The "Physician's Prayer" Attributed to Maimonides

Daily prayer of a physician before he visits his patients
The eternal providence has appointed me to watch over the life and health of Thy creatures. May the love for my art actuate me at all times; may neither avarice nor miserliness, nor thirst for glory or for a great reputation engage my mind; for the enemies of truth and philanthropy could easily deceive me and make me forgetful of my lofty aim of doing good to Thy children.
May I never see in the patient anything but a fellow creature in pain.
Grant me the strength, time and opportunity always to correct what I have acquired, always to extend its domain; for knowledge is immense and the spirit of man can extend indefinitely to enrich itself daily with new requirements. Today he can discover his errors of yesterday and tomorrow he can obtain a new light on what he thinks himself sure of today.
Oh, God, Thou has appointed me to watch over the life and death of Thy creatures; here am I ready for my vocation and now I turn unto my calling.

Physician and scholar Moses Ben Maimon (1138-1204), known in English as Maimonides and in Hebrew as the Rambam, was one of the most significant figures in Jewish history. As physician to the court of Saladin at Cairo, Maimonides was the most celebrated physician of his era and the author of numerous medical texts. As a religious scholar, his works include the Mishneh Torah, a comprehensive guide to Jewish law, and the Guide to the Perplexed, a work which sought to harmonize Jewish theology with the Aristotelian philosophical tradition.
The “Physician’s Prayer” attributed to Maimonides first appeared in print in 1783. The text is now known to be the work of eighteenth century Jewish physician-philosopher Marcus Herz (1747-1803), who practiced medicine in Berlin and was a prominent figure in Enlightenment philosophical circles. Although twentieth century scholarship has identified Herz as the prayer’s author, scholars on both sides of the debate acknowledge that the ethical commitments expressed in the text are consistent with Maimonides’ own writings on medical ethics.
Regardless of the identity of its author, the “Physician’s Prayer” is a profound expression of the principles of medical ethics.

• Halperin, Edward. "Prayer of Maimonides." Oncology Times 31:8 (April 25, 2009) p. 4.
• Rosner, Fred. "The Physician's Prayer Attributed to Moses Maimonides." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 41:5 (September-October 1967), pp. 440-454.

As a traditional Jewish folk art, papercutting is documented as far back as the fourteenth century and reached its zenith in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the art form was widely practiced in both Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities. Papercuts use careful craftsmanship to create visually striking arrangements of Hebrew text and stylized decorative motifs. Ketubot (marriage agreements) and other documents were often created in papercut format, serving as both works of art and reminders of religious commitment.

By the mid-twentieth century, the Ashkenazi papercut tradition was in danger of dying out due to modernization and the loss of many traditional practitioners in the Holocaust. The Polish-born Israeli scholar Dr. Giza Frankel (1895-1984) dedicated her career to studying and preserving examples of traditional Eastern European Jewish papercut art. Her work led to a revival of the craft. Today, the Jewish papercut tradition is kept alive by artists who work with traditional styles as well as forms influenced by contemporary art.

The papercut on display here is the work of Mary Etta Moore (1947-2022), one of the modern American masters of the craft. A lifelong resident of Michigan, Moore showed an early aptitude for the visual arts and studied drawing and printmaking. In 1983 she designed and sold her first papercut as a fundraiser for her synagogue, and in 1987 she left her job as a Hebrew school teacher to pursue a full-time career as an artist. Her work is displayed in synagogues and galleries in the United States and Europe.