In Honor of Passover

In this age of constant conflict between nations, people of many faiths have forgotten the common mystical  roots of the Prophets. Many Christians don't remember that the famous Last Supper was a celebration of the Jewish Passover feast. Many Jews, Christians, and Hindus don't realize that the Kaballah explains the mystical significance of the Jewish Star of David as representing the "Seven building blocks of Creation", just as the Christian Book of Revelations speaks of the "Seven candles and the Seven Churches", and the ancient Hindu vedas speak of the Seven Chakras. All faiths are connected at their deepest levels.

In honor of Passover week, here are some quotes from one of the most famous mystics of the Jewish faith, a man who lived in the 12th century, born on the eve of Passover.....

"Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still.

Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it. 

You must accept the truth from whatever source it comes.

Your purpose...should always be to know...the whole that was intended to be known.

Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen.


No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means.

The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it.

Medical practice is not knitting and weaving and the labor of the hands, but it must be inspired with soul and be filled with understanding and equipped with the gift of keen observation.


We naturally like what we have been accustomed to, and are attracted towards it. [...] The same is the case with those opinions of man to which he has been accustomed from his youth; he likes them, defends them, and shuns the opposite views.

Man's obsession to add to his wealth and honor is the chief source of his misery.

The more necessary a thing is for living beings, the more easily it is found and the cheaper it is; the less necessary it is, the rarer and dearer it is.

No one ever becomes poor through the giving of charity.

We are obligated to be more scrupulous in fulfilling the commandment of charity than any other positive commandment because charity is the sign of a righteous man.

Anticipate charity by preventing poverty; assist the reduced fellow man, either by a considerable gift or a sum of money or by teaching him a trade or by putting him in the way of business so that he may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity. This is the highest step and summit of charity's golden ladder.

For it is said, "You shall strengthen the stranger and the dweller in your midst and live with him," that is to say, strengthen him until he need no longer fall upon the mercy of the community or be in need.


In the realm of Nature there is nothing purposeless, trivial, or unnecessary.

The philosophers likewise assume that in Nature there is nothing in vain, so that everything that is not the product of human industry serves a certain purpose, which may be known or unknown to us.

This must be our belief when we have a correct knowledge of our own self, and comprehend the true nature of everything; we must be content, and not trouble our mind with seeking a certain final cause for things that have none, or have no other final cause but their own existence, which depends on the Will of God, or, if you prefer, on the Divine Wisdom.


Know that for the human mind there are certain objects of perception which are within the scope of its nature and capacity; on the other hand, there are, amongst things which actually exist, certain objects which the mind can in no way and by no means grasp: the gates of perception are closed against it.

Now, we occupy a lowly position, both in space and rank in comparison with the heavenly sphere,
and the Almighty is Most High not in space, but with respect to absolute existence, greatness and power.

When a man reflects on these things, studies all these created beings, from the angels and spheres down to human beings and so on, and realizes the divine wisdom manifested in them all, his love for God will increase, his soul will thirst, his very flesh will yearn to love God.

All the evils that men cause to each other because of certain desires, or opinions or religious principles, are rooted in ignorance. [All hatred would come to an end] when the earth is flooded with the knowledge of God."

~ by Moses Maimonides
from Mishneh Torah

Images: Star of David, source unknown
and Jesus Celebrates Passover with Disciples, from unamsanctumcatholicam.blogspot.com