22
votes
Accepted
Does Judaism recognize contemporary prophets?
The last of the true prophets (nevi'im) were indeed Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Talmud (Bava Batra 12a) cites:
R. Abdimi from Haifa said: Since the day when the Temple was destroyed, ...
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15
votes
Accepted
Did Rashi have nevuah?
Unfortunately, indeed we do not have prophets today, and Chazal say that the last prophets were Hagai, Zecharia and Malachi.
Rashi's momentous perush on most of the Bible and most of the gemara speak ...
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11
votes
Why is Bil'am not surprised that his mule is talking to him?
In otzros hatorah page 263 on "vayiftach hashem es pi haton" rabenu bechayeh is quoted asking that Bilam should have been amazed but he was not. He should have marveled at this wonder. However because ...
- 271
11
votes
What did Hashem sound like?
See the Medrash Raba on Shemos (Exodus) פרשה ג that states that (at least initially, at the burning bush) Hashem sounded just like Moshe's father Amrom when He spoke to him.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ...
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11
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Jewish Prophet who could bring fire from the Heaven
Moses was involved in calling down fire from Heaven during the plague of hail in Egypt.
Exodus 9:23-24 : (See the entire chapter for more details of the story.)
"So Moses stretched forth his staff ...
- 10.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Was Eliphaz a prophet?
The Talmud (Bava Basra 15b) includes Eliphaz, Iyovs's colleague, as one of a short list of prophets who prophesied for the nations of the world.
שבעה נביאים נתנבאו לאומות העולם, ואלו הן: בלעם, ואביו, ...
- 4,109
10
votes
Accepted
How do you know what God wants without prophets now to tell you?
I think that, as far as 'what Gd wants from us', we have all we need from the prophets. We have the whole story of the world, from its creation through Messianic times, foretold in broad strokes, (why ...
- 8,074
10
votes
Accepted
Nevuah or just a dream
Basically the answer would be the same as an answer to a question how do we distinguish reality from a dream. The realness of a prophecy would be overwhelming.
Rabeinu Crescas addresses this question ...
- 116
10
votes
Did Jews kill any of their prophet?
Yes. Jews killed many prophets. And here is a proof from 1 Kings 19 (14).
Then the Lord spoke his word to him: “Elijah! Why are you here?”
10 He answered, “Lord God All-Powerful, I have ...
- 101
9
votes
What did Hashem sound like?
Midrash Tehilim 18:29 (in the name of R. Luliani) says that Hashem spoke with Moshe with the voice of Moshe himself:
רבי לוליאני בשם רבי ישמעאל אמר בנוהג שבעולם הרב אומר והתלמיד עונה. אבל
הקב"ה ...
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8
votes
Nevuah or just a dream
Perhaps you wouldn't know, without someone to educate you.
Ramchal, Derech Hashem, 3:4:3:
הנה אפשר שיגיע גילוי ממנו ית' אל אדם והוא לא יכיר בו כמו שיכיר הנביא אלא יחשבהו בא מן המורגשות עד שיגבר ...
- 57.3k
8
votes
Is Yishmael a nabi (prophet) or tzaddik of some sort?
There are a couple sources that indicate that Yishmael was a tzaddik at certain points in his life.
Rashi to Breishit 25:17 notes that the the word ויגוע is only used by tzaddikim, and is used here ...
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8
votes
The greatest prophet after Moses
The Yerushalmi (Eiruvin 5:1, 31a) states that Elijah was טירונין לנביאים. The Korban Ha-Eidah defines this as גדול שבנביאים, and cites the Aruch who explains that this means he was the authority of ...
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8
votes
Accepted
Where did Rambam say he wrote a book about prophecy?
He said that he intended to, but later abandoned the plan. From the Prefatory Remarks in Guide for the Perplexed:
In our commentary on the Mishnah we stated our intention to explain difficult ...
- 47.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Why didn't the prophets (and others "inspired from Above") ever learn the secrets of science or cures for disease?
There was once a book that had all the cures you are talking about, but it was buried.
In the mishna of Psachim 4:9 it says that the king Chizkia buried "the book of cures":
ששה דברים עשה חזקיה ...
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7
votes
Accepted
Does the Rambam Contradict Yirmiyahu 18 on Prophecy?
The Rambam knew the pasuk in Yirmeyahu. Just because one has a question based on a plain-text interpretation of a verse, that doesn't mean that people should stop teaching the Rambam. There are many ...
- 19.9k
7
votes
Accepted
How many times must a prophet be tested?
R. Abraham de Boton writes in Lechem Mishneh to the cited halacha from Mishneh Torah that you test him until the truth is verified, but anything beyond that is forbidden:
כלומר עד שיתאמת אבל לא יותר ...
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7
votes
Accepted
Why was Shaul prophecising naked?
It is true that just from reading the words in the pasuk, it appears that Shaul was unclothed, but if you look at the different mefoshim, most seem to say that he just "Stripped" himself of ...
- 1,394
7
votes
How can we reconcile the Gemara saying that Daniel was NOT a Navi, with all the Obvious (Very Intense) Prophecies of Daniel written in Sefer Daniel?
There have been various rabbinic interpretations on this issue. In addition to Tamir's note on Rashi's commentary (to Megillah 3a) - that Daniel was not technically considered a prophet since he didn'...
- 10.6k
6
votes
Will the king messiah be a prophet?
Isaiah 52:13
הנה ישכיל עבדי ירום ונשא וגבה מאד
Tanchuma Toldot 14
ירום מאברהם.
ונשא מיצחק.
וגבה מיעקב.
ירום מאברהם. שנאמר: (בראשית יד) הרמותי ידי אל ה'.
ונשא ממשה, שאמר (במדבר יא) ...
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6
votes
Can a convert be a prophet?
Chananya ben Azur was a prophet (until he went bad), and he was a Givoni, who are a nation of converts (Rashi on Yirmiyah 28:6).
- 1,647
6
votes
How do you know what God wants without prophets now to tell you?
the last message of the prophets was Malachi 3:22-24
"Remember the torah of Moses, My servant-the laws and ordinances which
I commanded him in Horeb (Sinai) for all Israel;Lo, I will send you ...
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6
votes
How do you know what God wants without prophets now to tell you?
the Vilna Gaon in his commentary to Mishley (Parables) 16:4 asks your question:
וכשהיו נביאים היו הולכין אצל הנביאים לדרוש את ה' והיה הנביא אומר ע"פ משפט הנבואה דרכו אשר ילך בה לפי שורש נשמתו ...
- 1,373
6
votes
Accepted
Why there is no prophet among anyone now even though humans nowadays are hollier than ancient humans?
There are 3 mistakes that form this question.
The first is a misunderstanding of the intent of R' Dessler that I quoted in the cited answer. The point of his idea is exactly that - knowledge alone ...
- 57.3k
6
votes
What are clear and concise translations of the various meanings of "Ruach HaKodesh" in English?
The English translation I've seen most for Ruach HaKodesh is "Divine inspiration." This translation is consistent with its usage in Jewish texts, as described concisely in this Everything2 entry, to ...
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6
votes
Accepted
The End of Prophecy amongst the Nations
I'm not sure that this what you're looking for, but the Gmara in Baba Batra on daf 15 writes:
בתר דשכיב משה מי שריא שכינה על עובדי כוכבים
והא אמר מר ביקש משה שלא תשרה שכינה על עובדי כוכבים וניתן לו, ...
- 975
6
votes
Test of True Prophet
Devarim 13:1-4:
Everything I command you that you shall be careful to do it. You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.
If there will arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and ...
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6
votes
Is there a prophecy in the Torah that predicts that a prophet will come from the town of Nazareth
The answer is that there is no prophecy in the entire Tanach which foretells that a prophet should come from Nazareth, or that the Messiah should be called a "Nazarene". Christians throughout the ages ...
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6
votes
Was Nevuah given verbatim?
As Rambam explains Mishneh Torah, Mada, Yesodei haTorah, 7 all prophets (other than Moshe) received their prophecy as a vision and a metaphor (through an angel). They would then tell over either the ...
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