הלכה אויף דברים 5:26

And, this matter is a great and component part, the very pillar of the Torah and its precepts, even as it is said: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deut. 30.15), and it is, moreover, written: "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and curse" (Ibid. 11.26). This is as if saying, the power is in your hand, and whatever human activity man may be inclined to carry on he has a free will to elect either good or evil. And, because of this very subject it is said: "Oh, who would grant that they had such a heart as this, to fear Me, and to keep all my commandments at all times" (Ibid. 5.26). This is as if saying, that the Creator forces not the sons of man, and makes no decrees against them that they should do good or evil, but that it all is in their own keeping.⁵Since Maimoni no authority in Israel disputed this. G.

All the things hereinof spoken is the path of prophecy for all prophets, First and Last, save Moses our Master, the Master of all prophets. And what division is there between the prophecy of Moses and that of all the other prophets? All the other prophets prophesied while in a dream, or in a vision, but Moses our Master prophesied while awake and standing up, as it is said: "And when Moses went into the tent of meeting that He might speak with Him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him" (Num. 7.89); all other prophets received it through an Angel, they therefore saw what they did see in the form of allegory and riddles, but Moses our Master did not receive it through an angel, for it is said: "With him do I speak mouth to mouth" (Ibid. 12.8), and it is also said: "and the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face" (Ex. 33.11); and it is further said: "And the similitude of the Lord doth he behold" (Num. 12.8); which is to say that there is no manner of parable, for he sees the matter in its clearness without riddle and without parable, which is as the Torah testifies concerning him: "Even manifestly, and not in dark speeches" (Ibid.); he does not prophesy in dark speech but by sight for he sees the matter in its clearness; all prophets are awe-stricken, trembling and faint, but Moses our Master is not so, which is as the Verse says: "As a man speaketh unto his friend" (Ex. 33.11), meaning, that as no man trembles to hear the words of his friend, so was the power of the mind of Moses our Master to understand the words of prophecy, he remaining upright at his post unaffected; all other prophets could not prophesy any time they wanted, but not so Moses our Master, who at any time he desired, the Holy Spirit covered him, and prophecy rested upon him, and he needed not to prepare his mind, or be in readiness to meet it, as he was prepared and ready constantly like unto the ministering Angels. He, therefore, prophesied at all times, even as it is said: "Stand ye and let me hear what God will command concerning you" (Num. 9.8). Moreover, in this, Almighty assured him, saying: "Go and say to them, 'Return ye to your tents' and, as for thee, remain standing with me here"(Deut. 5.30–31). Herefrom we learn that all other prophets, when the spirit of prophecy departs from them, return to their tent for their bodily needs, they all, like unto the rest of the people. Therefore, do they not remain separated from their wives. But Moses our Master returned not again to his erstwhile abode, he therefore separated himself forever from his wife and from like matters; his intellect became apprenticed to the Rock of the Universe; glory never departed from him; his countenance became adorned with rays of light, and his saintliness was like that of Angels.

If you see three generations or more, one after the other, all scholars, but then their children are illiterate, do not say that the words of the scholars are voided because they said, “‘Thy words shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed’ (Isa. 59:21), thereafter Torah will no longer cease from among them.” ¹Baba Metziah 85a. Behold they have become wedded to a family whose destiny is not to have scholars in its midst,²Midrash Rabbah, ed. Horeb, Ecclesiastes, Chapter IV, p. 91. and our rabbis said, “Most children resemble the mother’s brother therefore their sons are illiterate.” This likewise applies to the God-fearing and the pious, for it written, “and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:12). And if you see that in the fourth generation the God-fearing and pious cease, it is then apparent that they intermarried with those to whom they were not suited, for instance he is not God-fearing or pious, therefore the generation is such. Therefore let a man seek favor each day for himself, his children and grandchildren, that they be joined to a partner who is God-fearing, possesses Torah and deeds of loving kindness,³These three virtues correspond to the “three fold chord” of the verse. for it is said concerning these three “and the threefold cord is not quickly broken.” For the three words, Torah, fearing and loving kindness are all equal numerically, (fear is equal to Torah, and Torah is equal to loving kindness)⁴Although found in the text it is repetitive, nevertheless we left it but in parenthesis. for concerning “fear” it is written “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do thereafter” (Ps. 111:10). It is not said “to all who study”⁵Berakoth 17b. but “all they that practice it,” as it is written, “Oh that they had had such a heart as this always, to fear Me” (Deut. 5:26), and it is written, “What doth the Lord, thy God, require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God” (Deut. 10:12). Behold “fear” is prior to “all they that do thereafter” i.e., “The fear” of God and “love …” “to walk in all His ways” (Deut. 10:12). “A good understanding have all they that do thereafter” (Ps. 111:10), “That ye may make all that ye do to prosper” (Deut. 29:8).