פרשת עקב תשל"א - "ובשמו תשבע"

To not derive benefit from the coverings of idolatry and from its auxiliaries: That we were prevented not to benefit from the coverings of idolatry. And even when it is not forbidden to benefit from the idolatry itself - such as if one bowed to something that is not in the holding of a man's grasp (not created by him), like a mountain, an animal or a tree, as it is not prohibited to benefit from them - nonetheless, the covering that is upon them is forbidden to benefit from nonetheless; since they are included in the auxiliaries of idolatry that are forbidden. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 7:25), "you shall not covet silver and gold that is upon it and take it for yourself." And even though it is stated in another place more generally (Deuteronomy 13:18), "And nothing shall cling to your hand, etc.," a negative commandment was specified about the covering - as the fools will place their eyes upon them. It is from the roots of the commandment that [it is] in order to distance any matter of idolatry and anything associated with it. The laws of the commandment are elucidated in the third chapter of Avodah Zarah. And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and benefits from its coverings - and even the smallest amount - is liable [to receive] lashes. To not benefit from an offering to idolatry: That we not have anything of idolatry cling with our money, to benefit from it. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 7:26), "And you shall not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, etc." It is from the roots of the commandment [that it is] in order to distance all matter of disgusting idolatry. The laws of this commandment are also in the third chapter of Avodah Zarah. And they elucidated for us (Makkot 22a) that one who cooks with the wood of a tree-god is lashed two [sets of lashes] - because of "You shall not bring an abhorrent thing," and because of "And no thing shall cling to your hand from the anathema"; since they are two matters, one is to bring something of idolatry into his domain to benefit from and [the other] is that he benefits from it. As a person shows a desire for it about himself with both of them; and he is lashed for both of them, as we have written. And even though there is one main principle for both of them - and that is benefit, as behold, he is only lashed because of the benefit - nonetheless, once he benefits, he is lashed twice. And [it is] like the matter that we said above in the Order of Emor (Sefer HaChinukh 273) about a high priest that has sexual intercourse with a widow - that he is lashed twice, even though the two negative commandments have one main principle to them, as we have written there. And it is in the category of this prohibition whether it is the idolatry itself or whether it is its auxiliaries or whether it is its offering, and whether it is the idolatry of an Israelite or of a gentile. And what is [the difference] between this and that? That of a gentile is forbidden immediately from when it is made, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 7:25), "The sculptures of their gods" - from the time that they are sculpted. And that of an Israelite is not forbidden until it is worshiped, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 27:15), "and places it in hiding" - until he does to it things that are in hiding (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 7:4). And [also] included in this commandment is that a person should not have cling to his money that God has graced him with justly, other money that is from theft, extortion, interest or from any ugly thing; since all of this is included in the auxiliaries of idolatry. As the evil impulse of a man's heart desires it and brings it to his house - and the evil impulse is called by the name, idolatry; and like they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Batra 10a) that about it is it stated (Deuteronomy 15:9), "lest there be a wanton thing with your heart," and it is written about the matter of idolatry (Deuteronomy 13:14), "Wanton men have gone out from you and have induced, etc." And about monies like this that we mentioned and about the auxiliaries of idolatry - about all of them - is it stated (Deuteronomy 7:26), "and you will be an anathema like it"; meaning to say that all that clings to it is anathema. As the blessing of God is not found in it, and [so] it disappears and is lost; like the matter that they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 71a) that a small coin of interest makes several treasuries of money disappear. As this comes and destroys that. And this prohibition is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and takes anything from idolatry and brings it into his domain and benefits from it is lashed two [sets of lashes], because of "You shall not bring, etc." and because of "And no [thing] shall cling, etc." So wrote Rambam, may his memory be blessed (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 7:2). To bless God after eating food: To bless God, may He be blessed, after a man eats and is satiated from bread or from the seven types [of food] that are mentioned in the verse (Deuteronomy 8:8) when he is nourished by them. And a loaf made from wheat or barley is called undifferentiated bread; and included in wheat is spelt, and included in barley is oats and rye. And about the seven types that nourish is it stated (Deuteronomy 8:10), "And you shall eat and be satiated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land, etc." And this satiation is not the same with very person, but rather every person knows his [own] satiation. And we know the measurement of the satiation of a righteous person is to satiate himself, [by which] I mean to say, only for his sustenance. And the proof that the obligation of the blessing from Torah writ is only after satiation is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said in the chapter [entitled] Mi SheMeto in Berakhot 20b: Rav Avira expounded, etc. until, He said to them, "And shall I not show favor to Israel, as I wrote for them in My Torah. 'And you shall eat and be satiated, and you shall bless' (Deuteronomy 8:10); yet they are exacting with themselves even if they have eaten as much as a kazayit (the size of a large olive) or a kabeitsah (the size of a large egg)." And I will still expand [upon] this statement in explaining this verse and the laws that come out of the laws of this commandment, with God's help. And I will make known the disagreement that exists among our rabbis in its understanding. From the roots of the commandment, [there is a need to] preface that, have I not told you, my son in what has preceded, that all glory, all majesty, all the good, all wisdom, all power and blessing are of God, blessed be He. And the words of people and all of their deeds - whether good or bad - will not add or subtract [from Him]. Hence you must distinguish that in our always saying in the blessings, "Blessed are You, God," or [in our saying,] "May He be blessed," the understanding is not as it seems, to add blessing to the One who does need any addition, God forbid. As He is the Master over everything and over all the blessing; He renews them and creates them and emanates great abundance from them when His good will is [present] there. Therefore, we must search what is the intention of the matter and not expend our time in that with which we are always involved without any understanding at all. And it is not my thought - I, the one that raises [it] - that my intellect will grasp even like a drop in the ocean of the truth of the matter. As it has already been told to me and I heard from the mouth of sages that there is in these things strong foundations and wonderful secrets - the Torah sages inform their students [of them] when they are understanding and proper and all of their actions are pleasant. But my will to grasp a little of the reason in this lifts me to speak about it. And maybe silence would have been better, but 'love spoils [sense of what is proper].' The matter is known and famous that God, may He be blessed, moves all that exists and created man and put him in control over the earth and over every thing that is in it. And it is from His traits, Blessed be He, that He is of much kindness and that He desires the good of His creatures, and [so] He wants them to be fitting and meriting to receive goodness from Him. And this is really from His perfection, may He be blessed. As only one who gives to others besides himself can be called perfect in the good - there is no doubt about this to any intelligent person. And since [we are in] agreement [about] this, that we know that it is obligatory from the perfection of His goodness, that His desire is to pour down His blessing upon us, we shall say that the matter of the blessing that we say in front of Him is only a mention to arouse ourselves through the words of our mouths that He is the blessed One, and the blessed One that contains all of the goodnesses. And through this good arousal of ourselves and the designation of our thoughts to admit to Him that all of the goodnesses are included in Him and He is the King over them, to send them to all that He desires, we merit through this good action to bring from His blessings upon us. And after this mention and this admission in front of Him, we request from Him that which we need [of] knowledge, or the pardon of our iniquities, or healing, or wealth or anything. And so [too,] after the request from Him, we repeat and admit to Him about this, to say that it comes to us from Him. And this is the opening and the conclusion of the blessings. [The reason for the latter is that we not] be considered like a slave who took a reward from his master and goes away without permission, like a thief. And it comes out according to the premise [created by] this reason that "blessed" is an adjective, meaning to say it is an admission to Him that He contains all of the blessings. And [about] the expression, "may He be blessed," that we always mention - which is [in] the reflexive case - we can say that the intention of it is that we are supplicating to Him that it be His will in front of Him to cause the hearts of His creatures to be prepared in front of Him that all should admit to Him and praise Him. And this is the explanation of "may He be blessed," meaning to say, "It should be Your will in front of You, that all people of the world will relate all blessing to You and admit that everything in the world emanates from You," and that His will be completed - as He wants to do good, as we have said. And the fulfillment of the Will is the purpose of all that ask. And behold, we have found an explanation even for the puzzling expression of "may He be blessed." And from this understanding (other versions: root), that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 60b) that the Holy One, blessed be He, craves the prayers of the righteous [is] to say that His desire is that they do an act through which they will merit in front of Him and bring down from His goodness upon them; as He is One who desires to do kindness and to give from His blessing upon them, from the good of His perfection, as is written. And this is the great root to all the good that a man does in this world - that his reward from God [is because] he fulfills His desire, in that He wants the good of the creatures. And from this root that I have said that the mention of blessed be He is an admission in front of Him about all of the blessings, that they are His, and that there is a need to make an admission to Him about this at the beginning of the request and at the end so that one not be like a slave that took his reward from his master and then left without permission; the differences that our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, fixed for us (Berakhot 11a) in the matter of the blessings - that there are some that open with "Blessed" and also conclude with "Blessed," there are those that conclude [with it] but do not open [with it] and there are those that open [with it] but do not conclude with it - are established, according to my opinion. How is it? Any blessing in the world - that has a request of something from God, may He be blessed, or the mentioning of a miracle - that is not adjacent to another blessing opens with "Blessed" and conclude with "Blessed"; for example, 'who creates the light' of the morning prayers and 'who brings the evenings' of the evening prayers; and many like them is from the reason mentioned. But any blessing that is not adjacent to its fellow concludes with "Blessed," but does not open with "Blessed," from this reason. As behold, since he admitted and gave governance to God at the end of the blessing that is adjacent to it, and he did not interrupt after this admission with neither a small or big thing, it is not fit to repeat the admission of the acceptance of His mastery twice at once because of the distinction between the requests of that we ask in front of Him. But it is fitting to conclude with "Blessed," since He interrupted with the request of his needs, as it is fit to go back and mention and to give to his heart the acceptance of His Kingship and his Mastery over him. And in this way, you will find the explanation for all of them according to my opinion, if you work them out. And those that have one adjacent that leave this framework - such as the blessing of grooms and Kiddush and Havdalah and others - have already been answered for us by our teachers, may God protect them. And the reason they taught us about some of them is that sometimes these blessings are said not with adjacent ones; and our Rabbis did not want to distinguish and say when it comes with adjacent ones, say it this way, and when without adjacent ones, this. As they always fled from these distinctions in everything that is given over to the hands of the masses, and such is rational. And any blessing in the world that does not have a request for something from God nor the mention of a miracle for Israel - such as the blessing before food and drink and all pleasures of the body, and so [too,] the blessing of a miracle for an individual - blessings that never have a long text, the matter is known to all who are literate in texts that they all open with "Blessed," and do not conclude [with it]; it is from the reason mentioned: As since he mentioned the Kingship of God and His Mastery and immediately finished his words, it is not obligatory to repeat the mention of "Blessed" a second time; as it would [otherwise] appear as the repetition of something that is not necessary, which is something that is obvious. And all blessings that are fixed only for the praise of God, such as one who sees the Great Sea or good trees, and so [too,] one who hears the sound of thunder claps, and the rest of the matters mentioned in the chapter [entitled] Haroeh - some of them open with "Blessed" and do not conclude [with it] and some of them conclude [with it] but do not open [with it]. And it is all from the reason mentioned: as the mention of the Mastery at the beginning or even at the end is apparently sufficient for one who mentions praises; since he does not request something for himself and is not reciting a blessing for a pleasure that he wants to receive. As in truth, it is fitting for one who requests something or wants to benefit, to enlighten the opening of his words and to begin with the mention of His mastery, blessed be He. And this is what they said, that blessings over pleasures open with "Blessed." And so [too,] blessings over commandments open with "Blessed," due to the great benefit that God, blessed be He, made us profit [through them]. From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 35a) that even though the Torah only obligated us to recite a blessing after we are satiated from food, the Sages, may their memory be blessed, obligated us to recite a blessing also after any thing from which a person derives pleasure - whether it is from the fruits of the seven species for which the Land is praised or whether it is from any other thing. And they learned the thing from their seeing that the Torah obligates a person to bless God after he is satiated from food that sustains his body with strong sustenance. And they went according to this reason and obligated us to recite a blessing even for anything from which a body eats - whether it is something [that nourishes] or is not something that nourishes - so long as a man derives pleasure from it. And so too, they, may their memory be blessed, obligated us to recite a blessing before eating. And they learned to say this from logic; as it is fitting that a man not benefit from this world without a blessing. [So] metaphorically, they made the blessing like a request for permission from a homeowner to eat from that which is found in his home. And there are those among our rabbis whose opinion it is that the Torah obligated us to recite a blessing after all of the seven species, such as dates, wine and fig-cakes (see Berakhot 12a) - as it obligated us in truth to recite a blessing after those of them that are nourishing - and said that it was said about all of them, "And you shall eat and be satiated, and you shall bless" (Deuteronomy 8:10). And they also said that satiation from Torah writ it only with [as much as] a kabeitsah; as with this [quantity] the mind of a [hungry] person is put at ease. And I see a bit of proof for their words from that which they said at the beginning of the chapter [entitled] Keitsad (Berakhot 35a), in the give and take which is in the Gemara to find the obligation of blessing from the Torah: It is said over there, "Just as the seven species is something that has benefit and requires a blessing; so too, any item that has benefit, requires a blessing." It appears from this that there is no distinction in the seven species between those that give nourishment and those that do not, such that there is an obligation for blessing from the Torah for all of them. But in any event, I saw in Rambam, may his memory be blessed, (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Blessings 1:1 and see 3:12 and Kessef Misneh there) and others are with him, such that it appears to me from their words to say that the central obligation of blessing by Torah writ is only on being satiated in the eating of nourishing food, and not on other species, even if they are from the seven species; such as pomegranates, grapes, fresh figs and dates - since they are not nourishing. As the Torah only obligates on nourishing foods; and because of this, [it] put bread adjacent to the blessing - as it is written (Deuteronomy 8:9), "you shall eat bread in it," and then it reverts, "And you shall eat and be satiated." But we shall listen to the great ones in our generation concerning the laws of the Torah. And after this decision (to follow the great ones of the generation), one who is in doubt if he blessed the blessing abridged from three (meein shalosh) after any of the seven species is obligated to recite the blessing because of [the] doubt. And so [too,] if he was in doubt [if he recited] the Grace after Meals; and even if he ate less than enough to satiate, he is obligated to recite the blessing - so long as he ate a kabeitsah. But one who eats a kazayit or more until a kabeitsah and is in doubt if he blessed or not apparently does not have to recite the blessing, as according to everyone, he is not obligated to recite the blessing; as this amount is rabbinic (and a doubt about having fulfilled rabbinic law does not warrant the reciting of a blessing). But according to that which appears to me from the words of the earlier scholars, whenever he has not been satiated from nourishing food, he does not become obligated to recite the blessing because of [the] doubt. And I say that maybe that which we see many from the masses being lenient about the blessing abridged from three, and [yet] no one - even a total ignoramus - being lenient about the grace after meals is from the fundamental principle of the earlier scholars. As their opinion was to say that the central command of the Torah only arises upon satiation from nourishing food. And it appears that way from the simple understanding of Scripture [as well]. It comes out with regards to blessings as follows: The commandment of the Torah is only to recite the blessing after nourishing food - and not before it - and, according to the later scholars, also on the seven species mentioned in the Torah. And all other blessings - all of them - are rabbinic, except for one of them which is from Torah writ; and this is explicit in the Gemara in Berakhot 21a, and that is the blessing over the Torah before it. And Ramban, may his memory be blessed, also counted it as a separate positive commandment (on Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Mitzvot Ase 15, where he adds to the count of Rambam). And it appears that the reason for the matter that God, Blessed be He, commanded us in the blessing for the reading of the Torah before it and for food after it is because He, blessed be He, would only request for the physical to serve Him and to admit His goodness after it received a reward from Him, since the animal portion will only recognize His good after the feeling [evoked by the reward]. But the reading of the Torah is from the intellectual portion, and the intellect knows and recognizes, and understands the benefit before [it] receives it. Therefore, God obligates us to admit [His goodness] in front of Him, before the reading of the Torah. And one who concedes the truth will find reason in my words. And after this we will speak more generally about the rabbinic obligation of blessings. And that is: To recite a blessing before eating and drinking of anything that has any [good] taste to the palate - and so too, afterwards. And so [too,] they obligated us to recite a blessing over every good smell that we smell before smelling, but not after it. And the general principle of the thing is that they fixed a blessing on everything from which the body derives pleasure. And so [too,] did they obligate us (Pesachim 7b) to bless God and to admit [His goodness] over all the good that He has granted us in our doing His precious commandments. And they said that we recite a blessing over them before their doing. And the matter, according to my opinion, is like the reason mentioned adjacently about the reading of the Torah. And so [too,] they obligated us to recite blessings in praise of the Creator over His very mighty deeds, as is mentioned in the chapter [entitled] Haroeh (Berakhot 54a). And Ezra and his court fixed the wording of all of the blessings (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Blessings 1:5). And even though they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 48b), "Moshe established the blessing of nourishment, Yehosua the blessing over the land," they [only] said this about the essence of the matter. But Ezra and his court fixed the wording of all the blessings. And it is not fitting to add or subtract from their wording; and anyone who makes a change in them is simply mistaken. And nonetheless, ex post facto, we do not make someone who made a change or forgot a little of the wording of the blessing go back [and repeat it], so long as he mentioned its essential meaning and said the conclusion as established. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 32a) that the blessings - besides the mention of [God's] name and the Kingdom of the Heavens - can be said in any language. And they, may their memory be blessed, obligated us (Shabbat 24a) to mention the holiness of the day in the Grace after Meals, meaning to say the matter of Shabbat or holidays, as is known. And on the days that a person is obligated to eat [a meal] regardless, we make one that forgot and did not mention it in the blessing go back; and these are the two obligatory meals, which are the first night of Pesach and the first night of the holiday of Sukkot. And the opinion of some commentators is that we also make him go back on every Shabbat and every holiday. And I will write to you, my son, still a bit more about the laws of the blessings of the meal. And [I shall do so] even though we have spoken at great length about this commandment from my fervor for blessing, though my way is not like this in this work in other places. Every Israelite must wash his hands with proper water before eating bread - meaning to say [this water] was not disqualified from the drinking of a dog and no work was done by it, and for one washing, its quantity is a quarter of a log, which is one and a half eggs. And at the very least, one needs to wash to the joint at the end of the fingers for the eating of bread. And he should recite the blessing, "Blessed are You, Lord, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us about the washing of the hands." And he recites the blessing over the eating of bread at the beginning, "Blessed are You, Lord, King of the Universe, who brings out bread from the earth." And if he ate a kazayit of it, he recites the four well-known blessings at the end - 'Who nourishes,' the blessing over the land, 'Who builds Jerusalem' and 'The One who is good and does good,' which they established in Yavneh. And from when he began to recite the blessing over the bread, the blessing over bread exempts anything that comes during the meal, [from blessing] before and after it - whether they are things that nourish, such as the many cooked foods that people make from the five grains, or whether they are all other types of fruits in the world - anything that a person eats to satiate his hunger, to fill his stomach. [And this is the case] whether he eats these things in the middle of his meal or whether after he finishes eating his bread. And so [too] is the law if these things do not come to satiate him but to accompany the bread - the blessing over the bread exempts them before and after [their eating]. And if they come in the middle of the meal neither to satiate nor to accompany the bread, but just as a delight: If it is something that nourishes, such as a cooked food of the five grains, it is exempted [from a blessing] before and after it by the blessing over the bread. But if it is something that does not nourish and it comes as a delight in the middle of the food, such as fruits that people eat as a delight in the middle of the food, he recites a blessing [upon them] before them, but not after them; and included in this delighting is one who eats salted olives and similar things in the middle of the meal as an a appetizer for the food, and hence he recites a blessing before it, but not after it. Even though dates are fruits, their law is that of nourishing food and [so] they are exempt before it and after it by the blessing over bread. [If] many types of fruit were brought in front of him: If their blessings are the same - for example, if all of them are of 'the tree' - he recites the blessing over the one that is [most] beloved to him, and afterwards he eats all of the rest without a blessing. And if none of them are more beloved to him than the rest - if there are from the seven fruits listed in the Torah to praise the Land of Israel among them, he blesses over the one that is earliest in the verse first, and all of [the rest] are exempt from a blessing. But if their blessings are not the same - for example, [some are in the category of] 'fruit of the tree,' and [some are in the category of] 'fruit of the ground' - he recites a blessing for each and every one; and he has that which is [more] beloved to him precede, meaning to say the one that he wants to eat first. And if there is none there that is more beloved to him than its fellow, he has the one that is more important in its blessing precede. And that would be 'fruit of the tree,' since the blessing is more specific to it than 'fruit of the earth,' which includes everything in the earth (including trees). Wine is not included in bread at all and the blessing over bread does not exempt it [from a blessing] (Berakhot 41b). [Rather] it is in the way of a beverage, and [so] we recite a blessing upon it even if it comes in the middle of food. And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, further established another blessing over wine (Berakhot 59b), when [people] bring a second wine in the middle of the meal or after the meal, besides the one they brought at the beginning - and that is 'the One who is good and does good' - and that is if there are two or more eating. And [the blessing over] wine that is before food exempts all wine that comes after it - whether in the middle of the meal or whether after it (Berakhot 42a). But wine that is in the middle of the food does not exempt wine that is after the food from a blessing [before it]. But from the blessing [after it], Grace after Meals exempts everything; as wine is included in [nourishing] food, since it also nourishes and brings joy. Final waters (to wash hands at the end of the meal) are an obligation. And it needs to be cold water and that if fall into a vessel or into anything that separates between it and the ground, such as shavings and that which is similar to them. And one who did not eat anything [messy] and did not touch salt during the meal does not require it. A person must mention the holiness of the day on Shabbat and holidays in the third blessing, like we said. And if he did not mention it and he began 'The One who is good and does good,' he goes back to the beginning (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Blessings 2:12). If he did not begin it but he did finish the third blessing, he says this formula on Shabbat: "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who has given Shabbat rest to His people, Israel, as a sign and a covenant. Blessed are You, Lord, who sanctifies the Shabbat." And if it is a holiday, we say, "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who has given holidays to His people, Israel, for happiness and joy. Blessed are You, Lord, who sanctifies Israel and the times." And so [too,] Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the month), the intermediate festival days, Channukah and Purim have a mention in the Grace after Meals in the third blessing. But if he forgot [in these cases] and concluded the blessing, we do not make him go back, and we do not mention [the holiday] at all. I have received as a tradition from my teachers, may God protect them, that any one who is careful about Grace after Meals will have his food available with dignity all of his days. [These] and the rest of its details are elucidated in Tractate Berakhot (see Tur, Orach Chaim 188). And this commandment is practiced by Torah writ in every place and at all times by males. And by females, it is a doubt among our Rabbis whether they are obligated by Torah writ or not. And a man that transgresses this and eats [nourishing] food but does not recite a blessing after it has nullified this positive commandment. And a woman who transgressed and did not recite a blessing has violated a rabbinic commandment, and maybe a Torah commandment. And so [too,] anyone who read Torah in the morning before he recited the blessings that were fixed over the Torah or the blessing 'Everlasting love' (which serves a substitute) has violated a Torah commandment. And therefore one who forgot if he recited the blessing over the Torah in the morning or not goes back and recites the blessing. And one who transgressed and did not recite any of the other blessings in the world besides the ones we mentioned has only violated a commandment of the Sages, but "one who breaches a fence will be bitten by a snake" (Ecclesiastes 10:8). And He, may He be blessed, warned about it, 'measure for measure.' And one must be very careful from mentioning a blessing in vain; since there is a severe punishment in the matter, as he mentions the name of [God] for no reason. And the Sages associated (Berakhot 33a) the thing with the negative commandment of "You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.' And come and see how careful the early generations were with this, as behold, Shimshon the Nazirite of God married a Philistine woman that he loved in the stream of Sorek. And [yet] he was so careful in mentioning the name of God, not to mention it at all - whether it was necessary or not necessary - that Delilah recognized that he told her everything [in] his heart, by his mentioning God in his words, when he said to her (Judges 16:17), "because I am a nazarite of God" - and as it is written after it (Judges 16:18), "And she saw that he had told her everything that was [in] his heart." And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 9b), "And from where did she know?" And there were those of them that [answered that] words of truth are recognizable, and some of them that said [it was] because Shimshon mentioned God among his words - and even though he did not say it by way of an oath, but by way of a narrative. The commandment of loving the strangers (converts): That we were commanded to love the converts, meaning to say that we be careful not to cause them pain in any thing, but [rather to] do them good and grant them kindness according to what is proper and is possible. And converts are anyone who connects with us from the other nations, that leaves his religion and enters into our religion. And about them is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:19), "And you shall love the stranger, etc." And even though the commandment (Sefer HaChinukh 243) about the Israelite includes him, as it is stated about him (Leviticus 19:18), "and you shall love your neighbor as yourself" - since behold, a righteous convert is included in "your neighbor" - God added for us a specific commandment about his love. And so too is the thing in the prevention against cheating him. As even though he was included in "A man shall not wrong his countryman" (Leviticus 25:17, Sefer HaChinukh 338), Scripture added a specific prevention about him in its stating, "You shall not wrong a stranger" (Exodus 22:20, Sefer HaChinukh 23). And they said in the Gemara (Bava Metzia 59b) that one who wrongs the convert transgresses because of "[A man] shall not wrong" and because of "You shall not wrong a stranger." And so too [with this], he nullifies the commandment of "and you shall love your neighbor" and the commandment of "And you shall love the stranger." It is from the roots of the commandment that God chose Israel to be a holy nation and wanted to give them merit. And therefore He guided them and commanded them about the ways of grace and compassion and warned them to crown themselves with every beautiful and precious trait to find grace in the eyes of all who see them, [such] that they will say, "These are the people of the Lord" (Ezekiel 36:20). And it is so much the way of pleasantnesses and beauty to show kindness and to grant good to one who leaves his people and all the family of the house of his father and mother and comes to take shelter under the wings of a different nation in his love for it, and in his choosing of truth and his hatred for falsehood. And in our meriting these good traits, the goodness of God will rest upon us and cling to us, and nothing will prevent us from it; as the good will extend to the good ones and the opposite to the bad ones. From the laws of the commandment - that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 58b) that a person not say to a convert, "Remember your early deeds"; that which they said (Sanhedrin 94a), that a person not disgrace an 'Aramean' in the presence of a convert until the tenth generation, and all of this is not to cause him pain in any regard; the intensification of love that they focused upon them to the point that they said that Scripture equated their love with the love of the Omnipresent, as with them it states, "And you shall love," and with the love of the Omnipresent, "And you shall love, etc.," and that is as I have written in the Order of Mishpatim about the commandment to not oppress the convert, even with words (Sefer HaChinukh 63); and the rest of its details - are in the Midrash and in [various] places in the Gemara (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of Human Dispositions 6). And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and causes them pain or is negligent in saving them or saving their money, or treats their honor lightly due to their being converts and not having a helper in the nation, has violated this positive commandment; and his punishment is very great, as behold, the Torah has warned about them in several places. And we should learn from this precious commandment to have mercy on a man who is in a city that is not the land of his birth and the place of the family of his fathers. And we should not pass him by on the road when we find him alone and that his helpers are far from him, since we find that the Torah warns us to have mercy on anyone who needs help. And with these traits, we will merit to receive mercy from God, may He be blessed, and the blessings of Heaven will rest upon our heads. And Scripture hints to the reason of the command when it states, "since you were strangers in the Land of Egypt": It mentions to us that we were previously burnt by this great pain that there is to every man who sees himself among foreign people and in a foreign land. And upon our remembering the great worry of the heart that there is in the matter, and that it already passed over us and that God, in His kindnesses, took us out of there, our mercies for any person like this will overwhelm [us]. The commandment of fearing God: That the fear of God, may He be blessed, should always be on our faces, that we not sin; meaning to say that we fear with a fear of His punishment and that our hearts not be without fear of Him, the whole day. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:13), "The Lord, your God, you shall fear." And the proof that this is a positive commandment from the tally of the six hundred and thirteen commandments that we were commanded is that which they said in Sanhedrin 56a by way of the debate about the understanding of "And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord, etc." (Leviticus 24:16): "I will say [that it is] to express, [like that] which is written (Numbers 1:17), 'And Moshe and Aharon took these men that are expressed by name'; and its prohibition is from 'The Lord, your God shall you fear.'" It means to say by way of the debate that maybe we should explain "blaspheme" (nokev), as the expression of [God's] name, alone, without him 'blessing' [it]; and the sin that there would be in this is because he loses the fear - as it is from the fear of God not to mention His name in vain. And they answered there, that one should not say like this, as there are two answers to the thing, "One is that it is necessary that [it involve] the name of God with the name of God, and there is not [this in such a case]" - meaning to say that he must 'bless' the Name with the Name, as in, "Yose should strike Yose!" "And also it is a [prohibition] of a positive commandment, and a [prohibition] of a positive commandment [is not called] a prohibition" - meaning to say that the verse of "The Lord, your God shall you fear" is a positive commandment. The root of the commandment of fearing God, may He be blessed, is revealed to all who see the Sun, as the greatest protection from sin is the fear of His punishment. And the laws of the commandment are included [in the simple understanding of the Scripture] (in our searching the Scripture) (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 2). And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times and by the entire human species. And this is one of the constant commandments upon a person, that the obligation not ever be interrupted from upon a person, even one instant. And one upon whom the matter of a sin comes to his hand is obligated to arouse his spirit and to place into his heart at that juncture that God, blessed be He, oversees all of the actions of people and [takes] vengeance according to the evil of the deed. And one who transgresses this and does not [appraise] his heart of this at those times has violated this positive commandment; as this is the specific time [for the] fulfillment of this positive commandment. However for a person to stand with alacrity and to remember it during all of his times is included in the commandment [as well]. The commandment of prayer: To serve God, may He be blessed, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:20), "and you shall serve Him." And this commandment was repeated several times, as it is stated (Exodus 23:25), "And you shall serve the Lord, your God"; and in another place, it states (Exodus 11:13), "and to serve him with all of your hearts." And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote (Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Mitzot Ase 5), "Even though this commandment is from the general commandments" - meaning to say that it includes all of the Torah, since the service of God includes all of the commandments - "there is also a specific [commandment] within it, and that is that God commanded us to pray to Him. And it is as they said in Sifrei Devarim 41:25, '"To serve Him with all of your hearts" What is the service that is in the heart? That is prayer.' And in the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yose HaGalili they said, 'From where [do we know] that the essence of prayer is among the commandments? From here, "The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and you shall serve Him."'" That which I have written earlier several times is from the roots of the commandment - that all of the good and the blessing land upon people according to their actions and the good of their hearts and the propriety of their thoughts. And the Master of all who created them desired their good and He directed them and facilitated their success through His precious commandments, such that they merit through them. And he also made them know and opened an opening for them such that they attain all of their requests for the good - and that is that they request them from Him, blessed be He - since the wherewithal and ability for all of their lackings is in His hand; as He will have the heavens answer 'to all that call Him in truth.' And besides informing them of this attribute, He commanded that they use it and and always request from Him all of their needs, and all the desires of their hearts. And besides the attainment of the desires of our hearts, there is a merit for us in the thing, in our arousing our spirit and fixing within all of our thoughts that He is the Master that is good and does good for us and that His eyes are open upon all of our ways, and that He hears our cries to Him at all times and at every instant - 'He does not slumber and He does not sleep, the Guardian of Israel.' And [in this way] He makes us believe in His Kingship and in His ability - without any angle of hesitation - and that there is no prevention and impediment in front of Him for anything He desires. However there is no set time for this commandment for us in the Torah. Hence our rabbis are in doubt about the matter: Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote in his great composition (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 1:2) that it is a commandment to pray each day. But Ramban, may his memory be blessed, (on Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvot Ase 5) wrangled with him and said that the Torah did not command us to pray every day, and also not (not even) every week, and it does not specify a time about the thing at all. And [that is why] they, may their memory be blessed always say that prayer is rabbinic (Berakhot 21a). And he says doubtfully that the commandment [from the Torah] is to pray and to cry out in front of God, blessed be He at a time of distress. Rambam, himself, may his memory be blessed, also wrote that the number of prayers and the format of the prayers is not from Torah writ and that the Torah does not have a set time for prayer. Nonetheless the obligation of the Torah is to supplicate to God every day and to thank Him, since all of the governance is His, [as] is the ability to fulfill every request. To here [are his words]. And it appears that in that the central commandment of the Torah is this and no more, they, may their memory be blessed, established for the one who is in a dangerous place and is not able to stand and concentrate in prayer to say, "The needs of Your people, Israel, are great, etc." - as it appears in Berakhot 29a - so as to fulfill his obligation from the Torah. From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 31a) that a man is obligated to pray three times: during the day in the morning and in the afternoon; and one time at night. And these three prayer services were fixed corresponding to the sacrifices, as they would sacrifice the daily sacrifice of the morning and the daily sacrifice of the afternoon in the Temple every day. And they also fixed [prayer] at the beginning of the evening, corresponding to the limbs of the burnt-offering of the afternoon that would be consumed and continue through the whole night. And since this prayer of night corresponds to a matter from the sacrifices that is not an obligation - as, if the burnt-offering of the afternoon was consumed while it was still day, it would not be consumed at night - they, may their memory be blessed, also said (Berakhot 27b) that the night prayer service is optional - if a man has free time and finds the presence in himself to pray, he prays; and if not, he does not pray, and there is no guilt in that. And nonetheless, in every place today, Israel is accustomed to pray the evening prayer service consistently every night. And once they took it upon themselves in the way of an obligation, every one of Israel is obligated to pray it regardless. And likewise, they, may their memory be blessed, fixed a fourth payer on Shabbat days and holidays - and that is the one called the additional prayer service (mussaf). And it corresponds to the sacrifice that was added [on these occasions] in the Temple at the time that it was in existence. And they also fixed a fifth payer on Yom Kippur alone - due to the great holiness of the day and because of its being a day of forgiveness and atonement for all - and that is called the sealing (neilah). And the wording of all of the prayers was fixed by Ezra and his court. And on weekdays, they fixed that [we should] pray the eighteen blessings that are well-known in every corner of Israel, besides the blessing about the heretics that was composed by Shmuel the Little with the approval of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and his court, as it is found in Megillah 17b (and Berakhot 28b). And what are they? Three of them recount the praise of God, and three are thanks after it and twelve included the requests for the needs of all of Israel. And they, may their memory be blessed, arranged them according to the order that they are ordered today in the mouths of all of Israel: the first three are in praise of God, may He be blessed; the middle ones in request of their needs, and the last ones in thanks to God for all of the good that He does with us, Blessed be He. And afterwards their exact order was forgotten. But Shimon HaPakuli knew them and he arranged them according to the intended order, as Ezra and his court had ordered them: to first request intelligence, as if there is no intelligence, there is nothing; and afterwards, repentance, etc., as they are ordered. And on Shabbats and holidays, they only fixed that [we should] pray seven blessings alone, so as not to burden the community on the day of their joy: the first three, the last three and one blessing in the middle which mentions the matter of the day in it - each and every festival and Shabbat according to its content (Berakhot 21a). [This is the case] except for the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which has nine blessings in its additional service: the three first blessings, the last three blessings and three others, which are malkhiot, zikhronot and shofarot. Everything is as the received tradition in the mouths of all of Israel, even in the mouths of the infants - there is no need to write at length about these matters. However you should know that in the additional prayer service of Rosh Hashanah there is a law that is a novelty from the other prayer services - that the prayer leader (cantor) can fulfill [the obligation of] the one with expertise [in the prayer, as well as] the one without expertise; whereas on other days, he cannot fulfill [the obligation] of the one with expertise. So will you find the matter if you merit to study in the true path. And also from the content of the commandment is that which they warned us much about intent of the heart in prayer. And more [so] in the first blessing, about which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 30b) that we make one who did not have intent in it go back [and repeat it]. And the matter of intent that they obligated going back because of its [absence] appears to be that the person puts into his heart that he is praying in front of God and he is calling to Him, and [that] he empty his mind from all other thoughts of the world and focus it on this. And [also] that which they said (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 4:5) that there are things that impede a person from praying, even though the time for prayer has arrived. And among them are purity of the hands; covering the nakedness; purity of the place of prayer; and things that rush a person, such as if one needs [to use the restroom]. And [also] that which they said (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 5:5) that there are things about which the one praying must be careful, but we do not impede prayer on their account. And these are them: standing; to direct [himself] that he prays facing the Temple; that he fix his body, meaning to say that he stands with awe and fear - with his eyes down and his heart towards the Heavens and he place his hands on his heart, like a slave standing in front of his master; that he fix his clothing and not stand dressed in the way of commoners; that he make his voice even, not too loud and not too soft; and that he bow during the well-known blessings and these are them - during the fathers (the first blessing) at the beginning and at the end, and during thanksgiving (the penultimate blessing), at the beginning and at the end. And these are the times of the prayers (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 3:1): The morning prayer service is from the sunrise to the end of the fourth hour - and one who transgressed and prayed afterwards before midday has [still] fulfilled his obligation of prayer, but not his obligation of prayer in its time - and one who prays at a pressing time, such as one who wants to get on the road early, can say his morning prayer after the dawn and he will have fulfilled his obligation; the afternoon prayer service is from six and a half hours during the day until the evening; and the evening prayer service is the whole night until the dawn rises. And every person must be careful to pray before he is involved with other tasks, so that he not be negligent. And the law of one who errs and [misses] a prayer that he must pray the adjacent one twice; the law that one who prays should not interrupt for the sake of any man's honor - even if a king of Israel asks of his welfare, and even if a snake is wrapped on his ankle, he does not interrupt his prayer, [assuming] he knows with certainty that the snake is one that does not kill; [that] also from the content of the commandment is that which they said (Berakhot 8a) that every man is obligated in any case to seek to pray with the community, as the prayer of the community is heard more than the prayer of an individual; and the rest of the details of the commandment are [all] elucidated at length in Tractate Berakhot (see Tur, Orach Chaim 98). And this commandment is practiced in all places and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and [goes for] a day and a night without prayer at all has violated this commandment according to the opinion of Rambam, may his memory be blessed. And one who is in difficulty and does not call to God to save him has violated this commandment, according to the opinion of Ramban, may his memory be blessed. And his punishment is very great as he is like one removes the oversight of God from upon him. To cling to Torah sages: That we were commanded to associate [with] and cling to Torah sages, so that we learn its glorious commandments from them, and they teach us the true opinions - which are received through them - about it. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:20), "to Him shall you cling." And the command is repeated in another place, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 11:22), "and to cling to Him." And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Ketuvot 111b), "And is it possible for a person to cling to the Divine Presence - and behold it is written (Deuteronomy 4:24), 'For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire'? Rather, one who clings to the Torah scholars and their students is as if he clings to Him, Blessed be He." And from this, our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, learned that anyone who marries the daughter of a Torah scholar, or marries his daughter to a Torah scholar or who gives benefit from his property to a Torah scholar is as if he clings to the Divine presence. And they also expounded in Sifrei Devarim 49, "'And to cling to Him' - study the words of aggadah (the homiletical teachings, as through this, you will recognize the One who spoke and the world came into being." The root of the commandment is revealed - so that we learn to know the ways of God, may He be blessed. I have already written some of the laws of the commandment (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of Human Dispositions 6). And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times by males. And it is also a commandment upon females to listen to the words of [Torah] sages, so that they will learn to know God. And one who transgresses it and does not associate with them and fix their love in his heart and strive for their good and their benefit at times when he has the ability in his hand to do so, has violated this positive commandment. And his punishment is very great, as they are [essential for] the existence of the Torah and a strong foundation for spiritual salvation; as anyone who is with them often will not sin quickly. And King Shlomo stated (Proverbs 13:20), "He who walks with the wise becomes wise." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Avot 1:4), "Become dirty in the dust of their feet." And Ramban, may his memory be blessed, wrote (in his glosses to the Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvot Ase 7) that the essence of this commandment is to swear in His name, blessed be He, to fulfill a commandment. And the proof is from that which they said in Temurah 3b, "From where [do we know] that we swear to fulfill a commandment? As it is stated (Psalms 119:106), 'I have sworn to keep Your just statutes.'" And they answered there that it is derived from "to Him shall you cling," as it appears there. To swear in His name, may He be blessed, truthfully: To swear in His name, blessed be He, at the time that we need to strengthen or establish a thing or to distance it; as with this is there aggrandizement of His statute, may He be blessed, and [of] the Power and the Loftiness. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:20) "and in His name shall you swear." And in the explanation, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Shevuot 35b), "The Torah stated, 'Swear in His name,' and the Torah said, 'Do not swear in His name'" - meaning to say, [just] like an oath that is not needed [should] be prevented, and that is a negative commandment; so too is an oath at a time that it is needed an obligation, and that is a positive commandment. And therefore we do not ever swear in [the name of] any thing of all the creatures. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 63a), "Anyone who combines the name of [God] with something else is uprooted from the world." However this is said about one who intends to swear in that thing of the creatures by itself; but one who swears in the heavens or in the sun or in the moon, with the intention of the Master above them that created them - that is not included in the prohibition at all. And we always see that we swear like this in all of the borders of Israel. It is from the roots of the commandment that in our establishing our words in His great name, the faith in Him and His supervision over us and over all our words are strengthened in our hearts. And that is a clear thing. And I have written at great length about the laws of the commandment of oaths and vows in the Order of Vayishma Yitro (Sefer HaChinuch 30) (See Tur, Yoreh Deah 237). And it is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses this and does not want to swear in His name at a time it is needed has violated this positive commandment, according to Rambam, may his memory be blessed. But Ramban, may his memory be blessed, wrote (on Mitzovt Ase 7; Ramban on Deuteronomy 6:13) that an oath in His name [even] at a time of need is not a positive commandment at all; that if we want, we swear, and if we do not want to ever swear, there is no [problem] with this. And there is also a commandment in the prevention from an oath, like the matter that they said in Midrash Tanchuma, Matot 1, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, 'Do not reason that it is permitted to you to swear in My name even truthfully unless there is all of these characteristics with you: "The Lord, your God, you shall fear, and to Him shall you cling." And afterwards, "and in His name shall you swear."'" And if we want, we can say that "and in His name shall you swear" comes to give a positive commandment [alongside the] negative commandment on the one who swears in the name of idolatry; meaning to say, in His name should he swear and not in the name of other gods. And the teacher (Ramban), may his memory be blessed, already wrote about the matter that they, may their memory be blessed, said (Temurah 3b) that we swear to perform a commandment, that we derive it from "to Him shall you cling."

Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; Him shalt thou serve; and to Him shalt thou cleave, and by His name shalt thou swear.