OMG 4: The Super, the Natural, and the Supernatural

(9) For He spoke, and it was;
He commanded, and it endured. (10) The LORD frustrates the plans of nations,
brings to naught the designs of peoples. (11) What the LORD plans endures forever,
what He designs, for ages on end.
(12) Happy the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people He has chosen to be His own. (13) The LORD looks down from heaven;
He sees all mankind. (14) From His dwelling-place He gazes
on all the inhabitants of the earth— (15) He who fashions the hearts of them all,
who discerns all their doings.
(16) Kings are not delivered by a large force;
warriors are not saved by great strength; (17) horses are a false hope for deliverance;
for all their great power they provide no escape. (18) Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
who wait for His faithful care (19) to save them from death,
to sustain them in famine.

(16) They who behold you stare;
They peer at you closely:
“Is this the man
Who shook the earth,
Who made realms tremble,

(9) My beloved is like a gazelle
Or like a young stag.
There he stands behind our wall,
Gazing through the window,
Peering through the lattice.

(11) 11. The Rabbi: The observant among us fulfils those divine laws, viz. circumcision, Sabbath, holy days, and the accessories included in the divine law. He refrains from forbidden marriages, using mixtures in plants, clothes and animals, keeps the years of release and jubilee, avoids idolatry and its accessories, viz. discovering secrets only accessible by means of the Urim and the Thummim, or dreams. He does not listen to the soothsayer, or astrologer, or magician, augur or necromancer. He keeps the regulations concerning issue, of eating and touching unclean animals and lepers; abstains from partaking of blood and forbidden fat, because they form part of the 'five offerings of the Lord.' He observes the sacrifices ordained for intentional and unintentional transgressions; the duty of redeeming the first-born of man and beast. He brings the offerings for every child born to him, and whenever he is purged from issue and leprosy; pays the various kinds of tithes, visits the Holy Land three times in the year; observes the rules of the Paschal lamb with all accessories, as it is 'a sacrifice of the Lord' incumbent upon every freeborn Israelite. He observes the laws of the tabernacle, the palm branch and Shofar, and takes care of the holy and pure implements required for the offerings. He observes the sacrifices for his own purification, as also the regulation of the corner, the 'Orlah,' and [the fruits] holy to praise the Lord therewith. In short, he observes as many of the divine commands as to justify him in saying: 'I have not transgressed one of Thy commands, nor forgotten' (Deuteronomy 26:13). There are further to be added vows and free gifts, peace offerings and self-denials. These are the religious laws, most of which are performed in connexion with the priestly service. The social laws are such as the following: 'Thou shalt not murder,' 'Thou shalt not commit adultery, steal, give false testimony against thy neighbour,' 'Honouring thy parents,' 'You shall love the stranger,' 'You shall not speak untruth and not lie'; such as concern the avoidance of usury, the giving of correct weights and measures; the gleanings to be left, such as the forgotten grapes, the corners, etc. The ethical laws are: 'I am the Lord thy God,' 'Thou shalt have no other God,' and 'Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain,' with its corollary that God is all present, and penetrates all the secrets of man, as well as his actions and words, that he requites good and evil, and 'that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro' (2 Chron. xvi. 9), etc. The religious person never acts, speaks or thinks without believing that he is observed by eyes which see and take note, which reward and punish and call to account for everything objectionable in word and deed. In walking or sitting he is like one afraid and timid, who is at times ashamed of his doings; but on the other hand he is glad and rejoices, and his soul exults whenever he has done a good action, as if he had shown some attention to the Lord in enduring hardships in obedience to God. Altogether he believes in and bears in mind the following words: 'Consider three things, and thou wilt commit no sin; understand what is above thee, an all-seeing eye and a hearing ear, and all thine actions are written in a book' (Pirkei Avot 2:1). He further recalls the convincing proof adduced by David: 'He that planted the ear, shall He not hear; He that formed the eye, shall He not see?' (Psalsm 94:9). There is also the Psalm beginning: 'O Lord, Thou hast searched me and knowest me' (Psalms 134). [When reading it,] he remembers that all his limbs are placed with consummate wisdom, in proper order and proportion. He sees how they obey his will, though he know not which part of them should move. If, for example, he wishes to rise, he finds that his limbs have, like obedient helpers, raised his body, although he does not even know [the nature of] these limbs. It is the same when he wishes to sit, walk, or assumes any position. This is expressed in the words: 'Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising . . . Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways' (Psalms 134:2-3). The organs of speech are much finer and more delicate than these. The child, as thou seest, repeats everything he hears, without knowing with which organ, nerve, muscle he must speak. The same is the case with the organs of breathing in singing melodies. People reproduce them quite harmoniously without being aware how it was done; as if their Creator produced them ever anew and placed them in man's service. Such, indeed, is the case; at least it nearly approaches it. One must not consider the work of creation in the light of an artisan's craft. When the latter, e.g. has built a mill, he departs, whilst the mill does the work for which it was constructed. The Creator, however, creates limbs and endows them continually with their faculties. Let us imagine His solicitude and guidance removed only for one instant, and the whole world would suffer. If the religious person remembers this with every movement he first acknowledges the Creator's part in them, for having created and equipped them with the assistance necessary for their permanent perfection. This is as if the Divine Presence were with him continually, and the angels virtually accompanied him. If his piety is consistent, and he abides in places worthy of the Divine Presence, they are with Him in reality, and he sees them with his own eyes occupying a degree just below that of prophecy. Thus the most prominent of the Sages, during the time of the Second Temple, saw a certain apparition and heard a kind of voice [Bath Qōl]. This is the degree of the pious, next to which is that of prophets The pious man derives from his veneration of the Divine Influence, near to him, what the servant derives from his master who created him, loaded him with gifts, and watches him in order to reward or to punish him. Thou wilt not, then, find any exaggeration in the words he utters when retiring into a private chamber: 'With your permission, O honoured ones,' in reference to the Divine Presence! And when he returns he recites the blessing: 'He that has created man in wisdom.' How sublime is this formula of blessing; what deep meaning is in its wording for him who considers it in the right spirit? Beginning with 'wisdom' and concluding with the words: 'Healer of all flesh and doer of wonders,' it furnishes a proof for the miraculousness visible in the creation of living beings, endowed with the faculties of expelling and retaining. The words 'all flesh' encompass all living beings. In this way he connects his mind with the Divine Influence by various means, some of which are prescribed in the written Law, others in tradition. He wears the phylacteries on his head on the seat of the mind and memory, the straps falling down on his hand, where he can see them at leisure. The hand phylactery he wears above the mainspring of his faculties, the heart. He wears the Zīzith lest he be entrapped by worldly thoughts, as it is written: 'That ye may not go astray after your heart and after your eyes' (Numbers 15:39). Inside the phylacteries are written [verses describing His] unity, reward, punishment, and 'the remembrance of the exodus from Egypt,' because they furnish the irrefutable proof that the Divine Influence is attached to mankind, and that Providence watches them and keeps record of their deeds. The pious man, then, examines his sensations, and devotes part of them to God. Tradition teaches that the smallest measure of praise which it is man's duty to offer to God, consists in a hundred blessings daily. First among these are the ordinary ones, then he supplements them in the course of the day by the blessings which accompany the savouring of odours, eatables and things heard and seen. Whatever he does beyond those is a gain, and brings him nearer to God, as David says: 'My mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness, Thy salvation all the day, for I know not the numbers thereof' (Psalms 71:15). He means to say: Thy glory is not comprehended by numbers, but I will devote myself to it all my life and never be free from it. Love and fear no doubt enter the soul by these means, and are measured with the measure of the law, lest the joy felt on Sabbaths and holy days outstep its bounds and develop into extravagance, debauchery and idleness, and neglect of the hours of prayer. Fear, on the other hand, should not go so far as to despair of forgiveness, and make him spend all his life in dread, causing him to transgress the command given him to feel pleasure in all that sustains him, as it is written: 'Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing' (Deuteronomy 26:11). It would also diminish his gratitude for God's bounties; for gratitude is the effect of joy. He, however, will be as one alluded to in the words: 'Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God in joy . . . thou shalt serve thine enemies' (Deuteronomy 28:47, Deuteronomy 28:49; Leviticus 19:17). Zeal in reproving 'thy neighbour,' and in study should not pass into wrath and hatred, disturbing the purity of his soul during prayer. He is deeply convinced of the 'justice of God's judgment.' He finds in it protection and solace from sorrow and the troubles of life if he is convinced of the justice of the Creator of all living creatures; He who sustains and guides them with a wisdom which the human intellect is only capable of grasping in a general way, but not in detail. See how wonderfully conceived is the nature of the creatures; how many marvellous gifts they possess which show forth the intention of an all-wise Creator, and the will of an omniscient all-powerful Being. He has endowed the small and the great with all necessary internal and external senses and limbs. He gave them organs corresponding to their instincts. He gave the hare and stag the means of flight required by their timid nature; endowed the lion with ferocity and the instruments for robbing and tearing. He who considers the formation, use and relation of the limbs to the animal instinct, sees wisdom in them and so perfect an arrangement that no doubt or uncertainty can remain in his soul concerning the justice of the Creator. When an evil thought suggests that there is injustice in the circumstance that the hare falls a prey to the lion or wolf, and the fly to the spider, Reason steps in warning him as follows: How can I charge the all-Wise with injustice when I am convinced of His justice, and that injustice is quite out of the question? If the lion's pursuit of the hare and the spider's of the fly were mere accidents, I should assert the necessity of accident. I see, however, that this wise and just Manager of the world equipped the lion with the means for hunting, with ferocity, strength, teeth and claws; that He furnished the spider with cunning and taught it to weave a net which it constructs without having learnt to do so; how He equipped it with the instruments required, and appointed the fly as its food, just as many fishes serve other fishes for food. Can I say aught but that this is the fruit of a wisdom which I am unable to grasp, and that I must submit to Him who is called: 'The Rock whose doing is perfect' (Deuteronomy 32:4). Whoever reflects on this will do as did Nahum of Gimzō, of whom it is related that no matter what happened to him, he always said: 'This, too, is for the best.' He will, then, always live happily, and all tribulations will fall lightly upon him. He will even welcome them if he is conscious of having transgressed, and will be cleansed through them as one who has paid his debt, and is glad of having eased his mind. He looks joyfully forward to the reward and retribution which await him; nay, he enjoys affording mankind a lesson of patience and submission to God, not less than gaining a good reputation. Thus it is with [his own troubles, and also with] those of mankind at large. If his mind is disturbed by the length of the exile and the diaspora and degradation of his people, he finds comfort first in 'acknowledging the justice of the decree,' as said before; then in being cleansed from his sins; then in the reward and recompense awaiting him in the world to come, and the attachment to the Divine Influence in this world. If an evil thought make him despair of it, saying: 'Can these bones live?' (Ezekiel 37:3)--our traces being thoroughly destroyed and our history decayed, as it is written: they say: 'our bones are dried' (Ezekiel 37:11)--let him think of the manner of the delivery from Egypt and all that is put down in the paragraph: 'For how many favours do we owe gratitude to God?' He will, then, find no difficulty in picturing how we may recover our greatness, though only one of us may have remained. For it is written: 'Worm of Jacob '--what can remain of a man when he has become a worm in his grave?