What Is Prophecy?

Parashas B'Ha'aloscha, Chumash BaMidbar

 

Prophecy conjures up images of a bent old man with wild white hair flying at all angles, ranting and raving over predictions of doom and gloom. Citizens walk by little moved by the spectacle. But that’s not prophecy. That’s Central Park.

Telling the future was actually a relatively minor side-effect of prophecy. Far from being a social misfit, the prophet was the picture of physical and psychological health. A state of simcha was a pre-requisite for receiving prophecy. Simcha is usually translated as happiness, but what simcha really means is a state of profound, meaningful connectedness to oneself and to G-d, resulting in a very awake, joyful personality.

Prophets were those who had so much refined their own patterns of thought, speech, and behavior that a deeper attunement to reality was almost inevitable. Prophecy took place when an awareness of the presence of God filled them so entirely that knowledge of the future would be left imprinted upon their consciousness like the wet sand left after a wave recedes back into the ocean. That clarity, spiritual and practical, about what must be done to best serve God in the moment and in the future, was what we call prophecy today.

Prophecy also wasn’t a rare phenomenon. During the times of Shmuel (Samuel) texts describe that two hundred prophets covered every hill. “Many prophets stood for Israel, numerous as the number of people who left Egypt. Except only the prophecy needed for generations was written down, and what was not needed for generations was not written.” (Talmud Megilla 14a)

The Rambam (Maimonides) explained that, “Just as in wisdom there are some wise men greater than their peers, so in prophecy are there prophets greater than other prophets.” (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 4:2) What made some instances of prophecy greater than others?

Our sages describe the different qualities of prophecy obtained by various prophets as window glass. What makes good window glass? The fact that it looks like it’s not there. A clear pane of window glass displays nothing but the vision to be seen through it. Clear prophecy displayed nothing of the personality of the prophet, but only the Presence that filled him.

The Torah testifies that “Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe (Moses), whom Hashem had known face to face…” (Devarim-Deuteronomy 34:10) The sages added, “All the prophets saw with aspaclaria that did not illuminate, Moshe Rabeinu saw with illuminated aspaclaria.” (Talmud Yevamos 49b). What this means is that Moshe had a clarity of perspective that did not exist in anyone before or after him for all time. While for all other prophets the clarity of the window glass was marred by the assertion of their own personalities, Moshe’s vision was like a window pane so clear that you could not tell at all that it was there.  How did he obtain this clarity?

Humility Unplugged

Parashas Beha’aloscha explains, “Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth!” (Bamidbar-Numbers 12:3) Humility in Jewish consciousness, anava, is not thinking poorly of oneself. To the contrary, anava is the bone-deep knowledge that all your strength, beauty, and worth comes from Above. It is the visceral knowledge that you are great because God made you great. Moshe  knew with greater clarity than anyone else in history that God alone was the source of all things, including him. There was nothing to defend, nothing to prove. There was zero sense of conflict between him and his own Source.

What would change in our lives if we lived with anava? If we cleaned away our biases and tried to take in what other people had to say as though through clear glass window panes, we wouldn’t judge as quickly, we wouldn’t take things as personally, and we might actually hear what they are really telling us. Our relationships would grow deeper and more fulfilling. Instead of looking out for me-me-me, the confidence of true anava would free us to take care of others, to connect with them, and to experience the joy of loving relationships.

Imagine that attitude applied to connecting with God through the Torah. If we were truly open to what He has to say, what would we hear? It’s tantalizing.

Prophecy was that kind of connectedness multiplied a thousand-fold. Torah promises that reclaiming such clarity of being is our ultimate spiritual trajectory as the Jewish People: “And it will happen after this, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your elders will dream [prophetic] dreams, and your young men will see visions…” (Yoel-Joel 3:1) Want to be a prophet? Start training now.

Thanks to Camdiluv for the beautiful image.