God's Name

(14) ויאמר אלוקים אל משה, if you do not know My name, I will tell you that I am the Eternal. This means that I can fulfill any promise I make. Now that I have told you that My name is “the Eternal,” כה תאמר, thus you shall ay to the Children of Israel, “the One Who is the Eternal has sent me to you.”

(48) I will be that I will be (Ex. 3, 14).The Holy One, praised be He! said unto Moses, "Go and tell Israel that I was with you during this subjugation and I will be with you during the next subjugation." So Moses said unto Him: "Sovereign of the Universe, is not the affliction terrible enough when it is really present [without telling of it beforehand] ?" Whereupon the Holy One, praised be He! said unto Moses: "Then go and tell, 'I will be,' sent me unto you." Answer me, O Lord, answer me (I Kings 18, 37). R. Abuhu said : "Why did Elijah say twice. Answer me? We infer from this that Elijah said, before the Holy One, praised be He ! 'Sovereign of the Universe, answer me that a fire shall come down from Heaven and consume everything that is upon the altar; and answer me, to remove from their mind that they shall not think it was the result of sorcery,' as it is said (Ib.) Thou hast turned their hearts back again." :

(14) אהיה אשר אהיה. I am an independent existence, not subject to influences by other phenomena or even caused by them. Seeing that this is so it follows that I love existing, and beings that exist. As a corollary to this love of Mine for existence, it follows that I deeply resent anything or anyone who tries to terminate such an existing being from continuing to do so. The prophet Ezekiel 18,32 phrased this thought as “for I do not desire the death of him that dies.” From this it follows that I must love righteousness and justice the objective of both virtues being the continued existence of all who deserve it. At the same time, it follows that I must hate injustice and cruelty as these vices are apt to terminate the existence of the victims of these vices. Clearly, then, this G’d must hate the violence and cruelty perpetrated on you by the Egyptians.

(6) 6. And God said to Moses. R. Abba b. Mammel said: God said to Moses: 'You wish to know My name; I am called according to My deeds. Sometimes I am called "El Shadday", "Tzveo'ot", "Elohim", "YHVH". When I judge the creations I am called "Elohim" [Judge].’ When I am waging war against the wicked I am called "Tzveo'ot" [Lord of Hosts]. When I suspend [punishment] for a man's sins I am called "El Shadday" (Almighty God). When I am merciful towards My world, I am called "YHVH,"' for "YHVH" only refers to the attribute of mercy, as it is said: "The Lord, the Lord (YHVH, YHVH), God, merciful and gracious." Hence, "ehyeh asher ehyeh" [I am that I am, or I will be that I will be] - I am called according to My deeds.’ R. Yitzhak said: God said to Moses: ' Tell them, that I am who was, that I am now, and that I will be in the future.' For this reason the word "eheyeh" is written three times. Another explanation of "ehyeh asher ehyeh": R. Jacob b. R. Abina in the name of R. Huna of Tzippori: God said to Moses: ‘Tell them, in this servitude I will be with them, and in the continuing servitude I will be with them!'’ Moses said to God: '‘I should tell them this? An evil is sufficient in its time [I should just mention the present servitude and not its continuation]?' God replied: 'No: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "Ehyeh has sent me to you.’" I am [only] revealing this to you, but not to them.'’ Another interpretation: "Ehyeh." R. Yitzhak said in the name of R. Ammi: They are standing in clay and bricks and they will go on to [another servitude of] clay and bricks. So too in the case of Daniel: "And I Daniel fainted and was sick" (Daniel 8:27).Moses said to God: ‘'I should tell them this?' God replied: 'No, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "Ehyeh has sent me to you.’"' R. Yohanan said: I am that I am to individuals, but regarding the multitude I will rule over them even against their will and desires, even though they break their teeth, as it is said: "As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I be King over you" (Ezekiel 20:33). Another interpretation: R. ‘Ananiel b. R. Sasson said: God said: ‘When I desire, one of the angels who is one third of the world, stretches out his hand from heaven and touches the earth, as it says: "And the form of a hand was sent forth, and I was taken by a lock of my head" (ibid. 8:3). And when I desire three of them, I made them sitting beneath a tree, as it is said: "And recline under the tree" (Genesis 18:4). And when I desire, His glory fills the entire world, as it is said: "'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord (Jeremiah 23:24). And when I wished, I spoke with Job from the whirlwind, as it is said: "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind" (Job 38:1). And when I wish, [I speak] from a thorn-bush.

(1) 1. THE Rabbi: ELŌHIM is a term signifying the ruler, or governor of the world, if I allude to the possession of the whole of it, and of a portion, if I refer to the powers either of nature or the spheres, or of a human judge. The word has a plural form, because it was so used by gentile idolators, who believed that every deity was invested with astral and other powers. Each of these was called Elōah; their united forces were therefore, called Elōhim. They swore by them, and behaved as if bound to abide by their judgments. These deities were as numerous as are the forces which sway the human body and the universe. 'Force' is a name for any of the causes of motion. Every motion arises from a force of its own, to the exclusion of other forces. The spheres of the sun and moon are not subject to one force, but to different ones. These people did not take into account the prime power from which all these forces emanated, because they did not acknowledge its existence. They asserted that the sum total of these forces was styled Elōah, just as the sum total of the forces which control the human body was called 'soul.' Or they admitted the existence of God, but maintained that to serve Him was of no use. They considered Him too far removed and exalted to have any knowledge of us, much less to care about us. Far from God are such notions. As a result of their theories they worshipped, not one being, but many, which they styled 'Elōhim.' This is a collective form which comprises all causes equally. A more exact and more lofty name is to be found in the form known as the Tetragrammaton. This is a proper noun, which can only be indicated by attributes, but has no location, and was formerly unknown. If He was commonly styled 'Elōhim,' the Tetragrammaton was used as special name. This is as if one asked: Which God is to be worshipped, the sun, the moon, the heaven, the signs of the zodiac, any star, fire, a spirit, or celestial angels, etc.; each of these, taken singly, has an activity and force, and causes growth and decay? The answer to this question is: 'The Lord,' just as if one would say: A. B., or a proper name, as Ruben or Simeon, supposing that these names indicate their personalities.

(2) 2. Al Khazari: How can I individualise a being, if I am not able to point to it, and can only prove its existence by its actions?

(3) 3. The Rabbi: It can be designated by prophetic or visionary means. Demonstration can lead astray. Demonstration was the mother of heresy and destructive ideas. What was it, if not the wish to demonstrate, that led the dualists to assume two eternal causes? And what led materialists to teach that the sphere was not only eternal, but its own primary cause, as well as that of other matter? The worshippers of fire and sun are but the result of the desire to demonstrate. There are differences in the ways of demonstration, of which some are more extended than others. Those who go to the utmost length are the philosophers, and the ways of their arguments led them to teach of a Supreme Being which neither benefits nor injures, and knows nothing of our prayers, offerings, obedience, or disobedience, and that the world is as eternal as He himself. None of them applies a distinct proper name to God, except he who hears His address, command, or prohibition, approval for obedience, and reproof for disobedience. He bestows on Him some name as a designation for Him who spoke to him, and he is convinced that He is the Creator of the world from nought. The first man would never have known Him if He had not addressed, rewarded and punished him, and had not created Eve from one of his ribs. This gave him the conviction that this was the Creator of the world, whom he designated by words and attributes, and styled 'Lord.' Without this he would have been satisfied with the name Elōhim, neither perceiving what He was, nor whether He was a unity or many, whether He was cognizant of individuals or not. Cain and Abel were made acquainted with the nature of His being by the communications of their father as well as by prophetic intuition. Then Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and the prophets called Him intuitively 'Lord,' as also did the people, having been taught by tradition that His influence and guidance were with men. His influence also being with the pious, they comprehended Him by means of intermediaries called: glory, Shekhinah, dominion, fire, cloud, likeness, form, 'the appearance of the bow,' etc. (Ezek. i. 28). For they proved to them that He had spoken to them, and they styled it: Glory of God. Occasionally they addressed the holy ark by the name of God, as it is written: 'Rise up, O Lord,', (Numbers 10:35, Numbers 10:36), when they made a start, and 'Return, O Lord' when they halted, or 'God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of the trumpet' (Psalms 47:6), With all this only the ark of the Lord is meant. Sometimes the name 'Lord' was applied to the connecting link between God and Israel, as it is written: 'Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?' (Psalms 139:21). By 'haters of the Lord' are meant those who hate the name, or covenant, or the law of God. For there exists no connexion between God and any other nation, as He pours out His light only on the select people. They are accepted by Him, and He by them. He is called 'the God of Israel,' whilst they are 'the people of the Lord,' and 'the people of the God of Abraham.' Even supposing some nations had followed Him and worshipped Him, their conversion being the result of hearsay and tradition, yet where do we find His acceptance of them and His connexion with them, His pleasure in their obedience, His anger for their disobedience? We see them left to nature and chance by which their prosperity or misfortune are determined, but not by an influence which proves to be of divine origin alone. Thus also we alone are meant in the words: 'So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him (Deuteronomy 32:12). The Tetragrammaton is a name exclusively employable by us, as no other people knows its true meaning. It is a proper name which takes no article, as is the case with Elohim in the form hāelōhim. It belongs, therefore, to the prerogatives by which we are distinguished. Although its meaning is hidden, the letters of which it is composed speak. For it is the letters alef, hē, wāv and yōd which cause all consonants to be sounded, as no letter can be pronounced as long as it is not supported by one of these four, viz. a by alef, and hē, u by wāv, and i by yōd. They form, so to speak, the spirit in the bodies of the consonants. The name Oh is like the Tetragrammaton (Exodus 3:14). As to EH’YEH, it can be derived from the latter name, or from the root hāyāh, and its tendency is to prevent the human mind from pondering over an incomprehensible but real entity. When Moses asked: 'And they shall say to me, What is His name?' the answer was: Why should they ask concerning things they are unable to grasp? In a like manner the angel answered: 'Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?' (Judges 13:18). Say to them eh’yēh, which means: 'I am that I am,' the existing one, existing for you whenever you seek me. Let them search for no stronger proof than My presence among them, and name Me accordingly. Moses therefore answered: 'Eh’yēh has sent me to you.' God had previously given a similar proof to Moses in the words: 'Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee,' etc. (Exodus 3:12), viz. that I have sent thee, and am with thee everywhere. This is followed by a similar phrase, viz. 'The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,' persons known to have been favoured by the Divine Influence perpetually. As regards the terms: Elōhē hāelōhim, it is a designation for the fact that all creative forces are depending upon God, who arranges and guides them. 'Lord of lords' has the same meaning. EL is derived from ayālūth, being the source of the forces [of nature], but exalted above them. The expression: 'Who is like unto thee among the ēlim,' is, therefore, permissible, placing ēl into the plural form. HOLY expresses the notion that He is high above any attribute of created beings, although many of these are applied to him metaphorically. For this reason Isaiah heard an endless: 'Holy, holy, holy,' which meant that God is too high, too exalted, too holy, and too pure for any impurity of the people in whose midst His light dwells to touch Him. For the same reason Isaiah saw him 'sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.' Holy is, further, a description of the spiritual, which never assumes a corporeal form, and which nothing concrete can possibly resemble. God is called: the Holy One of Israel, which is another expression for the Divine Influence connected with Israel himself and the whole of his posterity, to rule and guide them, but not to be merely in external contact with them. Not everyone who wishes is permitted to say, 'My God and Holy One!' except in a metaphorical and traditional way. In reality only a prophet or a pious person with whom the Divine Influence is connected may say so. For this reason they said to the prophet: 'Pray to the Lord, thy God' (I Kings 13:6). The relation of this nation to others was to have been like that of a king to ordinary people, as it is written: 'Holy shall ye be, for holy am I the Lord, your God' (Leviticus 19:2). ADONAI, spelt alef, dalēth, nūn, yōd points to something which stands at such an immeasurable altitude that a real designation is impossible. Indication is possible in one direction only. We can point to things created by Him, and which form His immediate tools. Thus we allude to the intellect, and say that its seat is in the heart or brain. We also say 'this' or 'that intellect.' In reality we can only point to a thing enclosed by a space. Although all organs obey the intellect, they do so through the medium of the heart or brain, which are its primary tools, which arc considered as the abode of the intellect. In a like manner we point to heaven, because it is employed to carry out the divine will directly, and without the assistance of intermediary factors. On the other hand we cannot point to compound objects, because they can only operate with the assistance of intermediary causes, and are connected with God in a chain-like manner. For He is the cause of causes. He is also called 'He who dwelleth in heaven' (Psalms 123:1), and 'For God is in heaven,' (Ecclesiastes 5:1). One often says, 'Fear of heaven,' and 'fearing heaven in secret,' 'mercy shall come for them from heaven.' In a similar way we speak of the 'pillar of fire,' or the 'pillar of cloud,' worship them, and say that God is therein, because this pillar carried out His will exclusively, unlike other clouds and fires which arise in the air from different causes. Thus we also speak of the 'devouring fire on the top of the mount' (Exodus 24:17), which the common people saw, as well as of the spiritual form which was visible only to the higher classes: 'under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone' (Exodus 24:10). He is further styled: Living God. The holy ark is alluded to as 'The Lord of the whole earth,' because miracles happened as long as it existed, and disappeared with it. We say that it is the eye which sees, whilst in reality it is the soul that sees. Prophets and pious Sages are spoken of in similar terms, because they, too, are original instruments of the divine will which employs them without meeting with unwillingness, and performs miracles through them. In illustration of this the Rabbis said: 'The words: Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God,' include the learned disciples. He who occupies such a degree has a right to be styled 'a man of God,' a description comprising human and divine qualities, and as if one would say: godly man. Now in speaking of a divine being we use the appellation, Adōnāi--alef, dalēth, nūn, yōd--as if we wished to say: 'O Lord.' Metaphorically speaking, we point to a thing encompassed by a place as: 'He who dwells between the cherubim,' or 'He who dwells in Zion,' or, 'He who abides in Jerusalem.' The attributes of this kind are many, although His essence is only one. The variety arises from the variety of places where God's essence dwells, just as the rays of the sun are many whilst the sun is everywhere the same. This simile is not quite complete. Were only the rays of the sun visible, but not the sun itself, their origin would have to be demonstrated. I must enlarge on this subject a little more, because there are debatable points about it, viz. firstly, how it is possible to speak of space in connexion with a being that has no place; secondly, how can one believe that a subject to which one can point could be the Prime Cause? In reply to these objections we say in the first instance, that the senses can only perceive the attributes of things, not the substrata themselves. In a prince e.g., thou perceivest his external and visible form and proportions. It is not these to which thou must render homage. Thou seest him in war in one habit, in his city in another, in his house in a third. Following thy judgment rather than thy perception, thou sayest that he is the king. He may appear first as a boy, then as a youth, then in his prime, and finally as an old man; or as a healthy or sick man, his appearance, manner, disposition and qualities being changed. Still thou considerest him to be the same and the king, because he has spoken to thee and given thee his commands. The royal side of him is but the intellectual and rational one, but this is essence, not limited to space and not to be pointed to, although thou dost so and sayest that he is the king. But if he is dead, and thou seest the same old form, thou wilt conclude that this is not the king, but a body which can be moved by whoso wishes, which depends upon chance and other peoples’ humour, like a cloud in the air which one wind brings hither and another drives away, one wind gathers, another disperses. Previously he was a body which was subject to the royal will alone, resembling the divine pillar of cloud which no wind was able to disperse. Another instance is offered by the sun, which we see as a round, flat body, resembling a shield and giving forth light and heat, being in repose. Reason considers it to be a globe a hundred and sixty-six times larger than the globe of the earth, neither hot nor immovable, but moving in two opposite directions, from west to east, and from east to west, under conditions it would lead us too far to discuss. The senses have not the faculty of perceiving the essence of things. They only have the special power of perceiving the accidental peculiarities belonging to them which furnish reason with the arguments for their essence and causes. Why and wherefore are accessible to pure reason only. Everything that shares active intellect, like the angels, grasps the subjects in their true essence without requiring the medium of accessories. But our intellect which a priori is only theoretical, being sunk in matter, cannot penetrate to the true knowledge of things, except by the grace of God, by special faculties which He has placed in the senses, and which resemble those perceptible accessories, but are always found with the whole species. There is no difference between my perception and thine that this circumscribed disc, giving forth light and heat, is the sun. Should even these characteristics be denied by reason, this does no harm, because we can derive from it arguments for our purposes. Thus also a sharp-eyed person, looking for a camel, can be assisted by a weak-eyed and squinting one who tells him that he has seen two cranes at a certain place. The sharp-eyed person then knows that the other has only seen a camel, and that the weakness of his eyes made him believe that it was a crane, and his squint that there were two cranes. In this way the sharp-eyed person can make use of the evidence of the weak-eyed one, whilst he excuses his faulty description by his defective sight. A similar relation prevails between senses and imagination on one side, and reason on the other. The Creator was as wise in arranging this relation between the exterior senses and the things perceived, as He was in fixing the relation between the abstract sense and the uncorporeal substratum. To the chosen among His creatures He has given an inner eye which sees things as they really are, without any alteration. Reason is thus in a position to come to a conclusion regarding the true spirit of these things. He to whom this eye has been given is clear-sighted indeed. Other people who appear to him as blind, he guides on their way. It is possible that this eye is the power of imagination as long as it is under the control of the intellect. It beholds, then, a grand and awful sight which reveals unmistakable truths. The best proof of its truth is the harmony prevailing among the whole of this species and those sights. By this I mean all the prophets. For they witnessed things which one described to the other in the same manner as we do with things we have seen. We testify to the sweetness of honey and the bitterness of the coloquinth. and if anyone contradicts us, we say that he has failed to grasp a fact of natural history. Those prophets without doubt saw the divine world with the inner eye; they beheld a sight which harmonized with their natural imagination. Whatever they wrote down, they endowed with attributes as if they had seen them in corporeal form. These attributes are true as far as regards what is sought by inspiration, imagination, and feeling; they are untrue as regards the reality which is sought by reason, as we have seen in the parable of the king. For anyone who says that he is a tall, white figure clothed in silk, and wearing the royal insignia on his head has spoken no untruth. Whilst he who says that this is none other than the intelligent, sagacious person, who issues commands and prohibitions, in this city, in this age, and rules this people, has not spoken an untruth either. If a prophet sees with his mind's eye the most perfect figure ever beheld in the shape of a king or judge, seated on his throne, issuing commands and prohibitions, appointing and deposing officials, then he knows that this figure resembles a powerful prince. But if he sees a figure bearing arms or writing utensils, or ready to undertake work, then he knows that this figure resembles an obedient servant. Do not find it out of place that man should be compared to God. Upon deeper consideration reason might compare him to light, because this is the noblest and finest of all material things, and which has the greatest power of encompassing the component parts of the world. If we reflect on the attributes (which are essential whether they be taken in metaphorical or real sense) such as: living, omniscient, almighty, omnipotent, guiding, arranging, giving everything its due, wise and just, we shall find nothing resembling God more closely than the rational soul--in other words, the perfect human being. But here we must lay stress on his human character, not on his corporeality (which he has in common with the plant), or on his being endowed with life (which he has in common with the animals). Philosophers compared the world to a great man, and man to a small world. If this be so, God being the spirit, soul, intellect and life of the world--as He is called: the eternally Living, then rational comparison is plausible. Nay, a prophet's eye is more penetrating than speculation. His sight reaches up to the heavenly host direct, he sees the dwellers in heaven, and the spiritual beings which are near God, and others in human form. They are alluded to in the verse: 'Let us make man in our image after our likeness' (Genesis 1:26). The meaning is: I have displayed wisdom in arranging the creation in the following order: elements, metals, animals which live in the water as well as in the air, and those with fully developed senses and wonderful instincts. Next to this class there is only one which approaches the divine and celestial. God created man in the form of His angels and servants which are near Him, not in place but in rank, as we cannot speak of place in connexion with God. Even after these two comparisons, imagination can give him no other form than that of the noblest human being, who arranges order and harmony for the rest of mankind, in the same systematic way as God has done for the universe. At times the prophet sees princes deposed and others raised to the throne, and kingdoms judged, 'till the thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days did sit' (Daniel 7:9); at other times he sees wrath poured out and the people in mourning on account of their threatened abandonment by Him, 'Who is sitting upon a throne high and lifted up . . . above it stood the seraphim.' (Isaiah 6:1, sq.). At other times, even outside the confines of prophecy, he sees the departure of the chariot as Ezekiel saw it, and retained it in his memory. For when the geographical limits of the land of prophecy were fixed, 'from the Red Sea, till the sea of the Philistines,' the desert of Sinai, Paran, Seir and Egypt were included. This area was also privileged. Whenever a person was found in it who fulfilled all the necessary conditions, these sights became distinctly visible to him, 'apparently, and not in dark speeches,' just as Moses saw the Tabernacle, the sacrificial worship, and the land of Canaan in all its parts; or in the scene when, 'the Lord passed by before him.' Elijah had a vision also within this area. These things, which cannot be approached by speculation, have been rejected by Greek philosophers, because speculation negatives everything the like of which it has not seen. Prophets, however, confirm it, because they cannot deny what they were privileged to behold with their mind's eye. Such a number of them, living as they did in various epochs, could not have acted upon some common understanding. These statements were borne out by contemporary sages who had witnessed their prophetic afflatus. Had the Greek philosophers seen them when they prophesied and performed miracles, they would have acknowledged them, and sought by speculative means to discover how to achieve such things. Some of them did, so especially gentile philosophers. The name Adonāi, (spelt alef, dalēth, nūn, yōd) must be understood in a similar way, because of the idea of divine sovereignty which it conveys. We say: 'O my Lord,' or, 'Messengership of the Lord,' which is another name for divine ordination. Some angels are only created for the time being from fine elementary corpuscles, others are lasting, and are perhaps those spiritual beings of which the prophets speak. We have neither to refute nor to adopt their views. Concerning the visions seen by Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, there is some doubt whether their objects were newly created, or of the number of those lasting spiritual beings. 'Glory of God' is that fine substance which follows the will of God, assuming any form God wishes to show to the prophet. This is one view. According to another view the Glory of God means the whole of the angels and spiritual beings, as well as the throne, chariot, firmament, wheels, spheres, and other imperishable beings. All this is styled 'Glory,' just as a king's retinue is called his splendour. Perhaps that was what Moses desired, when he said: 'I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory.' God fulfilled his wish on the condition that he should not see His face which no mortal could endure, as He said: 'And thou shalt see My back parts, but My face shall not be seen.' This includes the glory which the prophet's eye could bear, and there are things in its wake which even our eye can behold, as the 'cloud,' and 'the devouring fire,' because we are accustomed to see them. The higher degrees of these are so transcendental that even prophets cannot perceive them. He, however, who boldly endeavours to do so impairs his constitution, even as the power of sight is impaired. People with weak eyes only see by subdued light after sunset, like the bat. Weak-eyed people can only see in the shadow, but people with strong eyes can see in sunlight. No eye, however, can look into the bright sun, and he who attempts to do so is stricken with blindness. Such is the explanation of the 'Glory of God,' 'the Angels of the Lord,' and the 'Shekhinah of the Lord,' as they are called in the Bible. Occasionally they are applied to objects of nature, e.g., 'Full is the whole earth of His glory,' (Isaiah 6:6), or, 'His kingdom ruleth over all' (Psalms 103:19). In truth, glory and kingdom do not become visible except to the pious, and the pure, and to the prophets who impart the conviction to the heretic that judgment and rule on earth belong to God, who knows every action of man. If this be so, it can truly be said, 'The Lord is King,' and 'the Glory of God shall be revealed.' 'The Lord shall reign for ever, thy God O Zion, unto all generations,' 'Say ye to Zion, thy God reigneth,' 'the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.' Now thou wilt not reject everything that has been said concerning such verses as: 'The similitude of the Lord shall he behold' (Num. xii. 8), 'they saw the Lord of Israel,' nor ma‘asēh merkābāh and Shēur Kōmàh, because in the opinion of some interpreters the reverence of God is implanted in the human mind, as it is written: 'That His fear may be before your faces.'

And Rabbi Hama the sone of Rabbi Hanina said: (Deuteronomy 13:5) "After God you shall walk." And is it possible for a man to walk after the Presence of God? And doesn't it already say (Deuteronomy 4:24) "Because God is a consuming flame"? Rather, [it means] to walk after the characteristics of God. Just as He clothed the naked [in the case of Adam and Chava]… so, too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He visited the sick [in the case of Avraham after his brit milah]…so, too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He comforted the mourners [in the case of Yitzhak after Avraham’s passing]…so, too, should you comfort the mourners. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He buried the dead [in the case of Moshe]…so, too, should you bury the dead.

(2) In our Commentary on the Sayings of the Fathers (chap. 5:7) we have explained the expression ḥesed as denoting an excess [in some moral quality]. It is especially used of extraordinary kindness. Loving-kindness is practised in two ways: first, we show kindness to those who have no claim whatever upon us; secondly, we are kind to those to whom it is due, in a greater measure than is due to them. In the inspired writings the term ḥesed occurs mostly in the sense of showing kindness to those who have no claim to it whatever. For this reason the term ḥesed is employed to express the good bestowed upon us by God: "I will mention the loving-kindness of the Lord" (Isa. 63:7). On this account, the very act of the creation is an act of God's loving-kindness. "I have said, The Universe is built up in loving-kindness" (Ps. 89:3); i.e., the building up of the Universe is an act of loving-kindness. Also, in the enumeration of God's attributes, Scripture says: "And abundant in loving-kindness" (Exod. 34:6). The term ẓedakah is derived from ẓedek, "righteousness"; it denotes the act of giving every one his due, and of showing kindness to every being according as it deserves. In Scripture, however, the expression ẓedakah is not used in the first sense, and does not apply to the payment of what we owe to others. When we therefore give the hired labourer his wages, or pay a debt, we do not perform an act of ẓedakah. But we do perform an act of ẓedakah when we fulfil those duties towards our fellow-men which our moral conscience imposes upon us; e.g., when we heal the wound of the sufferer. Thus Scripture says, in reference to the returning of the pledge [to the poor debtor]: "And it shall be ẓedakah (righteousness) unto thee" (Deut. 24:11). When we walk in the way of virtue we act righteously towards our intellectual faculty, and pay what is due unto it; and because every virtue is thus ẓedakah, Scripture applies the term to the virtue of faith in God. Comp. "And he believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6); "And it shall be our righteousness" (Deut. 6:25).