THE THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES OF OUR CREED. (continued 3)

The second class contains all those precepts which are known as ‏מצות דרבנן‎ “Rabbinical precepts,” ‏תקנות‎ and ‏מנהגים‎ “Institutions” and “Customs.” But these imply no addition to the Torah; they are merely byelaws and regulations as regards the method of carrying out the laws of the Pentateuch, and are designed to facilitate or ensure their fulfilment, and to prevent ourselves from forgetting or disregarding them. Our teachers, the Rabbis, made it a matter of conscience to describe their own regulations as ‏דרבנן‎ non-Pentateuchical, and throughout the Oral Law and the entire Talmudic literature the distinction between ‏דרבנן‎ and ‏מן התורה‎ is noted and scrupulously upheld.

It is useless to investigate whether it would be in harmony with the immutability of the Divine Being to change the laws or any of them, or to grant a new revelation. Certainly the words “I, the Lord, have not changed” (Mal. iii. 6) have great weight; so also, “For God is not a son of man that he should change his mind” (Num. xxiii. 19). But the fact that the laws were given by God as “an everlasting statute for all generations” makes all philosophical speculation on that point superfluous. Persons who address us in the name of God as His messengers, and bid us turn away from any of the laws commanded in the Pentateuch, are in our eyes impostors, who, knowingly or unknowingly, give forth their own opinions as Divine inspirations.

3. Reward and Punishment, ‏שכר ועונש‎.

“Behold I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil: in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou passest over Jordan to go in to possess it” (Deut. xxx. 15). “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed: to love the Lord thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him: for that is thy life and the length of thy days” (Ibid. xxx. 19, 20).

The doctrine taught in this passage is the alpha and the omega of the sacred literature. The whole history related in the Bible from the Creation to the Babylonian captivity and the restoration of the Jews to their land is but one continuous series of illustrations of this doctrine. Obedience to God’s word is followed by His blessings, while disobedience is the cause of ruin and misery. Thus, in Lamentations the poet exclaims in the name of his nation, “Just is the Lord, for I rebelled against his commandment” (Lam. i. 18). Moses, in his last song exhorting the people to obedience to the Almighty, begins his address with a praise of God’s justice, saying, “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment: a God of faithfulness, and without wrong, just and right is he” (Deut. xxxii. 4). Even those who doubted the Divine justice, in respect to the fate of individual persons or nations, admitted, “Surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow: because he feareth not before God” (Eccles. viii. 12, 13). Job, wondering why he should be subjected to the greatest trials, cannot help confessing, “Even he will be to me an help, for there shall not come before him an hypocrite” (Job xiii. 16). God is therefore called “God of judgment,” ‏אלהי המשפט‎ (Mal. ii. 17); ‏דין‎ “Judge” (1 Sam. xxiv. 15); ‏צדיק‎ “just,” ‏שופט צדיק‎ “just Judge” (Ps. vii. 12); ‏אל קנא‎ “a jealous God” (Exod. xx. 5); ‏אל נקמות‎ “God of vengeance” (Ps. xciv. 1); ‏אלהים‎ “God” in the sense of “Judge.” The rejection of this belief by the wicked is expressed by the phrase ‏אין אלהים‎ “There is no God.” Thus David exclaims, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God; they are corrupt; they have done abominable things; there is none that doeth good” (Ps. xiv. 1). In post-Biblical literature we find this unbelief, which is characterised as the source of all corruption and wickedness, expressed by the phrase, ‏לית דין ולית דינא‎ “There is no judgment, and there is no judge” (Targ. Ps. Jonathan, Gen. iv. 8).

There are two different sources from which such unbelief springs forth—limitation of God’s powers and limitation of man’s capacities. The one of these sources leads to a denial of God’s Omniscience, whilst the other deprives man of his freewill. There are some who argue that God is too high to notice the ways and the acts of individual men, and that these must be utterly insignificant in comparison with God’s greatness. “They crush thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. And they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob consider” (Ps. xciv. 5–7). “And thou sayest, What doth God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the sphere of heaven” (Job xxii. 13, 14). The very words which the Psalmist addresses to God with a heart full of gratitude, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?” (Ps. viii. 5), are uttered in a rebellious spirit by the unbeliever, who thus “sets limits to the Holy One of Israel” (Ps. lxxviii. 41). But the power of God is not limited, nor is His wisdom or His goodness; He is not only “the God of heaven,” but also “the God of the earth.” He who has created everything has certainly a knowledge of everything. “Lift up your eyes on high and see who hath created these things. He who bringeth forth by number their host, calleth all of them by name; not one of them escapeth the knowledge of him who is great in might and strong in power” (Isa. xl. 26). The Psalmist thus replies to those who deny God’s Omniscience: “Consider, ye brutish among the people; and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear; he that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the nations, shall he not correct, even he that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, however vain they be” (Ps. xciv. 8–11). It would indeed be absurd to imagine that the Creator of all things should not take notice of everything that His hands have made. What difference can it make to the Almighty whether He provides for the whole human race or for one individual man? It would be attributing to the Divine Being human weakness and false pride if we assumed that He is too great to take notice of any single creature of His! Rabbi Jochanan said wherever in the Bible we find a description of the greatness of God, there we find His meekness. Thus, e.g., it is said in the Torah: “For the Lord, your God, he is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the mighty, the great, the strong, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment” (Deut. x. 17, 18).

That man is not insignificant in the eyes of God is clearly expressed in the account of the Creation, where we are taught that man was made by God ruler “over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Gen. i. 26). “Man is loved by the Almighty,” say our Sages, “because he is created in the image of God; but it was by a love still greater that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God” (Mishnah Aboth, iii. 18).

One of the chief blessings man received at the hands of his Creator is freewill. Within certain limits man can determine his own actions. When he is about to do a thing, he can reflect on it, examine its nature, investigate into its consequences, and accordingly either do it or refrain from doing it. God said to the Israelites, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; and thou shalt choose life” (Deut. xxx. 19). Our freedom, however, is not unlimited. There are various causes that prevent us from remaining firm to our will. If we resolve to do what is beyond our physical condition, we cannot carry it out. Again, if a man chooses to do what would interfere with the will of his fellow-men, he will frequently be compelled to abandon or change his own determination; especially as he is in most cases ignorant of the thoughts and plans of his fellow-men. In a still higher degree this is the case with regard to the designs of the Supreme Being. Hence the great difference between our will and our actual deeds. We have, however, the conviction that ‏בא לטהר מסייעין לו מן השמים בא לטמא פותחין לו‎ “He who wishes to purify himself is helped by Heaven towards his aim, while he who desires to defile himself will find the means thereto” (Babyl. Tal. Shabbath, p. 104).

We admit that there are influences over which man has no control, and which, on the contrary, help to shape his will. No man is so isolated as to be entirely inaccessible to outward influences. Man inherits certain ideas and habits from his parents; others are forced upon him by his surroundings, especially in his earliest youth; society and the State compel him to conform to certain notions and laws; climate and temperature also have no small share in the formation of man’s will. But in spite of all these influences man’s will is free, and it is by reason of his free-will that he chooses to conform to the rules of society and the laws of the State. Hence it happens that individuals, subject to almost the same influences, still vary greatly in their resolutions. What the one praises is an abhorrence to the other; what repels the one attracts the other; what is recommended by the one is denounced by the other.

Although there may be many who profess to believe in predestination or fate, as a matter of fact all nations, ancient and modern, have based their constitutions on the belief in man’s responsibility for his actions. Every State has its laws, its system of reward and punishment. A principle so general and so essential for the safety and welfare of society, as well as of each individual, cannot be a mere illusion; its good effect has been tested and is generally recognised.

In case of criminals and sinners, we make allowance for the possible outward influences under which the offender may have fallen; we assume the broad principle, ‏אין אדם חוטא אלא אם כן נכנס בו רוח שטות‎ “No one sinneth unless the spirit of folly has entered into him” (Babyl. Talm. Sotah, 3a); but no one would go so far as to acquit the sinner altogether from blame. We pity him and try to teach him how to return to the right path, and how to overcome outward evil influences. When David had become aware of the greatness of his sin and sincerely repented, he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall return unto thee” (Ps. li. 10–13). Both elements are here harmoniously united. God’s interference is asked for; He helps man to carry out his good resolution; but man has free-will, and the author of the psalm, in seeking the assistance of God, feels nevertheless the weight of his own responsibility.

Tenth Principle.—“I firmly believe that the Creator, blessed be His name, knoweth all the actions of men and all their thoughts, as it is said, ‘He that fashioneth the hearts of them all, He that considereth all their works’ (Ps. xxxiii. 15).”

In the rhymed form of the Creed (‏יגדל‎) this article is expressed thus: “He watcheth and knoweth our secret thoughts; He beholdeth the end of a thing in its beginning.” Here the author proclaims not only the Omniscience of God, but also His foresight; His knowledge is not limited, like the knowledge of mortal beings, by space and time. The entire past and future lies unrolled before His eyes, and nothing is hidden from Him. Although we may form a faint idea of the knowledge of God by considering that faculty of man that enables him, within a limited space of time, to look backward and forward, and to unroll before him the past and the future, as if the events that have happened and those that will come to pass were going on in the present moment, yet the true nature of God’s knowledge no man can conceive. “God considereth all the deeds of man,” without depriving him of his free-will; he may in this respect be compared to a person who observes and notices the actions and the conduct of his fellow-men, without interfering with them. It is the Will of God that man should have free-will and should be responsible for his actions; and His foresight does not necessarily include predetermination. In some cases the fate of nations or of individual men is predetermined; we may even say that the ultimate fate or development of mankind is part of the design of the Creation. But as the actual design in the Creation is concealed from man’s searching eye, so is also the extent of the predetermination a mystery to him. To solve this problem is beyond the intellectual powers of short-sighted mortals; it is one of “the hidden things that belong to the Lord our God.”

David, in Ps. cxxxix. 1–12, describes the Omniscience and the Omnipresence of God in the following way: “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thoughts afar off. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in the grave, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me shall be night; even the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”

Our belief in God’s Omniscience is beautifully expressed in the Musaph prayer of New-year: “Thou rememberest the work of bygone times, and thinkest of all the imaginations of former days; all hidden things are revealed before thee; also all the multitude of hidden things which are from the beginning. For there is no forgetting before the throne of thy glory, and nothing is concealed from thine eye. Thou rememberest every deed, and no thought is hidden from thee. Everything is revealed and known before thee, O Lord our God, who beholdest and seest to the end of all generations.”

Eleventh Principle.—“I firmly believe that the Creator, blessed be He, rewards those who keep His commandments, and punishes those who transgress His commandments.”

The immediate reward and punishment for our conduct we receive in the pleasure and happiness we experience in doing something good, and in the grief and remorse we ought to feel on learning that we have displeased the Almighty by our conduct. As a rule, every good act leads to further good acts, and every sin to further sins; and our Sages say therefore: “The reward of a good act (‏מצוה‎) is another good act, and the punishment for a transgression is another transgression.”

But when we speak of the principle of Retribution, we generally mean such reward and punishment as is given in addition to the feeling of happiness or unhappiness inseparable from our actions.

This principle of retribution has been proclaimed in the grand Revelation made to all Israel on Mount Sinai, in the Decalogue which has been accepted by all civilised nations as the basis of religion: “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments” (Exod. xx. 5, 6). We understand the doctrine of retribution only in its general outlines; we are convinced of the truth of the Divine words, “There is no peace to the wicked” (Isa. lvii. 21); but how the law is applied in every single case is known to God alone. It is presumptuous on the part of short-sighted man to criticise God’s judgments, and to find injustice in the seeming prosperity of the wicked and the seeming misery of the righteous. What man is able to estimate the merits of his neighbour fully and correctly? “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. xvi. 7). This our inability of rightly estimating the merits of our neighbour’s actions, is illustrated by the Biblical narrative of Cain and Abel. Both brought sacrifices to the Lord; and we cannot discover any difference in their actions, and yet the sacrifice of Cain was rejected by God and that of Abel was accepted. Some important element there must therefore be in man’s deeds which is hidden from his neighbour’s eye, but is known to the Almighty. The inability of man to penetrate into the secret of God’s rule is also illustrated by the prophet Habakkuk. He asked, “Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things that have no ruler over them?” Whereupon he receives the Divine answer: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.… Behold, there is crookedness in the eyes of him whose soul is not straight; but the just will live by his faith” (Hab. i. 13, 14, and ii. 2, 4).

One of the Psalmists (Asaph; Ps. lxxiii. 2 seq.) confesses that this problem had greatly troubled him and endangered his faith. He says: “As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.… Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out by them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked, and being always at ease, they increase in riches. Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocency; for all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I had said, I will speak thus; behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children. When I think how I might know this, it is trouble in mine eyes: until I come into the sanctuary of God; then shall I consider their latter end.” The temporary success and seeming prosperity of the wicked does not shake the firm belief of the singer in the justice of God; his communion with God, his coming into the sanctuaries of God, is a blessing which the soul of the pious yearns for, and in comparison with which all the wealth and power of the wicked is but a deceitful shadow.

The Book of Job illustrates the vanity of man’s attempts to lift the veil that conceals the plan of God’s decrees. The reader is informed beforehand why Job is afflicted with pains and troubles. But Job and his friends have not been informed. Job desires to know what act of his has brought upon him that terrible calamity, if it is to be endured as a punishment; he protests his innocence, and criticises the justice of the Almighty. The three friends declare with certainty that Job’s sufferings are a punishment for sins committed, and are angry that Job does not accept their view.

God appears, rebukes Job for his presumption, but declares that the view expressed by his friends, insinuating sinful conduct to Job, was wrong, and that Job, who contended that he did not know the cause of the suffering, spoke more rightly than his friends. For Job had not been afflicted because of his sins, and this was shown to the friends of Job by the compensation which God gave Job for all that he had lost and suffered.

Koheleth likewise shows the futility of man’s endeavour to find independently of Divine revelation the aim and object of man’s life on earth, or the share his free-will has in the performance of his actions and the determination of his fate. Man is lost in a labyrinth of problems, out of which he can extricate himself only by faith in God and His guidance. The result to which the investigations of Koheleth led him is expressed thus: “Fear God, keep his commandments; for this is the whole of man’s duty. For every action God will bring to judgment together with all hidden thoughts, whether good or evil” (Eccles. xii. 13).

The acts of Divine justice recorded in the sacred literature serve as a warning to the evil and an encouragement to the good. They are all of a material character, as only in this shape can they be perceived by man. But by no means do they exhaust all the ways of God. The Divine retribution so frequently referred to in the Law points mostly to the good or evil consequences which the conduct of the Israelites will bring upon the whole community or state, because the whole community is benefited by the virtues and injured by the misconduct of each of the members composing it; it is the duty of the authorities, by watchfulness and by well-defined punishments, to prevent the spread of disobedience to the Divine Law. What other rewards or punishments await the individual in this life or after death we do not know. But there are, especially in the Psalms, numerous indications that the pious sufferer was sure that everlasting happiness would more than compensate for the absence of material and transient success in this life. The following passages may serve as an illustration:—

“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about” (Ps. xxxii. 10).

“How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God! and the children of men take refuge under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light” (xxxvi. 8–10).

“For evil-doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the land” (xxxvii. 9).

“For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off” (Ibid. 28).

“Mark the perfect man; and behold the upright: for the latter end of that man is peace. As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; the latter end of the wicked shall be cut off” (Ibid. 37, 38).

In these and similar passages the pious and enthusiastic singer has in his mind something more durable and permanent than this short life, or otherwise the conflict between his hopes and the reality would have shaken his faith.

Twelfth Principle.—“I firmly believe in the coming of Messiah; and although he may tarry, I daily hope for his coming.”

When Abraham was chosen by God to be the founder of a nation proclaiming the Unity of God, when he was commanded to separate from his relatives and friends and to travel a stranger in a foreign land, the blessing promised to him was not to be enjoyed by him in the present, but by his descendants in remote future: “All the families of the earth shall be blessed in thee” (Gen. xii. 3). The same promise was repeated when Abraham stood the trial, and was ready to bring any sacrifice in obedience to the Will of the Supreme Being: “All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves in thee” (Ibid. xxii. 18). The conviction that the seed of Abraham have the distinction and the mission to become a source of a blessing to all mankind was transmitted from generation to generation; from Abraham through Isaac to Jacob or Israel, whose descendants, the Israelites, guarded the inherited charge, as their peculiar treasure. Before receiving the Decalogue on Mount Sinai, the Israelites were reminded of this their mission in the words, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. xix. 6). It was not by force of arms or by persuasion that they were to influence the whole earth, but by setting an example of noble, pure, and holy conduct. A special spot was selected for them where they should, in seclusion from the rest of the world, be trained in the true worship of God and in the practice of virtue. Zion and Jerusalem became in course of time the religious centre from which “instruction came forth and the word of the Lord.” The Israelites became negligent in their mission and faithless to their holy charge. Instead of leading other nations to the true worship of God, they allowed themselves to be misled by them to idolatry; instead of living a pure life of justice and righteousness, they yielded to luxury and lust, and committed acts of injustice and oppression. They were punished. Troubles followed troubles; they lost their independence and their religious centre. The men of God, the prophets, from Moses to the last of the prophets, Malachi, foretold the catastrophe, but at the same time added words of comfort and encouragement, pointing to a distant future, when “her appointed time of trouble will be complete, and her guilt atoned for;” when Israel will be restored to his land, and under the guidance of Messiah, “the Anointed of the Lord,” he will be filled with the fear of the Lord and an earnest desire to do that which is just and right. Moses, in one of his last addresses to Israel, said, “And it shall come to pass, when all these things have come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which 1 have set before thee; and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that the Lord thy God will return thy captivity, and have compassion on thee, and will return, and gather thee from all the peoples whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thy outcasts be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee,” &c. (Deut. xxx. 1–3). The glorious times of Messiah are described by Isaiah in the following words: “And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall reprove many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. ii. 2–4). The same has been prophesied in almost identical words by Micah (iv. 1–4), a contemporary of Isaiah. The peace of the Messianic period is figuratively described by Isaiah in the following verses: “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. xi. 6–9). In the days of Messiah all people will unite in the proclamation of the Unity of God and in His worship: “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall the Lord be one, and his name one” (Zech. xiv. 9). “Then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent” (Zeph. iii. 9).

The distinction given to Israel and to his land will again appear in all its glory. Israel is punished, deprived of independence, even despised and ill-treated at times; but with all this he is loved by God, and not rejected by Him for ever. Isaiah prophesies as follows: “Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant; O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me” (Isa. xliv. 21). “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee” (Ibid. liv. 10). Comp. lix. 20, 21; lx. 19–21; lxvi. 22; Jer. xxxiii. 25, 26; Hos. ii. 21, 22.

Those who during the years of Israel’s punishment have despised and ill-treated him will repent of their conduct when they witness his wonderful redemption. Their repentance is beautifully depicted by Isaiah in the passage beginning, “Behold, my servant will be successful” (lii. 13). Israel, the servant of God, patiently bears insults and persecution, faithfully waiting for the fulfilment of the Divine promise. Israel’s oppressors will then, on seeing how God loves him, confess their wrong and own that Israel has innocently suffered at their hands. With the redemption of Israel is connected the restoration of the throne of David. “A branch of the house of David” will be at the head of the nation, upon whom “the spirit of the Lord will rest, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord” (Isa. xi. 2). Thus Jeremiah prophesies: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king, and deal wisely, and shall execute judgment and justice in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name, whereby he shall be called, The Lord is our righteousness” (xxiii. 5, 6). All the attributes of Messiah are those of a human being in his highest possible perfection. No superhuman qualities are ascribed to him; all his glory, all his success, is dependent on the Will of God. He is an ideal man, and an ideal king, but not more; if miracles are to be wrought, it is not Messiah who will perform them, but God, who will act wondrously for Messiah and Israel. The advent of Messiah is not expected to change the nature of man, much less the course of the world around us. The only change we expect is, that the Unity of God will be acknowledged universally, and that justice and righteousness will flourish over all the earth. Those who believe in a superhuman nature of Messiah are guilty of idolatry. Our Sages express this principle in the words, ‏אין בין העולם הזה לימות המשיח אלא שעבוד מלכיות בלבד‎, “There is no other difference between the present time and the days of Messiah but the restoration of Israel’s independence.”

There are some theologians who assume the Messianic period to be the most perfect state of civilisation, but do not believe in the restoration of the kingdom of David, the rebuilding of the Temple, or the repossession of Palestine by the Jews. They altogether reject the national hope of the Jews. These theologians either misinterpret or wholly ignore the teaching of the Bible, and the Divine promises made through the men of God.

The hopes with which our religion inspires us can never lead us to intrigues, political combinations, insurrection, or warfare for the purpose of regaining Palestine and appointing a Jewish Government. On the contrary, our religion teaches us to seek the welfare of those nations in whose midst we live, and to conscientiously take part in the work for their national progress and prosperity, whilst patiently waiting for the miraculous fulfilment of the prophecies. Even if a band of adventurers were to succeed in reconquering Palestine for the Jews by means of arms, or reacquiring the Holy Land by purchasing it from the present owners, we should not see in such an event the consummation of our hopes.

Does the advent of Messiah and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem imply the restoration of the Sacrificial Service? The last of the prophets, Malachi, declares that “then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years” (Mal. iii. 4). In the same spirit all the prophets spoke, and when in some cases prophets denounce sacrifices, it is only the sacrifices of the wicked that they denounce. Sacrifices must be preceded by purification of the heart, and by the earnest resolve to obey the word of God, otherwise they constitute an increase of sin. When we express our longing for the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of the Temple-Service—the return of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their song and music—it is solely our desire for the opportunity of serving God according to His Will and command, and is not a feeling that should be modified by fashion or taste. It is because of our sins that we have been deprived of our Temple; the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of the Sacrificial Service will be the result of our own purification, and the consequent Divine pardon.

Thirteenth Principle.—“I firmly believe that there will take place a revival of the dead at a time which will please the Creator, blessed be His name and exalted His memorial for ever and ever.”

As imperfect as is our conception of a creation from nothing, so imperfect is our notion of the resurrection of the dead. We only perceive the dissolution of the body into its elements, which enter into new combinations and form new bodies; and it is almost impossible for us to imagine a reconstruction of the original body out of its own elements. There is no doubt that the Almighty produces fresh life from death—we need only observe the action of Nature in the world around us to convince ourselves that God is ‏מחיה המתים‎ “that he gives life to things dead.” But how this will be done in reference to our own selves, whether we shall enjoy the same life, whether our future life will be an improved edition of the present one, whether all will be restored to life, or whether the new life after death will be enjoyed by the soul alone, or by body and soul jointly: these and similar questions transcend the bounds of human knowledge. We know nothing but the bare fact that God can restore to life that which is dead, and that a resurrection will take place. But all further description of this event rests on man’s imaginative powers. The fact itself is stated by Daniel (xii. 2): “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt;” it is indicated in the Pentateuch in the words, “I shall kill and I shall make alive; I have wounded and I shall heal” (Deut. xxxii. 39). According to Maimonides, the author of the Thirteen Principles, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is identical with that of the immortality of the soul, calling the life of the soul after separation from the body, resurrection; the verse quoted from Daniel is accordingly interpreted in a figurative sense. The belief in ‏תחית המתים‎ “the resurrection of the dead,” emphatically enjoined in the Talmud, was thus restricted by Maimonides to the separate life of man’s soul after his death, because the immortality of the soul appeared to him more rational and more acceptable to thinking man. This may be the case, but we, human beings, a combination of soul and body, are, in reality, as unable to conceive the separate existence of our soul as we are to comprehend the resurrection of our body. We are taught that there exists for us a life beyond the present one. But any attempt to describe that life must be considered merely as an act of imagination rather than of knowledge. It is probably for this reason that no distinct ordinance in the Pentateuch sanctioned the belief in future life, or in the immortality of the soul. The belief, nevertheless, existed among the Israelites, and found expression in several passages of the Bible. Foremost among these is the following verse of Koheleth (xii. 7): “And the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” David also gives frequent expression to this belief in his Psalms. In the Seventeenth Psalm, e.g., he speaks with contempt of the wealth and the success of the wicked, and says of himself: “As for me, I shall see thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy likeness” (Ps. xvii. 15). Similarly he says in Ps. xvi. 8–11: “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall dwell in safety. For thou wilt not leave my soul to death, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy, in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” In the Book of Proverbs (xii. 28) we read: “In the path of righteousness there is life, and a smoothed way where there is no death.” These and similar verses show that the belief in the immortality of the soul was firmly established among the Israelites, and found frequent expression in the words of the men of God.

The belief in the Resurrection assists us in our endeavour of reconciling the apparent contradictions between the justice of God and our own experience. The latter comprises only the transient pleasures of the wicked and the sufferings of the just in this short life, and cannot be compared with the pleasure of the good and the suffering of the bad in the future, eternal life. Another benefit derived from this belief consists in its raising us above the ordinary sphere of earthly gains and losses; it turns our minds to higher aims; it purifies our heart and elevates it.

Opponents of this belief quote some passages from Job in support of their view; e.g.: “Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death” (x. 21). “As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more” (vii. 9). These and similar words were uttered by Job when he suffered great pain, and wished, as many would wish under similar circumstances, to be relieved by death from his momentary troubles, unconcerned as to what might happen in distant future. Besides, Job is not an Israelite; he is described as a man just and upright, but need not have had the same convictions and beliefs as the Israelites. How little the above verses represent the exact view of Job may be learnt from the fact that he gives also expression to the opposite belief: “If a man dieth, will he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my relief cometh” (xiv. 14). “And when my skin is gone, when worms have destroyed this body, and when my flesh is no more, yet shall I see God” (xix. 26).

NOTES.

On page 19 sqq.

The Number of the Principles of our Creed.—The contents of our Creed has its source in the Bible; there the Principles are taught, some directly, others indirectly; but they are neither formulated nor enumerated. The most ancient declaration of faith is contained in the verse: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is One” (Deut. vi. 4). There is even a tradition (Midrash Rabboth Gen. ch. xcviii.) that these words were first uttered by the sons of Jacob, when their father, in the last hour of his life, wished to know whether all his children were faithful to the inherited religion. We repeat these words thrice a day, in the morning and in the evening; with these words on their lips the martyrs of our nation suffered death; these words are the last which the pious Israelite utters before “his spirit returneth to him who hath given it.” When the Israelites took possession of Palestine, at the solemn assembly between the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, they were not commanded to recite or sign a series of articles of faith, but to declare their determination to obey the Will of God as expressed in the Torah. This was also done by our forefathers when standing round Sinai. They declared, “All that the Lord hath said, will we do and hear” (Exod. xxiv. 7). When Elijah on Mount Carmel had demonstrated the perverseness of the Baal-worship, the Israelites declared, “The Lord, he is God.” Jonah describes himself thus: “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of the heavens, who hath made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah i. 9).—Also, after the Restoration in the days of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, the Jews were exhorted to act according to the words of the Torah, and they renewed their covenant with God in this respect, but nothing is known of a declaration of belief, of reciting or signing articles of faith.—The struggle with the Samaritans produced special legislation with regard to certain religious observances, but there was no need for the formulation of a creed. But care has been taken that the principles of our faith should find expression in our daily prayers. Thus the sections which precede and follow the Shema contain an indirect declaration of the three fundamental principles of our religion, the Existence of the Creator, Revelation, and Divine Justice. The first section, called ‏ברכת יוצר‎ praises God as the sole source of everything, of light and darkness, of good and evil. In the second section (‏ברכת אהבה‎) we acknowledge in gratitude the benefits of Revelation; and in the third (‏ברכת גאולה‎) we thank God for the redemption of our forefathers from Egypt, by inflicting punishment on our oppressors. Although much stress is laid on faith (‏אמונה‎), and he who was found wanting in faith was stigmatised as ‏כופר‎ or ‏כופר בעיקר‎ unbeliever or infidel, yet no creed was officially formulated. Even the discussions between the Sadducees and Pharisees, which concerned also the principles of faith, brought only about certain changes in the prayer—such as the substitution of ‏מן העולם ועד העולם‎ for ‏עד עילם‎ in the responses of the congregation during the public service, in order to establish the belief in the existence of another world and another life beyond the grave.

The necessity of formulating the principles of faith arose when the contact and intercourse with other religious communities gave frequent occasion to discussions on these and similar subjects. Without some fixed basis, it was feared, disorder and confusion would disturb the peace in the camp of Israel.

Thus Saadiah says in Emunoth Ve-deoth: “I have seen men drowned, as it were, in the sea of doubts, covered by the waves of error, and there was no diver to bring them up from the depth, nor any swimmer to take hold of them and draw them out. As I possessed enough of what God taught me to support them, and had the power for upholding them granted to me, I considered it my duty to assist and guide my fellow-men according to the best of my abilities.” In ten chapters Saadiah discusses the various theological problems, and defends the following articles of faith: Existence of God; His Unity; Revelation; Free-will; Immortality of the Soul; Resurrection of the Dead; Final Redemption of Israel; Reward and Punishment. Although these principles do not seem to have been shaped into the form of a solemn declaration or embodied in the prayer, they are treated as themes familiar to the reader, and as elements essential in the Jewish faith (‏אשר אנחנו מחויבים להאמין‎).

Rabbi Abraham ben David (Rabad, ‏רא״בד‎), in his Haemunah haramah (“The Lofty Faith”), seems to assume three principles: Existence of God, Prophecy, and Reward and Punishment, which to defend from the attacks of the unbeliever, he considers as the first duty of the Jewish scholar (‏התורני‎); but he does not follow this decision in his book. He comprises all religious truths which he has to demonstrate under six heads (‏עיקרים‎). The first of them he calls “Root of the faith;” it expresses the conviction that all things in the universe owe their existence to a “First Cause”—God. Next comes “Unity of God,” which is followed by “Attributes of God,” “The intermediate causes of natural changes.” “Prophecy”—or ‏האמונה האחרונה‎, “the subsequent belief,” i.e., the belief which follows the belief in God—and “Divine Providence.”

Rabbi Jehudah ha-levi explains to the Kuzarite king his faith as follows: “We believe in the God of our forefathers, who brought the Israelites forth from Egypt by signs and miracles, sustained them in the wilderness with manna, divided for them the sea and Jordan, gave them the Law through Moses, exhorted them through His prophets to obey His commandments: in short, we believe all that is written in the Torah” (Kuzari, i. 8). He then explains philosophically “the root of the faith” in the following ten propositions: (1) The universe is finite; (2) it had a beginning; (3) the time of the beginning had to be determined by the Divine Being; (4) God is without a beginning; (5) God is eternal (i.e., without an end); (6) incorporeal; (7) omniscient; (8) all-wise, all-powerful, living; (9) free in His actions; (10) without change. To these must be added the belief in prophecy, in the truth of the prophecies, and in man’s free-will, which he fully discusses in the course of the book.

Rabbenu Bachya, in his “Duties of the Hearts” (‏חובות הלבבות‎), considers also faith as one of these duties, and expresses it in the most simple form, “Belief in God and in His Law.” He does not, however, devote a special chapter to faith. The first chapter treats of the distinctively Jewish creed of God’s Unity, but less as a duty of belief than as a duty of research and study for the purpose of philosophically establishing that God is One. The author states only briefly in the prefatory notes to the first chapter, that it is our duty to believe in the Existence, Providence, and Unity of God, as commanded in the verse, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”

Maimonides comprehended our belief in thirteen articles, known as the Thirteen Principles of our Creed. He insists on the fact that these articles are not the product of chance; they are the result of long study and deep research. Every one of them is essential, and he who rejects any of them is an infidel (‏כופר‎), and puts himself by such rejection outside the Jewish community (‏יוצא מכלל ישראל‎).

Rabbi Joseph Albo criticised Maimonides’ thirteen articles of faith (‏עיקרים‎). Whilst recognising all of them as true, he would make a difference between fundamental principles (‏עיקרים‎) and secondary beliefs (‏שרשים‎). The former are all those dogmas by which Judaism falls and stands, without which Jewish faith cannot be imagined; the latter are those principles which are actually true, but Judaism can be conceived without them. To the former he counts, e.g., the belief in the existence of God, to the latter the belief that to Him alone prayer is to be offered. For Judaism cannot be conceived without the belief in God’s existence, but could be conceived without the belief that only God is to be prayed to. Albo further finds fault with Maimonides for not having embodied in the Creed the belief in man’s free-will, in the truth of the Biblical account of the miracles, in the Creatio ex nihilo, and the like. To these objections Maimonides would reply, that the articles enumerated by him were all actually fundamental, the question whether Judaism could be imagined without this or that principle being of no importance whatever; and that the dogmas named by Albo as omitted, were implied in the Thirteen Principles. According to Albo there are three fundamental principles (‏עיקרים‎): Existence of God, Revelation, and Reward and Punishment. The first includes four articles (‏שרשים‎): Unity of God, His Incorporeality, Eternity, and Perfection; the second implies three: God’s Omniscience, Divine inspiration, and Divine messengers (prophets); the third only one: Providence. Albo’s criticisms on Maimonides have passed away without effect. The Principles of Faith as formulated by Maimonides have found their way into the daily Prayer-book in prose and poetry, and have since formed an essential element in every text-book of Jewish religion. Modern theologians erroneously quote Albo in favour of rejecting some of the articles, because he speaks of three fundamental principles; but they forget that Albo never rejects any of the thirteen principles; he only insists on making a difference between those which are more and those which are less fundamental.

On the First Principle, pp. 22 sqq.

Maimonides does not mention the term Creator except in the beginning of each paragraph as a substitute for “God.” He employs the philosophical term “First Cause” in defining the existence of God. In the sixty-ninth chapter of the first book of “The Guide” we find the explanation thereof. He says: “The philosophers, as you know, call God the First Cause (‏עִלָּה‎ and ‏סִבָּה‎); but those who are known by the name Mutakallemim (Mohammedan theologians) are very much opposed to the use of that name, and prefer to call Him ‘Maker’ (‏פּוֹעֵל‎), believing that there is a great difference whether we use the one term or the other. They argue thus: Those who say that God is the Cause, implicitly assume the coexistence of the Cause with that which was produced by that Cause, and believe that the universe is eternal, and that it is inseparable from God. Those, however, who say that God is the Maker do not assume the coexistence of the maker with his work; for the maker can exist anterior to his work; we cannot even imagine how a maker can be in action unless he existed before his own work. This is an argument advanced by persons who do not distinguish between the potential and the actual. For there is no difference whether we say ‘cause’ or ‘maker;’ ‘cause’ as a mere potentiality precedes its effect; and ‘cause’ as actuality coexists with its effect. The same is the case with ‘maker;’ so long as the work is not done, he is a maker potentially, and exists before his work; he is an actual maker when the work is done, and then he coexists with his work.”

“The reason why the philosophers called God ‘the Cause’ and did not call Him ‘the Maker’ is not to be sought in their belief that the universe is eternal, but in other principles, which I will briefly explain to you. Everything owes its origin to the following four causes: the substance, the form, the agens, the final cause. The philosophers believe—and I do not differ from them—that God is the agens, the form, and the final cause of everything; in order to express this, they call God ‘the Cause’ of all things. Every one of these three causes leads, through a chain of causes, to God as the First Cause.” Maimonides further points out in this chapter that the choice of the term by no means decides the question whether the universe has had a beginning or not.

Maimonides has been severely criticised by his successors for the absence of the belief in “Creation from nothing” from the Creed. In “The Guide” Maimonides distinctly states that the arguments for “Creation from nothing” and the arguments against it are equi-balanced, and that for this reason he follows the literal interpretation of the Scripture as regards Creation. Were the arguments in favour of the eternity of the universe stronger, he would not have found any difficulty in interpreting Scripture accordingly. Such being the view of our great philosopher, he could not make the belief in Creation part of the Creed, or declare that all who denied the Creation from nothing were unbelievers.

However strange this argumentation of Maimonides may appear, and however arbitrary his treatment of Scriptural teaching, his view is not without justification. It seems strange that, in spite of all his reverence for the Bible, he should have entrusted himself entirely to the guidance of his own reason, and forced, as it were, the Bible by peculiar interpretations to follow his reasoning. In truth, however, the method of Maimonides is neither strange nor arbitrary. There is no doubt that figurative language is extensively used in the Scriptures, especially in the poetical and the prophetical books. Whether a certain expression or phrase was to be understood in its literal meaning or in a figurative sense must be learnt from the context; in some cases—as, e.g., in the exhortation, “Ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart” (Deut. x. 16)—the figurative sense is accepted by all, whilst in other cases opinions are divided. Our decision in favour of the one interpretation or the other is based on our conviction that the Bible contains nothing but truth. When we discover a contradiction between a Biblical statement and the dictates of our reason, we are sure that we have erred either in the right understanding of the words of the Bible or in our reasoning. On finding the mistake in our reasoning we abandon what we have hitherto considered as fully established; but so long as we are unable to discover where our reasoning is faulty, we either suspend our judgment for the present and consider the question as one of the problems which we have not yet been able to solve satisfactorily, or, whenever possible, we attempt to reconcile by figurative interpretation the teaching of the Bible with the results of our research. Maimonides is therefore justified in saying that so long as reason does not decide against the teaching of the Bible in its literal sense he would adhere to the latter, and only if reason were to decide against the Creatio ex nihilo, he would follow reason and interpret Scripture accordingly.

It cannot be denied that Maimonides travelled here on rather slippery ground, and set a dangerous example when he admitted that he would interpret Scripture according to his preconceived view of the world’s beginning. But, on the other hand, it must be owned that many passages of the Bible admit of a figurative interpretation, and the reader must follow his own reason and discretion in deciding in each particular case which of the two interpretations is the correct one. Maimonides has not made excessive use of this license.

Saadiah in his Emunoth Ve-deoth devotes the first chapter to the problem of the Creation. It is headed ‏חדוש‎ “Creation,” and examines thirteen different opinions as to the origin of the universe. In the conclusion of this chapter he makes the following remarks: “Perhaps some one might ask in what manner something was produced from nothing. To this we reply as follows: If we were able to understand this, we should not have ascribed the creative act to God alone. But we declare God as the only Creator, because we can form no idea as to the manner in which something is created from nothing. Those who desire us to show them how to do this, desire, in fact, that we should make them and ourselves creators. We only conceive in our mind the fact of the Creation, but cannot form an idea or image of the process itself.… There may be some who think little of the universe, and wonder that this should be the result of all the power and wisdom of God. We reply that He created as much as, according to His knowledge, would be within the range of man’s observation and perception, and would be sufficient to teach man the existence of God.… How can we conceive the idea that the universe counts only 4633 years? But the universe has been created, as we believe, and must have had a beginning at a certain time. Suppose we had been living in the year 100; we should then not have been surprised: why should we be surprised now?” The question as to the purpose for which the universe was created, Saadiah makes three attempts to answer. Maimonides, however, in “The Guide,” more correctly, shows that the question is unanswerable and superfluous. For, whatever purpose we assume, we must always further inquire what is the purpose of this purpose, and so on ad infinitum, till we arrive at the answer, it was the Will of God. If the prophet declares that God “hath not created it in vain, but hath formed it for dwelling,” he likewise says implicitly it was the Will of God that the earth should be for a dwelling.

The question, however, arises whether the Biblical account of the Creation harmonises in all its parts with the results of scientific research. To prove the existence of harmony between the two discordant elements has been since days of old the task which theologians proposed to themselves; philosophic culture forced them to accept the doctrines of a certain school of thought as established truths, whilst religious feeling would not allow them to abandon the teaching of the inspired writers. But the search after this harmony was superfluous, and the harmony found was illusory. For, whilst the teaching of the Bible remains unchanged, the systems of philosophy and science, like everything human, have no claim to permanency; each system has its season; it begins to shine, and rises higher and higher; and when it has reached the zenith, it begins steadily to decline till it disappears beneath the horizon of science. So long as Aristotle and Ptolemy were dominant, theologians exerted themselves to show that the account contained in the first chapter of Genesis fully harmonises with Aristotle and Ptolemy. When these princes were dethroned, and their places were occupied by others, the old harmony was gone, and a new method had to be invented. Maimonides has clearly pointed out how the conflict between reason and faith, where it existed, could best be brought to a conclusion. Such of the laws of nature as have been established by human acumen and human observation have been discovered in the phenomena of existing nature; but the phenomenon of creation has never been observed in nature from which we could learn the laws of creation.

In the seventeenth chapter of the Second Book of “The Guide” Maimonides says as follows: “Everything produced comes into existence from non-existence; even when the substance of a thing has been in existence, and has only changed its form, the thing itself which has gone through the process of genesis and development, after having arrived at its final state, has properties different from those which it possessed at the commencement of the transition from potentiality to reality or before that time.… It is quite impossible to infer from the qualities which a thing possesses after having passed through all the stages of its development what its condition was at the moment when this process commenced; nor does the condition of a thing at that moment show what its previous condition had been. If you make this mistake, and attempt to prove the nature of a thing in potential existence by its properties when actually existing, you will fall into great confusion; you will reject evident truth and admit false opinions.… If philosophers would consider this well, and reflect on it, they would find that it represents exactly the dispute between Aristotle and ourselves. We, the followers of Moses, our teacher, and of Abraham, our father, believe that the universe has been produced from nothing, and has developed in a certain manner, and that it has been created in a certain order. The Aristotelians oppose us, and found their objections on the properties which the things in the universe possess when in actual existence and fully developed. We admit the existence of these properties, but hold that these properties themselves have come into existence from absolute non-existence. The arguments of our opponents are thus refuted; they have demonstrative force only against those who hold that the nature of things as at present in existence proves the Creation. But this is not my opinion.”

This reasoning holds good with regard to the modern theory of Evolution. We may be able to discover numerous facts in evidence of this theory, we may well conceive the idea of a protoplasm developing into a whole system of worlds, and yet our belief in the truth of the Biblical account of the Creation is not shaken in the least. The laws of Evolution are the result of the creative act of the Almighty, and not its causes; they include nothing that could disprove the correctness of the theory of Creatio ex nihilo.

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, in his “Commentary on Genesis” (i.) says: “The word ‏בראשית‎ ‘in the beginning,’ teaches that nothing preceded the act of Creation; that there was a Creatio ex nihilo. This truth forms the foundation of the faith which the Divine Law is intended to establish in our hearts. The opposite theory is the doctrine of the eternity of the substance, a theory which leaves to the Creator nothing but the function of giving form to the substance that has existed already from eternity, and which has been the basis of the heathen belief up to the present day.… The first word of the Torah dispels the darkness of this false belief; and the words, ‘The opening of thy word giveth light’ (Ps. cxix. 130), have in the Midrash correctly been applied to the word ‏בראשית‎. Everything, the matter and the form of all beings, is the result of the free will of the Creator, who continues to rule matter and form, and to determine both the natural forces and the laws of their action. For it is His free will that created matter, endowed it with certain forces, and fixed the laws by which the forces impress the different forms on it.”

Science teaches that millions of millions of years must have elapsed before the earth received its present form; that it took millions of years before the light of certain stars could reach the earth. In all these calculations one important factor is ignored, viz., that for every development something must be given, which is subject to the process of developing; to determine in what condition that something was, when it passed from the passive state of creation to the active state of developing, is a problem for the solution of which there is no analogy in nature. He who could create a germ endowed with all the natural forces required for development and differentiation into the great variety of forms which we perceive at present, must certainly have been able to create the things actually endowed with these forms. Thus, also, the various strata of the earth, whatever forms they contain, cannot with certainty be described as the results of development; they may just as well have come directly from the hand of the Creator.

Science has proved, it is maintained, that the earth does not form the centre of the universe, and that man does not form the principal object in nature, in opposition to the teaching of the Scriptures that the earth is the centre round which the whole universe revolves, and that man on earth is the lord of the creation. Whatever view the authors of the Biblical books held as regards the systems of the universe, whether they placed the earth in the centre or not, whether all the stars and systems of stars existed, in their opinion, only for the sake of the earth or for the benefit of man, their object was to address man, to instruct him, and to teach him the omnipotence, wisdom, and goodness of God. For this reason the account of the Creation is given in such a manner that man should be able to reproduce in his mind the work of each day of the Creation, to view it from his standpoint, and to recognise the benefits each day’s work bestowed on him. The fact that other beings are benefited at the same time, and that the benefit they derive is likewise part of the Creator’s design, is by no means denied by those who believe that the well-being of man was included in the design of the Creator. It is part of our duty of gratitude to ascribe the benefits we enjoy to their Author. The prophets and the inspired singers knew well the place which weak and mortal man occupies in the universe; but they did not ignore the dignity and importance with which the Creator endowed him in spite of all his weakness and apparent insignificance. “What is man,” exclaims the Psalmist, “that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? And yet thou hast made him a little lower than angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour” (Ps. viii. 5, 6).

On the Fifth Principle, p. 44.

The principle that no other being but God is worthy of being addressed in prayer implies the belief that God can fulfil our petitions. We believe in the efficacy of prayer. It is true that when we communicate our wishes to the Most Holy, our just Lord and our loving Father, we are eo ipso reminded to examine our desires, whether they contain anything unholy, anything unjust or ignoble. Prayer to God has therefore the salutary effect of purifying, refining, and ennobling our heart. It banishes evil thoughts, and thus saves us much pain and sorrow. This effect may have been designed by the Creator, and it may be for this purpose that He has endowed us with a natural impulse to pray, and has taught us to pray in His Holy Word. But this cannot be the direct object of prayer. The immediate effect sought to be obtained by this act is the fulfilment of our wishes. Every such fulfilment implies a miracle, a deviation from the regular course of nature. We are not in the habit of praying for things which we expect as the sure result of the natural laws; we may praise and admire nature in its workings, but we shall never ask nature for the fulfilment of our desires. Only those things which we believe to be dependent solely on the free decision of the Supreme Being can form the substance of our petitions; and since we believe that everything, the regular working of the natural laws not excepted, depends on the Will of God, we include in the objects of prayer whatever concerns the well-being of individual man and society at large.

There have been thinkers that formed such an idea of God that they were compelled to deny Him every direct influence on human affairs. Some thought it incompatible with the notion of God’s Unity and Immutability that He should be moved by man’s prayer to do something which otherwise He would not have done. Again, others believe that the laws of nature—whether given by God or not—are so permanent that they never change under any circumstances. Prayer has therefore been explained to be of a purely subjective character, and to effect only the above-mentioned improvement of man’s heart. But could we really pray to God to grant us the one thing or the other if we were convinced that He cannot grant us anything, but must allow nature to take its course? Can a prayer offered in such a frame of mind be called a “prayer without lips of deceit”? In opposition to such theories our teachers purposely introduced into the daily prayer here and there a reminder of the true theory in words like the following: ‏המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית‎ “Who repeateth anew every day regularly the work of the Creation.” He is constantly ‏יוצר אור‎, ‏בורא חשך‎, ‏מחיה המתים‎; He constantly “formeth light,” “createth darkness,” “giveth life to the dead,” &c.; they have expressed our gratitude to God ‏על נסים שבכל יום עמנו ועל נפלאתיך וטובתיך שבכל עת‎ “for His miracles which in our behalf He performs every day, and for His wonders and kindnesses shown at all times.”

The Immutability of God and of His decrees is frequently insisted upon in Scripture. “I, the Lord, I change not” (Mal. iii. 6). “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent” (Num. xxiii. 19). “The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent” (1 Sam. xv. 29). “And he hath established them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away” (Ps. cxlviii. 6).—This immutability, however, does not interfere with the free-will of man and its consequences. The teaching of the Bible is beautifully expressed in the well-known sentence: ‏תשובה תפלה וצדקה מעבירין את רע הגזרה‎ “Repentance, prayer, and good deeds remove the evil of the divine decree” (Musaf of Rosh ha-shanah); whatever a man has forfeited by evil deeds, he may recover by prayer and improved conduct. This lesson is taught in the Bible on every page, and is illustrated by the history of Israel. For this reason the prophets were sent to the people of Israel to exhort them, and to show them how they could, by means of repentance, ward off the impending catastrophe. To non-Israelites the same mercy was extended, as is shown by the history of the mission of the prophet Jonah.—Mishnah Aboth (iv. 13) therefore declares, “Repentance and good deeds are like a shield against punishment,” ‏תשובה ומעשים טובים כתריס בפני הפרענות‎.

The seeming incongruity of the two principles, God’s immutability and man’s hope for mercy and pardon from God, has to some extent occupied the attention of our ancient teachers. “If our condition for a whole year is determined in advance, what is the good of our daily prayers and our supplication for God’s help in times of trouble?” Such is the question asked in the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh ha-shanah (16a), and the answer is given, ‏יפה צעקה קודם גזרה ואחר גזרה‎ “Prayer is of good effect both before the decree and afterwards.” It is always in the power and in the will of the Almighty to accede to our petitions and to fulfil our wishes. The question has since been repeated frequently, but no better solution has as yet been supplied.

Abraham, who was the first teacher of monotheism, has also been made by tradition the father of prayer. In the Biblical account he is the first who uttered a prayer; a prayer in the true sense of the word, not for himself, but for his fellow-men. The words of Cain, ‏גדול עוני מנשא‎ “My punishment is greater than I can bear,” have not the character of prayer, nor can the “calling by the name of God” in the age of Enosh be considered with certainty as an expression of prayer. Tradition relates, therefore, that before Abraham there was no one that called God by the name ‏אדון‎ “Lord.” Abraham was the first who recognised God as Lord of man, in whose hand his fate lies,—the condition sine quâ non of prayer. From Abraham onwards prayer remained the chief refuge in danger, and the best, solace and relief in time of trouble.

Rabbi Joseph Albo, in the book Ikkarim, says (IV. xvi.): “Although Prayer is not one of the principles of our Torah, it is intimately connected with the belief in Providence, and every one who believes in Providence ought to believe in the efficacy of prayer. For he who does not pray to God in time of trouble either does not believe in Divine Providence, or if he does believe, he doubts whether God is able to supply his wants; in both cases man is an unbeliever. It is also possible that a person who believes in Divine Providence and in God’s Omnipotence doubts whether he deserves that his prayer should be granted—a feeling of humility which ought indeed to fill the heart of every person—but this idea must not prevent him altogether from praying to God concerning his wants. If he does not pray from this reason, he may believe in God’s justice, but he does not believe in His mercy and kindness. It is also contrary to the teaching of the Bible. ‘Not relying on our righteousness do we offer our supplication before you, but on your great mercy!’ For the benefits bestowed by God on His creatures are acts of love, not of recompense.… Man receives benefits, whether he is entitled to them or not, because prayer gives him a qualification which he does not possess by nature, and enables him to receive such good things as could not be obtained from any other being or through any other means.…

“There are some who doubt the efficacy of prayer; they argue thus: We must assume that a certain good thing has been either decreed or not decreed in favour of a certain person: if it has been decided, prayer is not wanted; and if it has not been decided, how can prayer effect a change in the Will of God, who is unchangeable? Neither righteousness in action, nor prayer, is of any avail in procuring any good thing that has not been ordained, or in escaping any evil that has been decreed. This is also the argument of Job in chap. xxi. But the answer to these arguments is this: Whatever may have been decreed, certain conditions must be fulfilled before the decree is executed. If a good harvest is decreed to a certain person, he must plough and sow before he can secure such a harvest; if punishment is decreed against him, the punishment is not inflicted in the absence of continued and repeated sinning. The history of King Ahab shows that the evil decreed against any sinner takes no effect if the sinner repents and is turned into another man. The change that takes place in man himself is the direct effect of prayer and righteousness; it prepares and qualifies him for receiving benefits and protection from evil. Our Sages say therefore: Prayer has its good effect both before and after the Divine decree. The Immutability of God is not less consistent with Efficacy of Prayer than it is with His knowledge of things which are possible, and may happen or may not happen. God and His knowledge being unchangeable, everything must be certain and nothing merely possible. And yet we are convinced of the existence of these things, and believe at the same time in the Immutability of God’s knowledge. In the same manner we are convinced of the Efficacy of Prayer without doubting the Immutability of God’s Will.”

On Revelation, p. 46.

The term ‏נביא‎ “prophet” only expressed the prophet’s function of addressing his fellow-men when inspired and impelled by the Spirit of the Lord. The verb “to prophesy” is therefore in Hebrew expressed by the nifal or passive. In so far as the Word of God has been revealed to him he is called ‏ראה‎, ‏חוזה‎ and ‏צפה‎ “Seer,” ‏איש אלהים‎ “Man of God,” ‏איש הרוח‎ “The inspired.” In the time of Samuel the title ‏ראה‎ was generally given to the prophet instead of ‏נביא‎ (1 Sam. ix. 9), as his advice was also sought by many who believed him to be able to foresee coming events and to know everything. As, however, the word ‏נביא‎ only describes the prophet as addressing his fellow-men, it is used both of the true and the false prophets, and also of teachers and preachers generally. The Targum on the Prophets (Jer. xxix. 15; Isa. xxix. 10) renders, therefore, the term ‏נביא‎ in some instances: ‏מלפין‎ “teachers,” ‏ספריא‎ “scholars.”

The enthusiasm manifested by the prophet in his mode of address, or in his endurance of insult and ill-treatment, made him sometimes appear in the eyes of the public as though he were struck with madness, so that scoffers used ‏נביא‎ and ‏משגע‎ “mad,” as synonyms (Jer. xxix. 26), and ‏מתנבא‎ is both one who acts as a prophet and one who imitates the appearance of a prophet (1 Sam. xviii. 10).

The false prophets are divided by Jeremiah into three classes: there were those who were guilty of a direct plagiarism, preaching the Divine messages of the true prophets and describing them as their own inspiration. There were others who plagiarised and reproduced true prophecies in a form and style of their own, and others again who altogether invented dreams and visions. The principal test for distinguishing between the true and the false prophets was the purity of moral and religious conduct. In matters wholly indifferent as regards morality and religion the prophet was believed after having established his trustworthiness in some way or other, and his advice was acted upon. The prophet himself could easily detect the fraud of a false prophet; for what he was commanded by God to do, another prophet could not, speaking in the name of the same God, order not to be done. The prophet, therefore, who deceitfully induced “the man of God” to return to Beth-el by the very way which the word of God had forbidden him to go again (1 Kings xiii. 18), could not have been a true prophet, although he was subsequently entrusted with a Divine message for “the man of God.” Bileam was likewise for a certain purpose made the bearer of God’s words, although he was by no means a good man. In either case the sinful intention of the false prophet was stigmatised as contrary to the Will of the Most High, and both had, as it were, to own the wickedness of their intention or the wrong of their actions.

The subject-matter of the prophecy is called “the vision,” “the word of God,” or “the burden of the word of God.” In the days of Jeremiah the term “burden of the Lord” seems to have been used contemptuously of the prophetic utterances in the sense of “trouble” and “strife” (comp. Deut. i. 12), and the prophet was ironically asked by the people, “What is the burden of the Lord?” Jeremiah exhorts them to say, “What hath the Lord answered thee?” or “What hath the Lord spoken?” “But the burden of the Lord shall ye remember no more; for the burden shall be the man’s to whom His word is brought” (Jer. xxiii. 36).

On the Sixth Principle, p. 131.

Saadiah in Emunoth ve-deoth iii. says: “Some men believe that we have no need of prophets, our reason being able to distinguish between good and evil. But if this were the case, God would not have sent messengers to us, because He does not do a thing that is purposeless. I considered the question thoroughly, and found that the mission of the prophets was necessary, not only for the promulgation of categorical commands, but also for that of rational precepts. Thus the duty of thanksgiving to God for His goodness is dictated by our own reason, but the Divine messengers had to fix the time and the form of thanksgiving. Again, adultery is rejected by our reason as a crime; but the Divine teaching determines the conditions of the bond that unites man and wife.…

“As a test of the prophet’s truthfulness and trustworthiness a sign is given, which consists of an act implying a deviation from the ordinary laws of nature (comp. Exod. iii. and iv.). The Israelites are therefore frequently reminded of ‘the great wonders which their eyes saw’ (Deut. vii. 19). Those who believed after the sign was given were ‘the righteous,’ whilst those who did not believe ‘went astray.’ …

“The object of ‘the wonders’ was to produce belief in the prophecies; except for such a purpose as this, the regular course of Nature is not disturbed, so that man can make his plans and arrange his affairs on the basis of the continuance of the laws of Nature. The messengers sent by God were not angels, but men like ourselves, in order that the force of the sign may be more apparent; for, seeing that beings like ourselves perform things which we cannot perform, we conclude that a higher Being has endowed them with extraordinary power for a special purpose. If, however, angels had been chosen for the task of prophets, we should not have considered their performance as signs; but, not knowing the nature of angels, we should have thought that such acts were within the regular and natural powers of angels. Prophets, like other human beings, cannot dispense with the regular functions of the organs of their body; they are subject to the different conditions of health; to poverty, ill-treatment on the part of their fellow-men, and to ignorance about future events, except those communicated to them by Divine inspiration.—I found it necessary to state this here, because there are people who believe that the prophet does not die like ordinary people; others deny him the sensation of hunger and thirst; others again think that he does not suffer from violence and wrong directed against him, and some even believe that nothing is hidden from him. These ‘do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and do not understand His counsel.’

“It is, further, my conviction that the prophets were satisfied, by some extraordinary supernatural phenomena, that they were addressed by the Almighty. (Comp. Exod. xxxiii. 9 and Ps. xcix. 7: ‘In a pillar of cloud he speaketh to them.’)

“As to the relation of the Egyptian Magicians to Moses, we are informed that ten miracles were wrought by Moses and only three by the Magicians. Even these three were only mentioned in order to show the difference between Moses and the Magicians. Moses acted openly, the Magicians secretly; the effect of Moses’ doing was felt throughout the whole country, that of the Magicians only in a limited space.…

“Some one might ask, ‘How could Jonah have been chosen for his mission? Wisdom would forbid us to appoint for an important mission a messenger that is disobedient.’ But I have examined the Book of Jonah, and have not found any statement as regards the disobedience of Jonah. On the contrary, I assume that he, like all prophets, brought the Divine message to the Ninevites. We frequently find in the Pentateuch. ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them,’ and we assume that Moses told the Israelites, although this is not distinctly mentioned. The reason why Jonah fled is this: the first message which he actually brought to the inhabitants of Nineveh contained simply a summons to repentance. He feared that he would be again sent to threaten with punishment if they did not return; and if they returned and the threatened catastrophe did not occur, they might in course of time begin to doubt the veracity of his words. He therefore left the land, which was distinguished as the land of prophecy (Jonah iv. 2).”

Rabbi Jehudah ha-levi, in the book Cuzari (V. xii.), describes prophecy as an extraordinary gift granted by the Almighty to such human beings as are qualified for it by the highest degree of intellectual development, moral conduct, and an earnest desire for communion with God. Such qualification is found only in a few privileged individuals—“the heart of mankind” (‏לב האדם‎)—who, as it were, possess it as an inheritance transmitted from generation to generation, but it can only be possessed or acquired under certain favourable conditions, e.g., that the prophet live in Palestine, the land of prophecy, or have his attention directed to Palestine (I. xcv.).

Abraham Ibn Ezra explains the words “And the Lord spake to Moses” as referring to true speech and not to speech with the mouth, which is merely a representation of the other. “God spake to Moses” as man speaketh to his neighbour; that is to say, directly and not through a messenger (On Exod. xxxiii. 11).—In commenting on the Nineteenth Psalm he says: “The first part shows how the intelligent man can find in nature evidence for the existence and power of the Deity; but there is a far better and more trustworthy witness: the Law, &c, called by David ‘perfect,’ because no other evidence is required in support of the Divine utterances contained in the Holy Writings” (On Ps. xix. 8).—Ibn Ezra is so firm in his belief in the truth of the Divine Writings that he sets aside the contrary opinions of men as absurd. “We believe in the words of our God and abandon the vain opinions of the sons of man” (On Gen. vii. 19).—Whatever message they brought from God was true, and its realisation could be relied upon provided that the conditions were fulfilled, which were either expressed or implied. In other things, however, which were not contained in the Divine message they were not infallible (On Exod. iv. 20). The prophets were trained for the office. The sons of the prophets (or “the disciples”) led a contemplative life of seclusion, in the hope of receiving inspiration, every one according to his faculty (On Exod. iii. 15). The first step in this preparation was “the training in the fear of the Lord,” which leads man to heed the negative precepts of the Law. Then follows “the worship of God,” which includes the observance of all positive precepts (Yesod Mora, vii.).

Maimonides (Mishneh torah, I.; Yesode ha-torah, vii. 1):—“One of the principles of our faith is to believe that God inspires men. The inspiration can only take place in men who distinguish themselves by great wisdom and moral strength; who are never overcome by any passion, but, on the contrary, overcome all passions; who possess wide and profound knowledge. If those who are endowed with these various gifts, and, being physically perfect, enter the garden of speculation, are absorbed in these great and difficult problems, have the mind to understand and to comprehend, sanctify themselves more and more, abandon the ways of the common people that walk in the deep darkness of the time, and zealously train themselves in freeing their mind from useless things, the vanities and tricks of the time, in order always to keep the mind free for reflecting on higher things, on the most holy and pure forms, on the whole work of the Divine Wisdom from the first sphere to the centre of the earth, and to comprehend thereby the greatness of God: then they will at once be inspired with the holy spirit, their soul will then be in the society of angels, they will become other beings, they will feel that they are not the same as before, that they are above other men, even above the wise. Thus it is said of Saul, ‘And thou wilt prophesy with them, and be turned into another man’ ” (1 Sam. x. 6).

The same opinion is expressed by Maimonides in his “Commentary on the Mishnah” (Sanhedrin, xi. 1), and in “The Guide” (III., xxxii.). In the latter (l.c.) the various views on prophecy are fully discussed, and the difference between the view of Maimonides and that of the “philosophers” is given more distinctly. According to the philosophers, the highest physical, moral, and intellectual development is the sole means for the acquisition of the prophetic faculty. Maimonides demands in addition to this the Divine Will; he reserves, as it were, for the Supreme Being a kind of veto, and believes that the prophetic faculty may, by Divine interference, i.e., by a miracle, be withheld from a person in spite of all preparation and fitness. He compares this interference to the sudden paralysis and equally sudden recovery of the hand of King Jeroboam (1 Kings xiii. 4). Although the physical conditions for the motion of the hand were present, the motion could not take place, because it was the Will of God that the hand should at that particular time not be able to perform its natural functions.

The question naturally suggests itself, Why, then, is the number of prophets so exceedingly small? Why are there no prophets amongst the large host of philosophers whose intellectual faculties have been most highly developed, and who apparently live in a sphere of ideals far above earthly and ordinary passions? Maimonides denies the fact that the conditions are fulfilled; he believes that the life of the philosophers is on the whole not so pure as would qualify them for the office of prophecy (II., xxxvi.).

But Bileam, Laban, and Abimelech enjoyed the privilege of Divine communication, although they had not attained to the highest degree of moral sanctity. Maimonides says in reference to the dreams of Abimelech and Laban (ibid., chap. xli.): “The sentence, ‘And Elohim (an angel) came to a certain person in the dream of the night,’ does not indicate a prophecy, and the person to whom Elohim appeared is not a prophet; the phrase only informs us that the attention of the person was called by God to a certain thing, and at the same time that this happened at night. For just as God may cause a person to move in order to save or kill another, so He may cause, according to His Will, certain things to rise in man’s mind in a dream by night. We have no doubt that the Syrian Laban was a wicked man and an idolater. Abimelech, though himself a virtuous man, is told by Abraham, ‘I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place’ (Gen. xx. 11). And yet of both it is said that Elohim appeared to them in a dream. Note and consider the distinction between the phrases ‘Elohim came’ and ‘Elohim said;’ between ‘in a dream by night’ and ‘in a vision by night.’ In reference to Jacob it is said, ‘And an angel said to Israel in visions by night’ (Gen. xlvi. 2), whilst in reference to Abimelech and Laban it is said, ‘Elohim came to Abimelech (or to Laban) in the dream by night’ (Ibid. xx. 3 and xxxi. 24). Onkelos therefore renders this phrase: ‘A word came from the Lord,’ and not ‘God revealed himself.’ ”

Bileam is, according to Maimonides, in some respect like Laban and Abimelech; what God told him in a dream by night was not a prophecy. In other respects he is described by this philosopher as a person endowed with ‏רוח הקדש‎ “the holy spirit;” i.e., he felt that some influence had come upon him, and that he had received a new power which encouraged him to speak for a certain object (The Guide, xlv.). Maimonides adds that at that time Bileam was still a virtuous man.—This view of the position which Bileam occupies in the class of inspired men is different from the place assigned to him in the Midrash, where the following passage occurs: “ ‘There arose no prophet again in Israel like Moses;’ that is to say, in Israel none arose, but among other nations there was a prophet as great as Moses, namely, Bileam” (Sifre, Deut. xxxiv. 10). Whatever may be the meaning of these words—whether they are meant as a satire or not—they seem to indicate that Bileam possessed a high degree of prophetic faculty. But comparing the deeds of Bileam with those of Moses, we find that the latter guided the Israelites and led them to good deeds and to a virtuous life, whilst Bileam misled those who followed his guidance to sin and vice.

The view of Maimonides, that man after due preparation and training may still be debarred from the rank of prophet, is severely criticised by the Commentators of the Guide. They maintain that God, after having invited and encouraged man to approach Him, would not then thwart the very hope He had implanted. According to their opinion, God’s hand is extended to all; every one may acquire the prophetic faculty, and those who have not acquired it have not been duly qualified for it. (Comp. the Comm. of Ephodi, Narboni a. o. on “The Guide,” II., xxxii.).