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(Continued from page 259.)
But Talmid endeavours to prove his wrongly
conceived philosophy, by the life and deeds of our pious ancestors, the
virtuous patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Occident, vol. v. p. 148,
Sivan 5607); and even by the history written down by Moses he attempts
to establish a peculiar dogma which is in contradiction to the whole of
the Mosaic system. He proceeds in this fashion. He says, Abraham did not
deserve God’s favour; the Most High appeared to him, and made with him
and his seed after him an everlasting covenant only for the purpose of
circumcising the human heart, to redeem mankind from the power of the
devil, and to save fallen man from the fire of hell. This is the import
of Talmid’s views, though he uses different words. But, my dear friend,
I must give the same reply to you, which Mendelssohn gave against the
views of Spinoza: “If your hypothesis were true, it would be a support
for your system.” If Abraham had not deserved the divine favour, then
could it be proven that God does not circumcise the heart of man;
although then we might demand an answer to the question, “Why did God
circumcise the heart of one man only, why not rather that of the whole
human race? is He not the Father of the universe, the Source of an
eternal equal benevolence for all his creatures?
But Abraham did truly deserve the divine favour;
because the Bible tells us not that God appeared to him in a dream or in
a nightly vision, only after the Lord had circumcised his heart. But at
the very first appearance it is stated, ויאמר
ה' אל אברם “And the Lord said to Abram;” whereas to hear and
understand the word of the Omnipotent, man ought to be in a very high
state of perfection, I am almost tempted to write, in the highest state
of perfection which man can possibly attain.
The Rambam in the second part
(פרק ל"ב) of
מורה נבוכים says:
דעות בני אדם בנבואה וגו' הדעת הראשון והוא דעת המון הפתאים
והוא שהש"י יבחר מי שירצה מבני אדם וישרה בו הנבואה וישלמהו וגו' והדעת
השני דעת בפילוסופים שהנבואה שלמות אחד מטבע האדם והשלמות ההוא לא יגיע
לאיש מבני האדם אלא אחר למוד יוציא מה שבכח המין אל הפועל וגו' והדעת
השלישי והוא דעת תורתנו ויסוד דתינו הוא זה הדעת הפילוסופי בעצמו אלא בדבר
אחד וזה שאנחנו נאמין שהראוי לנבואה המכין עצמו לה אפשר שלא יתנבא והוא
הרצון אלקי: (עיין שם הפירושים)
“The opinions of men are different regarding
prophecy, &c. The first is that of the thoughtless multitude, who
suppose that God chooses any one He may please of the sons of man,
endows him with prophecy and makes him perfect, &c. The second is that
of the philosophers, who suppose that prophecy is one of the perfections
of human nature; but which can be elicited only after deep study has
called forth this inherent power of our race into practical effect, &c.
And the third is that of our Torah and the basis of our law, and is
nearly the same with the philosophical one just given, except in one
point, which is that we believe, that though a man is worthy of
prophecy, and has prepared himself for the same, he may nevertheless not
be able to prophesy; for this is by the will of God.”
(To be continued.)
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