Almighty God, Thou hast created the human body with infinite wisdom. Ten thousand times ten thousand organs has Thou combined in it that act unceasingly and harmoniously to preserve the whole in all its beauty - the body which is the envelope of the immortal soul. They are ever acting in perfect order, agreement and accord.

Yet, when the frailty of matter or the unbridling of passions deranges this order or interrupts this accord, then the forces clash and the body crumbles into the primal dust from which it came. Thou sendest to man diseases as beneficent messengers to foretell approaching danger and to urge him to avert it.

Thou hast blest Thine earth, Thy rivers and Thy mountains with healing substances. They enable Thy creatures to alleviate their sufferings and to heal their illnesses. Thou hast endowed man with the wisdom to relieve the suffering of his brother, to recognise his disorders, to extract the healing substances, to discover their powers and to prepare and apply them to suit every ill. In Thine Eternal Providence Thou hast chosen me to watch over life and death of Thy creatures. I am now about to apply myself to the duties of my profession. Support me, Almighty God, in these mankind, for without Thy help not even the least thing will succeed.

Inspire me with love for my art and for Thy creatures. Do not allow. thirst for profit, ambition for renown and admiration to interfere with my profession for these are the enemies of truth and of love for mankind and they can lead astray in the great task of attending to the welfare of Thy creatures.

Preserve the strength of my body and of my soul that they be ever ready to cheerfully help and support rich and poor, good and bad, enemy and friend. In the sufferer let me see only the human being. Illumine my mind that it recognises what presents itself and that it may comprehend what is absent or hidden. Let it not fail to see what is visible but do not permit it to arrogate to itself the power to see what cannot be seen, for delicate and indefinite are the bounds of the great art of caring for the lives and health of Thy creatures.

Let me never be absent- minded. May no strange thoughts divert my attention at the bedside of the sick or disturb my mind in its silent labours, for great and sacred are the thoughtful deliberations required to preserve the lives and health of Thy creatures.

Grant that my patients have confidence in me and my art and follow my directions and counsel. Remove from their midst all charlatans . . .

Should those who are wiser than I wish to improve and instruct me, let my soul gratefully follow their guidance; for vast is the extent of our art. Should conceited fools, however, censure me, then let my love for my profession steel me against them, so that I remain steadfast without regard for age, for reputation or for honour, because surrender would bring to Thy creatures sickness and death.

Imbue my soul with gentleness and calmness when older colleagues, proud of their age, wish to displace me or to scorn me or disdainfully to teach me. May even this be of advantage to me, for they know many things of which I am ignorant but let not their arrogance give me pain. For they are old and old age is not master of the passions. I also hope to attain old age upon this earth, before Thee, Almighty God!

Let me be contented in everything except in the great science of my profession. Never allow the thought to arise in me that I have attained sufficient knowledge, but vouchsafe to me the strength, the leisure and the ambition ever to extend my knowledge. For art is great, but the mind of man is ever expanding.

Almighty God! Thou hast chosen me in Thy mercy to watch over the life and death of Thy creatures. I now apply myself to my profession. Support me in this great task so that it may benefit mankind, for without Thy help not even the least thing will succeed.

Reference
1. Friedenwald Harry: The ethics of the practice of medicine from the Jewish point of view. Johns Hobkins Hospital BuLletin No. 318, 256- 266,1917.

(This has been referred to as the Prayer of Maimonides but Professor Gotthard Deutsch of Cincinnati finds it to be the work ofMarcus ben Herzof Berlin - 1747- 1803 - the friend and physician of Moses Mendelssohn. Editor)