Rav Moshe

Early years

Rav Moshe ben Nachman zt"l, known by the initials of his name as the Ramban and in the wider world as Nachmanides (Greek for "son of Nachman"), was born in Gerona, Spain, in 1195. He came from a renowned family of rabbanim and was a relative of Rav Yonah of Gerona.

He learned Torah from Rav Yehudah ben Yakar and Rav Natan ben Meir, In Kabbalah he learned from Rav Ezra and from Rav Ezriel, who also lived in Gerona. Medicine was another field he mastered, and he worked as a physician, besides studying languages and physics.

Torah and leadership

The Ramban spent most of his life in Gerona, teaching Torah to a large circle of talmidim. Throughout Spain he was regarded as the foremost posek, and communities abroad honored his rulings as well.

In 1238 he was asked to give his view on the great controversy over the works of the Rambam. He praised the learning of Rav Shlomo of Montpellier, who led the opposition, but sharply rebuked all who insulted the Rambam. To calm the opponents he pointed out that the Mishneh Torah is never lenient in deciding halachah and is at times quite strict. As for the Moreh Nevuchim (Guide of the Perplexed), he explained that it was never meant for the general public, but for people who had strayed because of philosophy. It might be unnecessary and even harmful for the Jews of France and Germany, he wrote, yet it was vital for the philosophically minded Jews of Spain. He urged the authors of the ban to cancel it and allow the study of the Moreh Nevuchim and of the philosophical sections of Sefer HaMada in the Mishneh Torah.

In 1263 King James of Aragon compelled him to take part in a public disputation with Pablo Christiani, a Jew who had left the faith. In the presence of the king and many nobles and clergy, the Ramban answered every argument so convincingly that the king rewarded him with a gift of 300 coins. The Dominican priests, however, spread the word that their side had won. In reply the Ramban published an exact record of the questions and answers under the title Sefer HaVichuach.

The clergy then accused him of insulting their religion. He admitted that he had written what he had said before the king, who had given him freedom of speech. Even so, Sefer HaVichuach was condemned to be burned and the Ramban was expelled from Aragon.

Teachings and seforim

The Ramban wrote chiddushim (novellae) on most of the Gemara, in the manner of the Baalei HaTosafos. His other works include Toras HaAdam, a collection of the laws of mourning that culminates in Shaar HaGemul, a work on the resurrection of the dead and on reward and punishment. He also wrote Iggeres HaMussar, a letter of ethical guidance to his son, and Sefer HaGeulah on the coming of Mashiach. Further works are a commentary on Iyov, Mishpat HaCherem on the laws of excommunication, Hilchos Bedikah on examining the lungs of a slaughtered animal, Hilchos Challah, and Hilchos Niddah, which is printed with his chiddushim on Maseches Niddah. Two further works, HaEmunah VeHaBitachon and Iggeres HaKodesh on the holiness of marriage, are attributed to him.

For three years after his expulsion he stayed in Castille of Provence, where he began his monumental commentary on the Torah. It does more than explain the verses. It examines the subjects they raise and presents them from a Torah perspective, weaving together Aggadah and Kabbalah with careful study of earlier commentators, especially the Rambam and Ibn Ezra. He strongly criticized what he saw as their over-rational approach, which in his view departed from the true teachings of Chazal and Kabbalah. He also often disagrees with Rashi, and later authors such as the Mizrachi and the Maharal wrote replies in Rashi's defense. His commentary is printed in all editions of Mikraos Gedolos and is studied widely. An annotated English translation, Nachmanides on the Torah, was prepared by Rabbi Dr. Charles B. Chavel.

Later years and passing

In 1267, at an advanced age, the Ramban decided to settle in Eretz Yisroel. Before leaving he gave a discourse on Koheles, praising the Holy Land and the mitzvah of tzedakah. After a hard and painful journey he reached Acco in Elul 1267 and spent Rosh Hashanah in Yerushalayim, which lay in ruins after the Crusader wars.

He set aside a desolate house as a shul and brought a Sefer Torah to it from Shechem. There he delivered a drasha about the halachos of shofar, and he urged the people of Eretz Yisroel to be very careful that their deeds be righteous, because they resemble servants in the palace of the King. Through his efforts the Jewish community of Yerushalayim, which had almost ceased to exist, began to revive.

The Ramban himself settled in Acco, then a center of Torah, and gathered a circle of talmidim around him. There he completed his commentary on the Torah. He kept in close touch with his family in Spain and wrote to them about conditions in the Holy Land.

He passed away on 11 Nissan 5030 (1270) in Eretz Yisroel. Traditions place his kever in Chevron near Meoras HaMachpeilah, in Haifa, in Acco or in Yerushalayim.

Legacy

The Ramban is remembered as a model of the best of Spanish Jewry. The Arizal taught that his soul came from the right sideburn, and so he was privileged to know the wisdom of the Zohar, in contrast to the Rambam (1135 to 1204), whose soul came from the left sideburn and who therefore did not merit it. The Arizal also spoke of the depth and reliability of the mystical teachings in the Ramban's commentary on the Torah, and regarded him as the last of the early Kabbalists, who still received the secrets of Kabbalah directly before they were later concealed.

The Rivash (Rav Yitzchok ben Sheshes Perfet) wrote that all of the Ramban's words are like sparks of fire, and that the communities of Castille relied on his halachic rulings as if they had been given to Moshe Rabbeinu directly by Hashem.