O man that art born of a woman, consider the benefit and kindness thy Creator has bestowed upon thee since thou wast a wet, fetid, and white drop. See that thou art not ungrateful to Him. Thy father and mother forsook thee, but He took thee up, formed thee, and guarded thee, until thou camest forth from the womb. In the time of thy rejoicing know Him; thou shalt cause the fear of Him to come to thy mind, and all thy limbs shall tremble. Serve ye the Lord with joy, and rejoice with trembling: in the place of rejoicing, there shall be trembling; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart becomes glad. Think that the Creator is near thee: I have set the Lord always before me.[[176]] When thou prayest, stand with awe, and think before whom thou art standing, to whom thou art speaking. If there is care in thy heart, dispel it during thy prayer; for while standing before the Great King thou shouldst not think of thy care, but of thy fear of Him and of thy love of Him. For many there are who sin against their souls: they sit in the synagogue like mourners, their mouth being closed, and they sing not to the Lord of hosts; they will be condemned to a fire not kindled by man.
Therefore, for all these reasons, acknowledge Him in all thy ways. Remove not the fear of the Lord from thy heart. If thy sustenance is scanty, reflect: ‘I ought to be satisfied with the breath which He placed in my nostrils, and with the breath of my mouth. He has given me poverty for my own good, to purify me in the crucible of affliction!’ If thy face grows pale on account of thy fulfilling the commandments, consider thy blood which was lost as the blood that is sprinkled upon the altar. If thou art afflicted with pain, accept it with love and with joy. Be wise in thy fear of Him, for He is thy Master, and thou art His servant owned by Him. Render thanks unto Him for every measure. If He has given thee riches and possessions, let thy heart not be lifted up above thy poor brother, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth; ye both came forth naked from the womb, and when thou departest from this world, thou like him shalt lie down in the dust, in the place of worm and maggots which shall go out and come in through thy mouth. Even during thy lifetime thou mayest be like him in need of the help of thy fellow-creatures. If thou art punished through thy children, it should be regarded in thy sight as though thou hast killed them with thy sins. Murmur not against His measures, for the uproar of the tumultuous[[177]] is in them that occasion His judgment. Know that the Holy One is in thy midst; therefore conduct thyself with holiness, with saintliness, and with purity. When thou makest mention of the honored and awe-inspiring Name, let all thy limbs tremble. Set thy mind with devotion upon thy Creator, when thou standest in prayer. Before a word comes forth from thy mouth think of the interpretation of its meaning. If a worldly thought comes to thee in the middle of the prayer, keep silent until thou hast set thy mind upon the fear of the Creator. Be careful in uttering every word to move thy lips and to be conscious of the sound, in order that thou shouldst not commit an error; just as when counting money, thou settest thy mind and attention on the number. When thou standest up in prayer, say: ‘I am not worthy of giving a crown to the King of glory and to mention His great name!’ Clothe thyself with terror, as Abraham said: ‘Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.’[[178]] Say to thyself: ‘Do not the sons of heaven fear and dread Him? for it is very tempestuous round about Him; how much more I, who am formed of clay, and have not the understanding of a man! I am despised in my life and despicable in my death. I shall rend the caul of my heart, and enter His gates with fear and humility.’ For wherever we find His greatness there we also find His humility: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.[[179]] Therefore while thy spirit is yet in its sheath, think of the fear of thy Creator. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy purposes shall be established. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may depart from the snares of death. Keep away from hastiness and perversion, from haughtiness and slothfulness. Cling firmly to humility and peace; be not envious of them that work unrighteousness, but of the fear of the Lord continually. And the stability of thy times shall be a hoard of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, and the fear of the Lord which is His treasure. ‘Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?’ saith the Lord.[[180]] Are these not the eyes of the Lord which everywhere run to and fro? Know that beauty, strength, glory, jealousy, wisdom, riches, poverty, and the prevalence of the evil inclination are transitory. Know likewise that the observance of the commandments and the fear of the Lord extinguish the fire of the evil inclination, and that the Torah is a remedy to remove the evil thought.
XXX. MOSES B. NAHMAN
[Talmudist, mystic, and biblical exegete. He is usually called Nahmanides, and in Spanish Bonastruc de Portas. He was born at Gerona about 1195, and died in Palestine about 1270. Subsequent writers regarded him as a great authority on the Talmud and Halakah, and his reputation was perhaps second only to that of Maimonides. His biblical commentaries, too, have been very popular. He was compelled to have a public disputation with a convert to Christianity named Pablo Christiano, in 1263, at the court of Barcelona. He was a physician by profession.]
Ethical Letter, Praising Humility, Addressed to His Son[[181]]
Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. My son, my beloved, accustom thyself always to speak gently to every man, at all times and seasons; thereby thou shalt avoid anger which is a very bad and blameworthy disposition, for it leads to sin, as our teachers of blessed memory said: ‘If one gets angry, it is regarded as if he worshipped idols.’[[182]] And all punishments of Gehenna have power over him, as it is written: ‘Remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh.’[[183]] By the world evil Gehenna is meant, as it is written: ‘Even the wicked for the day of evil.’[[184]] When thou avoidest anger, thou wilt bring to thy mind the quality of humility, and cleave unto it, for it is the best of all virtues, as it is written: ‘The reward of humility is the fear of the Lord.’[[185]] The Mishnah likewise says: ‘Be exceedingly humble of spirit.’[[186]] Even our teacher Moses, peace be upon him, was praised by this quality, as it is written: ‘And the man Moses was very meek.’[[187]] It is also through the merit of this virtue that the Torah was given at his hand, and that he was called the teacher of all prophets. He who attains unto this quality is beloved of Heaven, as it is written: ‘With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.’[[188]] When thou clingest to the quality of humility, the quality of the fear of God will come to thy mind; for thou wilt continually lay to thy heart whence thou camest, and whither thou art going (thou art worm and maggot in thy life and in thy death), and before whom thou art destined to render account and reckoning (before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, whose glory fills the earth). It is also written: ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.’[[189]] It is also written: ‘Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less the hearts of the children of men!’[[190]] When thou wilt consider all this, thou wilt fear thy Creator, and guard thyself against sin. By clinging to these qualities thou wilt be in a state of perfection and sublimity, and wilt continually be happy with thy lot; this latter, too, is one of the good qualities, as the Mishnah says: ‘Who is rich? he who rejoices in his lot.’[[191]] If thy conduct is according to the quality of humility and thou art ashamed before every man, and thou fearest thy Creator, who gives thee life, so that thou sinnest not, the spirit of the Shekinah and the splendor of its glory will dwell upon thee, and thou wilt deserve the life of this world and of the world to come.
My son and my beloved, know assuredly that one who exalts himself above his fellow-men rebels against the kingdom of heaven, for he makes use of God’s garment, as it is written: ‘The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with pride.’[[192]] And God, who is blessed, says concerning the haughty man: ‘I and he cannot dwell together in this world.’ Accordingly, he who is haughty will be uprooted from the world.
Consider with thy understanding: Of what should a man be proud? of his wealth and honor? they surely belong to God, and He, who is blessed, bestows them upon man, as it is written: ‘Both riches and honour come to Thee, and Thou rulest over all.’[[193]] It is also written: ‘The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich.’[[194]] Of his wisdom? Let him remember the explicit words of Scripture: ‘He removeth the speech of men of trust, and taketh away the sense of the elders.’[[195]] It is thus evident that all comes from Him, blessed be He; in His anger He brings low the haughty, and in His favor He lifts up the lowly. Therefore, my son, make thyself humble, and remove thyself from haughtiness, so that the Lord may raise thee high.
Now, my son, I shall set forth for thee how thou shouldst conduct thyself according to the quality of humility, to follow it continually. Let all thy words be spoken with gentleness, with respect, with good manners, and with love; thy countenance should be pleasant, and thy head bowed down. Thine eyes should look downwards, and thy heart upwards. Do not gaze too fixedly upon a man, when thou addressest him. Let every man be greater than thou in thy sight. If he is rich, thou shalt honor him, as did our saintly teacher who used to honor the rich. If he is poor and thou art rich, thou shalt have mercy and compassion on him, and honor the Lord with thy substance. If thou art wiser than he, thou shouldst consider that thou art guilty, and he is innocent; for he sins unwittingly, while thou sinnest wilfully, as the Rabbis of blessed memory said: ‘The errors of the sages are regarded as wilful sins.’[[196]] In all thy thoughts, words, and deeds, at all times and seasons, regard thyself as though thou stood before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, and as if His Shekinah were upon thee; for His glory fills the whole earth. Thy words should be spoken with terror and fear, with trembling and awe, as a servant standing before his master. Take heed to study the Law continually, day and night, for thereby thou shalt be able to fulfil the commandments thereof; it is thy life and the length of thy days. When thou hast finished the reading of a book, thou shouldst retain that which thou hast learned, in order to fulfil that which is written in it, as far as thou art able to fulfil. Thou shouldst continually search thy deeds, every day, morning and evening, in order to depart from evil and to do good. Thus all thy days will be in perfect repentance.
During the prayer of the Eighteen Benedictions thou shouldst remove all the affairs of this world from thy heart; think of no other matter except of fixing thy mind on the prayer with perfect devotion. Prepare and purify thy heart and mind before God, blessed be He; thereby thy prayer will be pure, clean, untainted, full of devotion, and acceptable before the Holy One, blessed be His name, as it is written: ‘Thou wilt direct their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to attend.’[[197]] Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and he that keeps his mouth and tongue, keeps his soul from troubles. Therefore in every matter think of thy words before thou givest utterance to them, all the days of thy life, so that thou mayest not sin; thereby thy thoughts, words, and deeds will be upright and good.