means."

נמצאו אלו ששולח [משה] להן הם העדים על נבואתו שהיא אמת ואינו צריך לעשות להן אות אחר, שהם והוא עדים בדבר כשני עדים שראו דבר אחד ביחד שכל אחד מהן עד לחבירו שהוא אומר אמת, ואין אחד מהן צריך להביא ראיה לחבירו. כך משה רבינו כל ישראל עדים לו אחר מעמד הר סיני ואינו צריך לעשות להם אות...

כל נביא שיעמוד אחר משה רבינו אין אנו מאמינים בו מפני האות לבדו כדי שנאמר "אם יעשה אות נשמע לו לכל מה שיאמר." אלא מפני המצוה שצוה משה בתורה ואמר "אם נתן אות אליו תשמעון", כמו שצונו לחתוך הדבר על פי שנים עדים ואף על פי שאין אנו יודעין אם העידו אמת אם שקר, כך מצוה לשמוע מזה הנביא אף על פי שאין אנו יודעים אם האות אמת או בכישוף ולט. 

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of the Foundations of Torah 8:2)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Why do we trust Moshe?

Hi,

"The Jews’ trust for Moshe was not a result of the miraculous signs he performed. Belief in signs is defective at heart; signs could be performed via other agencies. Rather, all of the signs Moshe performed in the wilderness were performed for a particular need, not to prove the veracity of his prophecy. He needed to drown the Egyptians, and so he split the sea and sank them within. We needed food, and so he brought down the manna…

"When did they believe in Moshe? At Mount Sinai, when our eyes saw and there was no trick, and when our ears heard him and no other, and there was fire and there were sounds and flames, and Moshe went into the smoke, and the voice spoke to Moshe and we heard it directly saying, 'Moshe, Moshe! Go tell them such-and-such!'…

"And how do we know that only the gathering at Mount Sinai proved that his prophecy was true, without defect? Shemot 19:9 says, 'Behold, I will come to you in thick cloud, so that the nation will hear when I speak with you, and they will also believe in you forever.' We see that prior to this time they did not believe him with an eternal trust, but only a trust which would later give way to doubt."

משה רבינו לא האמינו בו ישראל מפני האותות שעשה, שהמאמין על פי האותות יש בלבו דופי שאפשר שיעשה האות בלט וכשוף, אלא כל האותות שעשה משה במדבר לפי הצורך עשאם, לא להביא ראיה על הנבואה. היה צריך להשקיע את המצריים קרע את הים והצלילן בתוכו, צרכנו למזון הוריד לנו את המן...

ובמה האמינו בו? במעמד הר סיני, שעינינו ראו ולא זר ואזנינו שמעו ולא אחר, האש והקולות והלפידים, והוא נגש אל הערפל והקול מדבר אליו ואנו שומעים "משה משה! לך אמור להן כך וכך!"...

ומנין שמעמד הר סיני לבדו היא הראיה לנבואתו שהיא אמת שאין בו דופי? שנאמר "הנה אנכי בא אליך בעב הענן בעבור ישמע העם בדברי עמך וגם בך יאמינו לעולם", מכלל שקודם דבר זה לא האמינו בו נאמנות שהיא עומדת לעולם אלא נאמנות שיש אחריה הרהור ומחשבה. 

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of the Foundations of Torah 8:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai