Ramban on Parshat Bo: Miracles, Faith, and the Purpose of Creation

The famous commentary of the Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Torah portion of Parshat Bo, touches on some of the most fundamental principles of Jewish faith. Have you ever wondered, What is the purpose of creation? What is the role of man in the world? What is the meaning of the commandments? What can we learn from the Ten Plagues? Why don’t we see open miracles today as in the past?

If these questions have ever crossed your mind, the Ramban’s words are sweet, clear, and illuminating.

He begins: “And now I will tell you a general rule regarding the reason for many commandments. Since the days of Enosh, when idol worship began in the world, people’s ideas became distorted in matters of faith. Some denied the very foundation and claimed the world is eternal, ‘they denied the Lord and said, it is not He.’ Others denied His knowledge of details, saying: ‘How could God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?’ (Psalms 73:11). Others admitted that He knows but denied His providence, saying man is like the fish of the sea, with no oversight, no reward or punishment — claiming, ‘the Lord has abandoned the earth.’”

The Ramban identifies three forms of heresy:

1. Believing the world has no Creator and always existed.

2. Believing that God exists but does not know what each individual does.

3. Believing that God created the world but then abandoned it.

To refute these mistaken ideas, Ramban explains, God performs open miracles: “When God desires to show favor to a community or an individual, and He performs a miracle by changing the order of the world and its natural laws, it becomes clear to all that these false views are nullified. For the wondrous miracle shows that the world has a God who created it, who knows and oversees it, and who has power over all.”

The Ten Plagues as Proof of Faith

The Ramban explains that the Ten Plagues in Egypt were not random punishments but demonstrations that God created the world, supervises it, and rules over all without hindrance. The Egyptians denied or doubted each of these truths, and the plagues served as living testimony to refute them.

Thus, he writes: “The great signs and wonders are faithful witnesses to the truth of the Creator and of the entire Torah.”

Why So Many Commandments Recall the Exodus

Because of the importance of the lessons drawn from the miracles of Egypt, many mitzvot were established as remembrances of the Exodus such as tefillin, mezuzah, Shema morning and evening, sukkah, and more. “For God does not perform open miracles in every generation, before the eyes of every wicked person or skeptic. Therefore He commanded us to make constant reminders of what our eyes saw, and to pass them on to our children and grandchildren forever. That is why we must write these miracles on our hands and between our eyes (tefillin), on our doorposts (mezuzah), recite them in our mouths day and night, and commemorate them through mitzvot like sukkah and others.”

Hidden Miracles in Everyday Life

The Ramban emphasizes that the purpose of great miracles is to teach us to recognize the hidden miracles that surround us constantly. Rain falling, the wind blowing, healthy children being born, and the marvels of the human body are all miracles, not mere “nature.” “From the great, public miracles a person comes to acknowledge the hidden miracles, which are the very foundation of the entire Torah. For no person has a share in the Torah of Moses our teacher until he believes that all our words and events are miracles — there is no such thing as nature or the natural order.”

The Purpose of Creation and Commandments

The Ramban then reveals the goal of creation itself: “This is the purpose of creation: that man should know and acknowledge his God who created him. There is no other reason for the first act of creation, and no desire of the Most High in the lower beings except that man should know and thank his Creator.”

This is also why synagogues and communal prayer exist: “That there should be a place for people to gather, to acknowledge God who created them and brought them into existence, and to proclaim before Him: ‘We are Your creatures.’”

The Ramban’s Final Words

He concludes: “From the great, public miracles we acknowledge the hidden ones. This is the foundation of the entire Torah. For a person has no share in the Torah of Moses until he believes that all that happens — whether to the individual or to the community, is miraculous, not natural or by chance. If one fulfills the commandments, his reward will come; if he transgresses, his punishment will come — all by decree of the Most High.”

The Ramban’s commentary in Parshat Bo is both profound and inspiring. He connects open miracles with hidden miracles, illlustrating that the purpose of the commandments, and of creation itself, is to recognize God’s constant presence.

He teaches us that even when no grand miracle is visible, our daily lives are filled with them. Tefillin, mezuzah, Shema, even the simple breath we take — each is an opportunity to remember the Exodus and to acknowledge God’s providence.

His statement, “A person has no share in the Torah of Moses until he believes that everything is miraculous,” is a call to view life differently: to see every moment, large or small, as infused with divine presence.

The Ramban thus reminds us to live with gratitude, faith, and awareness that every detail of existence is a miracle.