21
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, prophecy has been taken from the prophets and given to the wise.
i.e. the wise can predict the future using their wisdom, but not through nevua - prophecy.
(The ...
15
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 for themselves, however here are a few quotes (loose translations by me, except for the last Rashi) about his special work (this list can go on forever):
The ...
11
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 of his cruelty and evil nature and desire to go curse the Jews, he answered the donkey's question. It continues that from here you can understand why people ...
11
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 הַכֹּהֵן בַּר נְחֶמְיָה בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנִּגְלָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל משֶׁה טִירוֹן הָיָה משֶׁה לַנְּבוּאָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא "אִם ...
11
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 heavenward, and the L-rd gave forth thunder and hail, and fire came down to the earth, and the L-rd rained down hail upon the land of Egypt."
"And there was hail,...
11
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, ואיוב, אליפז התימני, ובלדד השוחי, וצופר הנעמתי, ואליהוא בן ברכאל הבוזי
10
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 broad strokes). We also have all of the laws and traditions of our people that make up Jewish life, from the Pentateuch, and to a lesser degree from the other ...
10
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 always served you as
well as I could. But the people of Israel have broken their agreement
with you, destroyed your altars, and killed your prophets with swords.
...
9
To posit some sort of "prophetic perfect tense" or the like is entirely superfluous. I am confident that one is unable to grammatically distinguish between regular and "prophetic" usage.
However we do find examples where a prophet will speak from a point of view in which a future event is seen as having transpired, see Numbers 24:17 for example. This is ...
9
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 in his book "Ohr Hashem" (Maamar 2, Rule 4, Ch. 3).
וזה, שכמו שיש יתרון להרגש החוש על הרגש הדמיון, שבעבורו יודע המרגיש והוא ער, שאיננו מרגיש בדמיון לבד, ...
9
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 אינו כן (שם יט יט) משה ידבר והאלקים יעננו בקול. הוי וענותך תרבני
Seems that the any other characteristics mentioned when applied to G-d's voice deppends on the ...
8
The Medrash (Tanchuma 1, cited by Rashi Bamidbar 22:5) says that Bilaam was only given prophecy to quiet a possible argument of the non-Jews that they were never given a prophet. This implies that there really is no other purpose of non-Jewish prophecy, and therefore there would not be such a thing.
There is no practical ramifications to Jewish law about ...
8
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 עליו השפע הנבואיי ואז יכיר הענין כמות שהוא באמת. ומן המין הזה היתה קריאת ה' לשמואל שלא התנבא מתחלה ולא שפע עליו השפע אלא שנגלה עליו קול כקול מורגש ולא השיג בזה ...
8
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 to refer to Yishmael at the end of his life.
ויגוע: לא נאמרה גויעה אלא בצדיקים:
Also, Rashi on 21:17 quotes a midrash where the angels are trying to ...
8
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 the prophets (ענין שררה--see also here). [The P'nei Moshe, however, seems to understand the word as related to "tyro," i.e., a beginner.] It would seem that R. ...
8
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 problems in the Book on Prophecy and in the Book of Harmony. In the latter we intended to examine all the passages in the Midrash which, if taken literally, appear to ...
7
I don't have a source for this, but I always assumed the idea was not Bilaams personal performance, but rather how the nations interacted with Bilaam. "I gave you a prophet and you asked him to help win wars and deliver curses. Couldn't you have asked him for some directions on how to live a meaningful life?" G-d's response to the unasked question is don'...
7
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 המלך על שלשה הודו לו ועל שלשה לא הודו לו. גירר עצמות אביו על מטה של חבלים והודו לו. כיתת נחש הנחשת והודו לו. גנז ספר רפואות והודו לו.
The Tashbetz writes (סימן ...
7
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 Biblical verses, and many Mishnayot that are interpreted in ways other than what the plain-text meaning seems to be.
Rambam designed his framework based on ...
7
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 מדאי כדכתב לקמן דאיכא איסורא דלא תנסו וכו
According to this there is apparently no set number of tests; it is however many it takes to establish the truth.
R. ...
7
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 his royal garments, but in fact, had more simpler clothing on. So he wasn't unclothed. Some meforshim (on that pasuk) that I am referring to are the Mitzudas ...
7
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't publicly declare his visions to the Jewish people - here are a few other explanations.
The Rambam offers an intermediate position - arguing that Daniel had a &...
6
This article from the OU's magazine “Jewish Action” says that there are jokes in the Talmud,
“It is related that Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan was once asked if there are any
jokes in the Talmud, and his response was, “yes, but they’re all old.”
Jokes with a “Hechsher” A cursory reading of the Talmud’s text
validates that assertion. An informed reading may ...
6
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).
6
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) כי תאמר אלי שאהו בחיקך,
וגבה כמלאכי השרת, שנאמר: (יחזקאל א) וגבותם מלאות עיניים.
לכך נאמר: מי אתה הר הגדול, וממי הוא יוצא מזרובבל.
Rambam Teshuvah 9:2
...
6
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 does not lead directly to piety, and no matter how much one knows, we don't relate to that knowledge the same way. As you quoted from my answer there, despite ...
6
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 ולפי טבעת גופו וזהו לאדם מערכי לב שלו לא היה רק לערוך לבבו לדרוש את ה' בכל לבבו ומה' הי' מענה לשון ע"י הנביא איך יתנהג וכשבטלה הנבואה היה רוח הקודש ישראל ...
6
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 Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord..."
the Malbim commentary there explains that since there will not be any more ...
6
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 refer to a kind of sub-prophecy or Divinely-provided intuitive sense. This sense is consistent with the various uses of this concept in the Talmud, cataloged in ...
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