The following claim is made in the Talmud:
The Gemara on Bava Batra
12a writes the following:
Abdimi from Haifa said: Since the day when the Temple
was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from the prophets and given to the wise.
Is then a wise man not also a prophet? — What he meant was this: Although it
has been taken from the prophets, it has not been taken from the wise. Amemar
said: A wise man is even superior to a prophet, as it says, And a prophet has a
heart of wisdom. Who is compared with whom? Is not the smaller compared with
the greater? (Soncino translation)
R’ Yosef ibn Migash (the teacher of the Rambam),
commenting on this Gemara, writes the following:
. . . a חכם is thus superior to a
prophet: for a prophet only relates that which he heard and that which was
placed in his mouth to repeat, while a חכם relates a tradition given
to Moses at Sinai, even though he had never heard it [from anyone]! (qtd. in The
Jewish Political Tradition Vol I. Ed. Walzer et al. pg. 260)
In contrast, the Ramban writes that this Gemara “means
to say that although the prophecy of the prophets – by means of image and
vision – was lost, the prophecy of the sages – by means of the intellect – was
not lost. Rather, they know the truth from the holy spirit which [dwells]
within them." (ibid).
The
Talmud here claims that the Rabbis have been endowed with prophecy! The commentators try to define what type of
prophecy this is, and come up with unconvincing arguments. A rabbis is
prophet through his intellect, or through having heard something from
his teacher or read in a book. So it is
not clear whether they are altogether escaping from the Talmudic claims of
prophecy, or trying to redefine it.
In any
case, the Torah gives us license to question any person or claim of prophecy.
Deut.
18: 20 But the prophet,
that shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded
him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet
shall die.'
21 And if thou say in thy heart: 'How shall we know the word
which the LORD hath not spoken?'
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow
not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken; the
prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.
The
Torah gives a methodology on how to test a claim to prophecy. If the prophecy that the claimant prophet
makes does not follow, or take place, then he is a false /presumptuous prophet.
And the punishment for presumptuous prophets is very serious (v. 20).
The
claims of the Talmud are variously, that there is a tradition from Sinai which
was unwritten; that the rabbis themselves have a backdoor to Sinai, whereby
their own ideas were given on Sinai retroactively, and that their words are
also prophetic.
All of
these claims are claims of prophecy, whether direct or indirect. Incidentally, whereas the Torah provides us
license to test such claims, the rabbis
deny the Torah, and threaten anyone who questions the oral law with heresy and
eternal damnation.
To use
the method and internal logic of the Torah, we can verify or falsify the
Talmudic claims. Any predictions made,
or claims made , which do not follow
temporally or logically, can be considered as false prophecy. If in
fact, no predictions are made, then the
claim that they are prophets is a false claim, and hence they are also false
prophets. If the rabbis also make
statements that violate torah, and claim this was all in the oral law, these
contradictions and violations also constitute false prophesy.
In
Micah 3 for example, we see the issue of false prophets:
5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people
to err; that cry: 'Peace', when their teeth have any thing to bite; and whoso
putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him:
6 Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no
vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun
shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
7 And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners
confounded; yea, they shall all cover their upper lips; for there shall be no
answer of God.
Once the claim to prophecy is made, it is a huge responsibility, and a
double edged sword. Just as one cannot
make the claim to being the Messiah without scrutiny, so is the case for
prophecy. Thus the ridiculous claims of
the rabbis that questioning the veracity of the Talmud is heretical are
destroyed by the Torah itself!
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