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(Concluded from page 305)
Independently of the above exposition of the nature
of prophecy, we have no reasonable explanation of the schools and
scholars of prophets that are mentioned in the Bible; nor of the words:
“Mosheh and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who called
on his name” (Psalm 99:6); nor of the words of the Talmudשקול שמואל כנגד משה ואהרון “Samuel was
in value equal to Moses and Aaron” (Samuel, it must be remembered, was
the first founder of the above mentioned prophetic schools); or of the
sixth chapter of Isaiah, the first of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Taking then
the just quoted valuable words of our learned Maimonides into view, we
may understand how our law speaks of two kinds of prophets. The first we
may call natural Prophets, such as Bileam, the prophets of Baal,
the prophets of the grove, &c. This is proved from Deuteronomy 13:2: “If
there arise among thee a prophet,” &c. Every true inquirer into human
nature knows that a prophetic spirit exists slumbering in every man’s
soul, and becomes active when duly wrought upon by a sufficiently potent
influence. This kind of prophetic capacity seems rather to be a high
state of reason than any other power, as the corresponding Hebrew word
denoting it, בינה (intelligence),
designates the ability מבין דבר מתוך דבר “to discover the future from present and past circumstances.” Pharaoh
said to Joseph, when foretelling to him the future,אין
נבון חכם כמוך “There is none so intelligent and wise as thou.”
These natural prophets can therefore never point out a certain deed or
event to happen with precision and certainty, specifying space and time
for its occurrence, &c:; (because they know is not from an inward
impulse, their whole knowledge being based on externally acquired
information;) so also says the Bible, Deut. 13:2,
ונתןאליך אות או מופת “And he give thee
a sign or a token;” or as Bileam said of himself נופל וגלוי עינים “Falling down with the
eyes open;” and אראנוולא עתה אשורנו ולא קרוב
“I see him but not now, I behold him but not near.”
The second class consists of the supernatural
prophets, or messengers of God, whose mission it was to bring back the
wicked and erring <<351>>to the path of the Lord and virtue; strengthening the
faithful in faith and the righteous in their conscientious course;
proving the truth of their words by foretelling the future of nations or
individuals, as the consequence of their righteousness or iniquity (and
relying upon the fulfillment alone as establishing the inspiration of
their words). They foretold the future generally with all the
particulars of time and space, sometimes also by giving the proper names
of the persons who were to be, and did become the agents in the
fore-shadowed events. So, also, Bileam: כעת
יאמר יעקבולישראל מה פעל אל “At the proper time it shall be told
to Jacob and Israel what the Lord doth work.”
Now let us first endeavour to find a good
explanation of the three important words רוח
הקודש “holy spirit,”
נבואה “prophecy,” and שכינה “divine
presence.” The first is a holy inspiration awakened in the soul by
beholding a spiritual, sanctified, or pure and moral existence. To ask
in which soul can such an inspiration be awakened? would be the same as
to ask, on what sort of tree can grapes grow? But as grapes can only
grow on the vine, the proper plant on which they can be expected, so can
a holy inspiration only take place in a holy spirit. To obtain a holy
spirit, requires a pure heart, a free and independent will, and a
sanctified sentiment; no one can possess these attributes without having
exercised himself for a long time in every virtue appertaining to man,
such as benevolence, mercy, piety, morality, and the governing of his
own will and animal desires. And then are these exercises the true and
surest path to the summit of wisdom, to the perception of God’s holy
existence, displayed in his attributes, which are the witnesses of his
perfection. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the
highest elevation is to acknowledge God by a thorough comprehension of
His being, so far as is attainable to man. (See Nachmanides
בפירושו למדע.) These exercises are,
moreover, the only means to attain purity of character, the first
requisite for the possession of a holy inspiration. But it is an old
proverb of our sages: An uninstructed man cannot be one that fears sin
(not knowing why?); nor an ignorant man be a saint (not knowing how?)
Our Rambam says, therefore, with truth: “That this perfection cannot be
elicited, except after deep study has called forth this inherent power
of our race into practical effect.” So also is the other aphorism true,
which says: ולא המדרש הוא עקר אלא המעשה “And yet study is not the principal requisite, but to do what religion
demands.” We therefore maintain that the attainment of
רוח הקודש demands that study and
practice should be united. We usually judge of the morality and
knowledge of a man by the topics or which he speaks; and this procedure
is correct, <<352>>provided the speaker utters his words without
subtlety or
fraud. The inspired* speaks only the language of his heart.
We may deduce from this, established by experience,
that subject and object of inspiration must correspond with one another,
as the feelings and words of the inspired orator. A fool will never be
inspired by wisdom, nor will the wise man, inspired by wisdom, launch
out in the praises of folly. If now a man has reached that high degree
of perfection as to possess רוח הקודש (holy inspiration), he can never be inspired except of God and his
attributes, of nature and its various scenes, of the human race and
things incident to them; because he is a witness of God’s existence and
of His divine character; nor will he speak, during his inspiration,
about any other subject; for this sublime idea alone fills his pure
soul, and he can only speak of God, either by singing psalms and hymns,
or proclaiming His holy name in diffusing the divine instruction he has
received. It is therefore said in the Talmud:
כתובים נאמרו ברוחהקודש “The holy writings were indicted through
holy inspiration,” because they speak only of the Most High, and matters
appertaining to His worship; wherefore also it is stated by the same
authority: כל האומר דוד חוטא שלמה חוטא אינו
אלא טועה “Whoever says David or Solomon was a sinner is surely
speaking erroneously;” because their words testify to the purity of
their hearts. In the same manner is explained a certain passage in the
first chapter of the Sabbath of the ירושלמי which says:
ר' פינחס בן יאיר אומר זריזות מביאה לידי נקיות ׃ נקיות
לידי טהרה ׃ טהרה לידי קדושה ׃ קדושה לידי ענוה ׃ ענוה לידי יראת חטא ׃
יראת חטא לידי חסידות ׃ חסידות מביאה לידי רוח הקודש ׃ (עיין רב אלפס הו״ן
ונימוקי יוסף סוף פ״ק דע״ז ושיר השירים רבה א׳)
“Rabbi Phineas, son of Yair, said: Industry in
study, with the will to practise it, leads to cleanness; cleanness to
purity; purity to holiness; holiness to humility; humility to the fear
of sin; the fear of sin to piety; piety leads to the attainment of a
holy inspiration” (spirit). A man in the just described state of perfect
exaltation, becomes fit to be anointed as a messenger of the Lord; only
such a one is fitted to hear the voice of God; only he has attained the
to others unknown power to listen for the owrds of the divine voice, and
to behold the vision of the Most High; only he can explain how the words
of the Almighty are to be audibly perceived by mortal man; as the
Psalmist says: סוד ה׳ ליראיו “The
secret of the Lord is for them who fear Him.”
If it is now God’s will that a message from Him
shall reach the <<353>>human race, then such a holy inspired man becomes the
messenger, and is a prophet, one inspired by a divine message.
Does the human race not possess a man of this qualification, then does
God not send to mankind his holy words, because there is no one worthy
to bear them. If it is not the will of God to send a message to man,
then the possessor of רוח הקודש becomes
in no wise a prophet, except, as already stated, one of the natural
order. Some prophets had only one vision, as Jonah, &c.; not, however,
because they were not in a high state of perfection, but only because
God did not desire to send a message to man at that time. If a prophet
reaches that high degree of divine grace, as to enjoy always the
presence of God’s majesty, as Moses, and some others, then is
נבואה (prophecy) the most perfect, and
is called שכינה (the divine presence).
The reader will no doubt call to mind here that Moses is said to have
beheld the future in אספקלריא יותר מאירה “the brightest mirrors.” (See Moreh Nebuchim, Part I. chap 25.)
This view of the Rambam will aid us to explain the
rabbinical assertion: אין הנבואה שורה אלא על
חכם גבור ועשיר “Prophecy is imparted only to one who is wise,
strong, and rich;” taking these three epithets in the sense of Ben Zoma,
who defines wisdom to be learning of every man; strength the governing
of the passions, and riches the contentment with our apportioned lot.
Also the following passage:לעולם לא ירדה
שכינה למטהמעשרה ולא אדם למעלה “The Shechinah never came down,
and man never went up;” because the divine presence will not come down
to the dust of the ground (figurative, for the state of
unintellectuality and grossness of unsubdued desires in man); for a
mortal must needs arrive at the requisite perfection of
רוח הקודש holy inspiration; and the
proper אדם, the child of the earth,
will also never ascend upward, because he needs to leave the earthly
desires and impulses subdued behind, in order to reach the perfection of
רוח הקודש.
Now, friend Talmid, you will see that the principal
idea on which you build your system is erroneous according to Bible,
Talmud, and philosophy; and by what other proof can you establish it?
The simple words ויאמר ה׳ אל אברם “And
God said to Abram,” are proof enough that he possessed the
רוח הקודש before then.
Talmud and Midrash, and I suppose Josephus himself,
tell us enough of Abraham’s holy inspiration, before God had yet
appeared unto him, how he destroyed the idols of his father, and
instructed persons who came to worship them, in the way of truth; how
fearlessly he confessed his belief before Nimrod, notwithstanding the
cruel punishment of the king, and how he converted his own father to the
true faith. There is no occasion for the Bible’s telling us all these
things; because the <<354>>very words which convey to us the announcement that
God communed with Abram, compel us to assume a pre-existing merit in the
patriarch, which caused the Almighty to choose him; and I hope,
consequently, that both you and the readers of the Occident will
acknowledge that a mistake has been made by you in the premises.
I would not have written in reply to Talmid, if it
were not that I wished to advise him to be careful in the prosecution of
his studies, so as not to fall into the method of certain missionaries,
to wrest a single verse from its place and context, and to elicit from
it any of the peculiar views which one may wish to prove from it.
Will Talmid accept as a remembrance from me a copy
of a letter of Eben Ezra, which reads alike backward and forward?
דעו מאביכם כי לא בוש אבוש שוב אשוב אליכם כי בא
מועד׃
I am truly yours,
W. |
