pleasure-grounds.  Pluck the fruit that grows therein, gather the roses, the spices, and the myrrh.  If thy soul be satiate and weary, change from garden to garden, from furrow to furrow, from sight to sight.  Then will thy desire renew itself, and thy soul be satisfied with delight.”  The will of Nachmanides is an unaffected eulogy of humility.  Asher, the son of Yechiel (fourteenth century), called his will “Ways of Life,” and it includes 132 maxims, which are often printed in the prayer-book.  “Do not obey the Law for reward, nor avoid sin from fear of punishment, but serve God from love.  Sleep not over-much, but rise with the birds.  Be not over-hasty to reply to offensive remarks; raise not thy hand against another, even if he curse thy father or mother in thy presence.”

Some of these wills, like that of the son of the last mentioned, are written in rhymed prose; some are controversial.  Joseph Ibn Caspi writes in 1322:  “How can I know God, and that he is one, unless I know what knowing means, and what constitutes unity?  Why should these things be left to non-Jewish philosophers?  Why should Aristotle retain sole possession of the treasures that he stole from Solomon?” The belief that Aristotle had visited Jerusalem with Alexander the Great, and there obtained possession of Solomon’s wisdom, was one of the most curious myths of the Middle Ages.  The will of Eleazar the Levite of Mainz (1357) is a simple document, without literary merit, but containing a clear exposition of duty.  “Judge every man charitably, and use your best efforts to find a kindly explanation of conduct, however suspicious....  Give in charity an exact tithe of your property.  Never turn a poor man away empty-handed.  Talk no more than is necessary, and thus avoid slander.  Be not as dumb cattle that utter no word of gratitude, but thank God for his bounties at the time at which they occur, and in your prayers let the memory of these personal favors warm your hearts, and prompt you to special fervor during the utterance of the communal thanks for communal well-being.  When words of thanks occur in the liturgy, pause and silently reflect on the goodness of God to you that day.”

In striking contrast to the simplicity of the foregoing is the elaborate “Letter of Advice” by Solomon Alami (beginning of the fifteenth century).  It is composed in beautiful rhymed prose, and is an important historical record.  For the author shared the sufferings of the Jews of the Iberian peninsula in 1391, and this gives pathetic point to his counsel:  “Flee without hesitation when exile is the only means of securing religious freedom; have no regard to your worldly career or your property, but go at once.”

It is needless to indicate fully the nature of the Ethical Wills of the sixteenth and subsequent centuries.  They are closely similar to the foregoing, but they tend to become more learned and less simple.  Yet, though as literature they are often quite insignificant, as ethics they rarely sink below mediocrity.