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Part Two · Chapter Thirty-Nine — The Torah of Moses: Unique and Unrepeatable
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Since we have discussed the essence of prophecy, come to know its reality, and shown that the prophecy of Moses our Teacher is different from the prophecy of every other person — let us note that from that singular perception alone followed the call to the Law. The call of Moses our Teacher to us had no precedent among any figure we know from Adam until him, and after him no call of the same kind came from any of our prophets. Similarly the principle of our Law is that there will never be any other. According to our view, therefore, there has never been a Law and there will never be any other Law — only the Law of Moses our Teacher. The evidence for this, according to what the prophetic books state and tradition conveys, is: every prophet who preceded Moses — such as the patriarchs, Shem, Eber, Noah, Methuselah, and Enoch — not one of them ever said to any group of people: 'God has sent me to you and commanded me to say to you such-and-such, and has forbidden you to do such-and-such and commanded you to do such-and-such.' This is something that neither the scriptural text attests nor any authentic tradition records. Rather those figures received revelation from God as we have explained; and whoever received a great overflow like Abraham would gather the people and call them by way of teaching and guiding to a truth he had perceived — thus Abraham would teach people and demonstrate to them by rational proofs that the world has one God, that He created everything besides Himself, and that these images and none of the created things should be worshipped; he would commit people to this and draw them by fine speech and acts of kindness — not that he ever said 'God sent me to you and commanded me and forbade me.' Even when he was commanded concerning circumcision for himself, his sons, and his household, he circumcised them but did not call people to it in the form of a prophetic proclamation. The scriptural text concerning him, 'For I have known him' etc. (Gen. 18:19), makes clear that he acted only in the mode of personal instruction. So also Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, and Amram used to call people in this mode. And thus you find the Sages speaking of those who preceded Moses among the prophets as 'the court of Eber,' 'the court of Methuselah,' 'the school of Methuselah' — all of them, peace be upon them, were prophets who taught people in the manner of teachers, instructors, and guides, not saying 'the Lord said to me: speak to the children of so-and-so.'
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Such was the state of affairs before Moses our Teacher. As for Moses — you know what was said to him and what he said, and the words the whole people said to him: 'This day we have seen that God speaks with man' etc. (Deut. 5:21). As for every prophet from among us who came after Moses our Teacher — you know the text of all their accounts and that they were in the position of preachers to the people, calling to the Law of Moses, warning those who deviated from it and promising blessing to those who remained steadfast in following it. We likewise believe this will always be the case, as it is said: 'It is not in the heavens' etc. (Deut. 30:12); 'for us and for our children forever' (ibid. 29:28). And it is necessarily so, for a thing that has reached the utmost possible perfection in its kind cannot have another instance in its kind except one lacking that perfection — either by excess or by deficiency — like the perfectly balanced constitution which is the utmost equilibrium of its kind; any constitution deviating from that equilibrium contains either deficiency or excess. The same is the case with this Law, as its balance was made clear by the words 'just statutes and judgments' (Deut. 4:8) — and you know that ṣaddiqim means 'equibalanced.' For these are observances containing no burden or excess such as monasticism and wandering pilgrimage, nor any deficiency that would induce gluttony and dissolution to the point of undermining a person's moral and intellectual perfection, as the laws of previous nations do.
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When we speak in this treatise about the reasons for the commandments, the balance and wisdom of the Law will become clear to you in a way that should be clarified — and that is why it is said of it: 'The Torah of the Lord is perfect' (Ps. 19:8). As for one who claims its requirements are heavy, difficult, and burdensome — all of that is an error in reflection. I will show the ease of its demands for perfect persons in reality; and that is why it is said: 'What does the Lord your God ask of you?' etc. (Deut. 10:12); and: 'Have I been a wilderness to Israel?' etc. (Jer. 2:31). But all of this applies with reference to the noble ones. As for people of injustice, anger, and domination — the most painful and difficult thing for them is a judge who prevents domination. Likewise the most gluttonous of the base find the most painful thing is the prohibition of adultery and the imposition of punishment on its perpetrator. So too every deficient person sees the prohibition of the evil he prefers according to his moral failing as a great burden. The ease or difficulty of the Law is not to be measured by the desires of every evil, base person with moral failing, but must be assessed by the standard of the perfect person — the purpose of this Law being that all people should be that person. This Law alone is what we call a divine law; as for other political arrangements like the laws of the Greeks and the doctrines of the Sabeans and others — all of that is the work of governing peoples, not prophets, as I have explained several times.