"Eight Chapters" (Chapter Seven, Part 2)

“Spiritual Excellence” with Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Our Current Text: Moshe Maimonides's (Rambam's) “Eight Chapters”

-- Rabbi Feldman's on going series for Torah.org

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"Eight Chapters"

Chapter Seven (Part 2)

First off, it's vitally important to know that belief in the fact of prophecy is fundamental to the Jewish Faith (see Rambam's comments to Mishna 10:1 in Sanhedrin, and Hilchot Teshuvah 3:8). After all, if we don't believe that humans are capable of communing with G-d and deciphering His intentions as the prophets did, then we obviously can't accept the veracity of the Torah which is rooted in prophecy and is the bedrock of Judaism (see "Guide to the Perplexed" 3:45).

And so we believe that the prophets were able to ascend upward and to then dwell in G-d's Presence (in ways we'll discuss later on), which would then enable them to descend back downward and impart G-d's intentions to us (see "Guide to the Perplexed" 1:15). While they could very well have done as much for their own spiritual edification or for the sake of other peoples' growth and betterment, which they did do often enough (see Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 7:7), nonetheless that wasn't their primary role. The prophets were to prophesy to the Jewish people of their times and of the ages.

It's also important to realize that prophets served as vital links in the transmission of the Oral Tradition, as they were scholars as well (see Rambam's Introduction to Mishne Torah). In fact, the belief in the prophets' scholarliness was one of the things that set our understanding of prophecy apart from others'. For while other faiths believed in the reality of prophecy, among other things they held that anyone essentially good could be granted it out of the blue (see "Guide to the Perplexed" 2:32 as well as Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 7:5). We contend though that a person needed to be far more than just essentially good.

Aside from being wise and learned, prophets needed to be even-tempered, healthy, idealistic, full of faith, and abstinent (see Rambam's Intro. to his commentary to the Mishna). They had to be of sound mind and imaginative, to have meditated on the secrets of the universe and of G-d, and they were to have been unaffected by thoughts of power, influence, honor, and esteem (see "Guide to the Perplexed" 2:36). So it's clear that they were exemplary people; but they weren't perfect, as we'll see.

Now, it's also important to know that there were degrees of prophecy, and that there was a prophetic process and protocol to follow.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Project Genesis

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"