A Person Needs to Practice Hisbodedus (Private Prayer) Every Day for an Hour

The Story of the Rambam's (Maimonides) Travels and the Writing of His Works on the Road – "Anyone who accompanied us on the way must fast on these two days in which we emerged safely from the storm and give charity."

The Daily Encouragement from the Gaon and Tzaddik, our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days), Thursday, 2nd of Elul 5784

In Tiberias, one finds the Rambam and Rabbi Maimon, the father of the Rambam.

The camel that carried the Rambam to his burial went on its own to lead him to his grave. They did not know where to bury the Rambam, so they said, "Let us place him on the camel." In those days, there were camels, not horses, and the camel walked alone all the way to Tiberias, from Egypt, from Cairo, from Alexandria. The Rambam lived in Fustat (currently part of Cairo); today, the Old City of Cairo is called Fustat.

The Rambam said that he wrote his Commentary on the Mishnah while traveling from sea to sea. He said, "I wrote it from memory; I didn't have Gemaras (Talmudic volumes) with me. I was on ships, traveling from sea to sea. While transferring from ship to ship, I wrote the entire commentary. I arrived in Egypt at the age of 30 and completed the Commentary on the Mishnah."

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After that, the Rambam wrote the commentary for the Yad HaChazaka (Mishneh Torah). Here (the Rav shows the book during the lesson), it is written how the Rambam wrote the commentary. It says here: "We returned from the sea in peace," and then he made a seudah (festive meal) of thanksgiving. This was in the month of Cheshvan when the Rambam arrived in the Land of Israel.

He had to travel from Morocco, from Fez; he was in Fez for seven years. At the age of 12, he left Spain because of the Almohad persecutions, where they carried out riots against the Jews. So the Rambam, along with everyone else, fled from Spain to Morocco. The Rambam lived in Fez for seven years, from the age of 12 until 20.

The Rambam recounts: "On the fourth day from the start of Iyar, I entered the sea; on the tenth day of Iyar, I emerged from the sea." This was in the year 4925 from Creation (1165 CE). There was a terrible storm, a tidal wave in the sea, a wave that grew with great fury. We wandered for two days at sea; the wind blew the ship in all directions. It was a sailing ship, a wooden ship, an old ship.

The wind tossed the ship like a nutshell, and for two days at sea, we were blown in every direction. I took it upon myself to fast and told my sons to fast as well, and I fast on these days during the time of the storm. "There was a terrible storm, and I and the members of my household were there." He traveled with his wife and children, including Rabbi Avraham (the son of the Rambam), who authored the book on asceticism, a book about Hisbodedus (private prayer) called *HaMaspik L'Ovdei Hashem* (The Guide for the Servants of God).

A person needs to practice Hisbodedus (private prayer) every day for an hour.

The Rambam wrote: "The members of my household and all those who accompany me, all shall observe a public fast until the end of all generations." The Rambam says, "Anyone who accompanied us on the way must fast on these two days in which we emerged safely from the storm and give charity."

The Rambam adds: "I sit alone on the tenth of Iyar; I will be in complete Hisbodedus (solitude/private prayer) and will not see any person." This was exactly on the tenth of Iyar, because on the fourth of Iyar, he boarded the ship. For six days, there was such a storm that the ship was tossed from side to side like a nutshell, flying in all directions, and everyone was smashed against the walls inside the cabins. All of this occurred on the tenth of Iyar.