The Uniqueness of Moshe's Miracles

Hi,

"[Moshe's signs] were performed before all Israel, who followed him, as Devarim 34:12 says, 'Before the eyes of all Israel.' This did not exist for any prophet before him, and he accurately foretold that it would not happen for anyone else in the future."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 2:35)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why ask why?

Hi,

"One should be content and not have his thoughts confused, seeking that [ultimate] purpose, or seeking the purpose of that which has no purpose other than its own existence, which is by Divine desire – or Divine wisdom, if you prefer."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The mitzvah and its cause

Hi,

"Each general mitzvah must have a cause, and it is commanded for a particular benefit. However, its components are just commands. For example, regarding killing a living thing for good food, the benefit is as we will clarify, but the fact that it is performed via shechitah rather than nechirah, and severing the esophagus and windpipe in a particular spot, these and similar actions are to refine the creations...

"The mitzvah of bringing a korban provides great benefit, as I will explain, but having one korban as a lamb and one as a ram, and having designated numbers for each, one cannot present a cause for it at all. Anyone who would burden himself to give an explanation for these components would be, in my eyes, entering a lengthy lunacy, and would not remove the inscrutability but increase it. One who imagines that there is a reason is far from truth, like one who imagines that the entire mitzvah has no benefit."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:26)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Medicine must be tried and true

Hi,

"The sages said explicitly that medicinal treatments are not subject to [the prohibition against] 'Emorite ways', meaning that anything mandated by natural studies is permitted, and anything else is prohibited… 

"Do not be troubled by the sages' permission of a tzaluv's nail or a fox's tooth, for in their day they thought these were the result of experience, and were medical… Anything proven by experience may be practiced, even where logic does not dictate it."

(Rambam, Guide of the Perplexed 3:37)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The City of Jericho

Hi,

Why did Joshua declare that no one should rebuild the Canaanite city of Jericho (Joshua, Chapter 6)? Here are two rather different ideas:

Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:50 -

"Yehoshua declared cherem upon one who would rebuild Jericho, ever, so that the miracle would endure. One who would see the wall sunken into the ground would perceive that this is not the way of a ruined building, but rather that the wall had sunk miraculously."

Commentary of Don Isaac Abarbanel to Joshua, Chapter 6 -

"I would suggest that Gd instructed him... and it is included in the statement [in Chapter 5, regarding Jericho], 'The place where you stand is holy,' so that the place be should be cherem, with everything in it."

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Rambam on the Arba Minim (Four Species) of Succot

Hi,

"It appears to me, regarding the four species taken with the lulav, that they represent the joy of leaving the wilderness, a place without planting, figs and grapes and pomegranates, and without water to drink, to a place of fruit-bearing trees and rivers. To commemorate this, they took the most attractive of the earth's produce, and the best-smelling, and the one with the prettiest leaves, and the best of the grasses as well – meaning the willow.

"These four species collectively possess these three traits:

One: Great availability in Israel of that time, such that anyone could find them;

Two: Good appearance and freshness. The etrog and hadas have a fine scent, but the lulav and etrog have a scent that is neither good nor bad;

Three: They to remain moist and fresh for seven days, which is not possible with peaches, pomegranate, aspargel, pears and the like."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:43)

חג סוכות שמח,

Mordechai

Divine Inspiration, Part 2

Hi,

"The second level of prophecy:

"When a person finds that something has set upon him, a force has newly arrived, and it makes him speak, speaking in wisdom or in praises or in effective instruction, in practical or spiritual matters, and he is awake and using his senses normally, this person may be said to speak with ruach hakodesh.

"With this breed of ruach hakodesh King David composed Tehillim; and Shlomo composed Mishlei, Kohelet and Shir haShirim; and Daniel and Iyov and Divrei haYamim and the rest of the Ketuvim were composed with this breed of ruach hakodesh. Thus they are called Ketuvim ["written"], to say that they were written with ruach hakodesh. And the sages said explicitly, 'The book of Esther was stated with ruach hakodesh'…

"This is not full prophecy, not like 'The word of Gd came to Avram in a vision, saying,' and not like, 'And Gd said to Israel in the visions of the night,' and not like the prophecies of Yeshayahu and Yirmiyahu. Regarding each of them, even though the prophecy came in a dream, the prophecy itself informed him that it was prophecy, coming to him prophetically…

"This level is below that of 'I speak in a dream' [words with which Gd described low-level prophecy] for those who prophesy in a dream do not call it a dream in any way, once the prophecy comes to them in the dream. They declare it a prophecy, entirely. It is as our ancestor Yaakov said when he woke from the prophetic dream; he did not say it was a dream, but he declared, 'Gd is in this place, etc.'… And this is why the nation determined to arrange the book of Daniel among the Ketuvim, not the Neviim."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 1:45)

כתיבה וחתימה טובה,

Mordechai

An apology; and Divine Inspiration, Part 1

Hi,

First, a personal request: I would like to take a moment to ask everyone receiving this email/RSS feed for mechilah (forgiveness) for anything hurtful or offensive I wrote, or should have written and did not, in the past year. I know that people's sensitivities are varied, but I am not always as careful as I could be. If there was anything at all, please do let me know. I can grow by learning from my mistakes.

The first of the prophetic levels is for Divine aid to accompany a person, moving and energizing him to a great positive deed, like saving an important group from evildoers, or saving a great, important person, or benefiting a large number of people. He will find something moving him to action; this is called "the spirit of Gd." Regarding one who is accompanied by this, the text will say, "the spirit of Gd was powerful upon him," or "the spirit of Gd clothed him," or "the spirit of Gd rested upon him," or "Gd was with him," and similar expressions. This was the level of all of the Jewish judges, regarding whom the Torah said in general that Gd established judges for them, and Gd was with the judge and He rescued them. This is also the level of all of the distinguished counselors of Israel…

And know that a force like this never left Moshe Rabbeinu from the time he reached maturity. This was what motivated him to kill the Egyptian and to halt the wicked one of the two fighters. The power of this force in him was such that after panicking, fleeing and arriving in Midian, a frightened stranger, when he saw a hint of corruption he could not keep himself from eliminating it. He could not bear it! As it says, "And Moshe arose and he saved them."…

None of these [examples of those who experienced ruach hakodesh] was moved to state anything. The purpose of this force is to awaken the strengthened person to a specific action. And it is not for any action that might be at hand, but to help the oppressed, a great person or a community, or to prevent an event that would lead to that [oppression].

And just as not everyone who sees a true dream is a prophet, so, too, not everyone who is accompanied by assistance at a particular event that occurs, like acquiring property or reaching some special goal, can be said to have the spirit of Gd join with him, or to have Gd with him, that he has done something with ruach hakodesh. It is stated regarding one who performs an outstanding great deed, or a deed that leads to that, like Yosef's success in the house of the Egyptian, which was a first cause leading to the great matters which occurred afterward, as has been explained.

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 1:45)

כתיבה וחתימה טובה,
Mordechai

Rambam on the Identity of Job

Hi,

"The incredible matter of Iyov is of the type we have been discussing, a parable to explain human views regarding Divine supervision. You already know their explanation, and how some have said, 'Iyov did not exist and was not created; he was a parable,' and how those who thought he existed and was created and that his story is about a real event knew neither his time nor his location… This strengthens the view that he did exist and was not created…"

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why does the Torah tell stories?

Hi,

"When you find stories without mitzvot in the Torah and you think that there was no need to mention the story, or that it is unnecessarily verbose, this is only because you don't see the particular reasons why it is mentioned. 

"For example: The Torah's list of travels appears, on a simple level, to be of no benefit at all. Because of this, the text says, 'And Moshe recorded their events according to their travels, at the word of Gd.' The need for it is very great; all of these miracles are known as true only by those who saw them, but in the future their memory will only be related as a story, and the listener might deny them… 

"Among the greatest miracles of the Torah is the way that Israel stayed in the wilderness for forty years and received manna daily. That wilderness was as recorded in the Torah, 'Not a place of planting, and figs and grapes and pomegranates, and there was no water to drink'… And because Gd knew that one might challenge these miracles in the future as people challenge other stories, and one might think that they stayed in the wilderness near a settled area… or in places where one could plow and plant, or be nourished by some plant there…"

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:50)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The order of acquiring knowledge

Hi,

"The Sages also mentioned that one is first charged regarding knowledge of Torah, then he is charged regarding knowledge of [general] wisdom, and then he is charged for the Torah he should learn, meaning to draw from it that which he should perform. So the order should be, that [Torah] concepts should be known first via tradition and then clarified via [logical] proof, and then the deeds which improve one's path should be deduced. 

"This is what they said (Talmud, Shabbat 31a), regarding a person being expected to achieve these three items in this order: when one enters [posthumous] judgment, they first say, 'Did you set time for Torah? Did you analyze with wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?'"

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:54)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The nature of language

Hi,

Two competing views:

Language is a product of human beings:

"That which you need to know, and to which you must be alert, is Bereishit 2:20, 'And the man called names, etc.' We learn that language is established by convention, not nature."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 2:30)

Language is natural:

"'And all that Adam would call a living creature, was its name (Bereishit 2:19)' – This teaches that the creature was suited for that name. The name was appropriate for it, and taught of its nature."

(Rabbi Yehudah haLevi, Kuzari 4:25)

המצפה לישועה,

Mordechai

How did they live so long? Part 1

Hi,

Regarding the long lifespans recorded for the line of biblical males from Adam down to Abraham:

"I say that none lived that long in those days, other than the one mentioned. Others lived natural, customary lifespans, and that person was unusual, with many possible explanations regarding his food and actions, or via miracle…"

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 2:47)

המצפה לישועה,

Mordechai

The goal of a festival

Hi,

"Festivals are all for joy and for gatherings which provide the benefit that people need in their masses, and they also benefit by causing the love required between people in national gatherings."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:34)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Talking about our departure from Egypt

Hi,

The Torah mandates that the owner of a donkey redeem its first-born progeny by dedicating a lamb in its place, or by donating the lamb‘s monetary equivalent. Failure to do so means that the donkey‘s owner must instead end his donkey‘s life. Our sages wrote that the penalty of losing one‘s donkey is meant to encourage owners to fulfill the mitzvah of redeeming their donkeys.

The Torah explains that this mitzvah is meant to remind us of our own redemption from Egypt, and of the destruction of the Egyptian firstborn. Why donkeys, though? Rambam, in his Moreh haNevuchim, suggested that the Torah singled out donkeys because they are common beasts, and because their ability to carry burdens make them indispensable for all people.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why we have Yom Tov

Hi,

"Festivals are days that are entirely for joy and for gatherings. They benefit us by enabling the love that is needed between people in national gatherings...causing love between people from one extreme to the other."

(Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 3:43)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

 

Explaining prophetic visions

Hi,

"The Rambam (Moreh haNevuchim 3:43) has already explained that prophets see things which are familiar to them, which reflect the name of the item they are meant to see, whether by analogy or by shared name. It is as though the imagination is showing them something with a shared name."

(R' Isaac Abarbanel to Zecharyah 5, pg. 213)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why do frogs exist?

Hi,

"I consider therefore the following opinion as most correct according to the teaching of the Bible, and best in accordance with the results of philosophy; namely, that the Universe does not exist for man's sake, but that each being exists for its own sake, and not because of some other thing."

(Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed 3:13, Friedlander translation)

[The frogs are just one example...]

Chanukah sameach,
Mordechai

Maimonides on non-scientific therapies

Hi,

"Anything which they say is effective, which is not dictated by natural analysis but in their view is effective, like the practices of segulot and special forces… is among what the Sages termed "Emorite practices", because they are part of the deeds of sorcerers, deeds which are not dictated by natural reasoning. They draw people to magic, which must lead to the stars, elevating the stars and causing people to serve them."

(Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed 3:37)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The purpose-driven mitzvah

Hi,

"Know that all deeds of [Divine] service, like learning Torah, praying and performing other mitzvot, are intended only for one to study and to be involved in the commands of Gd, and to turn from the affairs of the world, as though you had involved yourself in Gd and ceased from everything else.

"However, if you pray with the movement of your lips, and your face is to the wall, and you think of your commerce, and you read Torah with your tongue but your heart is in the construction of your home without comprehending what you are reading, or you perform any mitzvah with your limbs like one who digs a hole in the ground or chops wood from the forest without thinking about that deed, the One who commanded it or the goal of the deed, then don't think you have achieved the purpose. You will be one who is 'close', as in Yirmiyah 12:2: 'You [Gd] are close in their mouths, but far from their innards.'"

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:51)

כתיבה וחתימה טובה,
Mordechai