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Rav Kook: Prophecy in Reach | Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider
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see everyone this
morning and thank you very much for
being here and for uh for learning
together this morning as we delve into
the uh the very deep and very beautiful
teachings of Riv cook and let me just
begin with the the sponsor of today's
year who is a sponsor for the Academic
Year 2025 Le nishas Miriam
shal so we're going to look at a really
a fasc ating Topic in uh in the world of
R cook and the teachings of R cook and
that is uh the topic of niua of Prophecy
prophecy so I think for many of us when
we think about prophecy we think about
the prophets of old we think about yahu
and yeshayahu we may think about mosenu
as well as the great prophet but ruk is
going to uh gonna open the door to the
idea that prophecy is not only something
of the past but it's something that's
very much
in the present as well and the potential
that we all have for prophecy it's not
something that we grew up with we think
about prophecy again as the open of
Tanakh and we can learn about prophecy
but to speak about prophecy in uh in
real
terms and uh as something that is
attainable that's achievable it's really
a fascinating idea so that's what we're
going to discover this morning I want to
begin with a following teaching which is
uh really comes from one of the Great
one of the great rabbis of the last 150
years who was a rebi to Riv cook and
that's why I find this to be even more
meaningful or significant to begin with
this teaching now this is a story that
we're all familiar with an A P that
we're familiar with and it speaks about
MOS who making his way into the
Wilderness and he's going to have the
great revelation of the that he's going
to see the uh the uh the bush that is on
fire and hear the word of God
so the PK says the following this is
inim this is Page One the top of page
one and he was with his flock he was
shepherding the flock of
yro his
father-in-law and he brought the the
flock he brought the
Sheep he brought it to the
midbar and he came to a mountain the
Mountain of God
okay now the term or the phrase that's a
little bit of a uh that's a little bit
out of the ordinaries what does it
mean even to translate that term what
does it
mean the P should just say that he
brought its own to the midbar what's AAR
so what is yeah Beyond yeah you say
beyond beyond okay yeah that's yeah
maybe that's a translation AAR
Beyond yeah after that's right after it
could be after as well so again yeah how
do you translate this so Rashi says the
following I don't you may remember this
Rashi so what was he doing going to this
midbar which sounds like somewhere
beyond or somewhere after somewhere
distant in the midbar Rashi
says so why did he go to some distant
place in the midbar that's what rash is
addressing this issue
what's soar means he went to find a
place where he was
sure where he was certain that he was
not going to take his flock that
belonged to anyone that he would not be
stealing from
anyone that is the interpretation of
Rashi so now we look at
the Berlin the NV and he has a
fascinating interpretation which is
going to lead us into the uh into our
discussion today so what's a look at the
writings of the am what's interesting is
the nav gave shur who was one of the uh
one of the famous features of of his
life and his Yesa that he
gave and that became this classic work
and it could be I would I could Envision
ruk who was sitting there and studying
with his rebi with anv and he was
hearing this idea from the so what does
he
write he says all it needs to say in the
p is midb why does it
say what does it
he wanted to go to a very distant place
in the midbar now why is that we heard
rashi's
explanation he went to that place and
here's the
key what was he doing in that place
meditating he wanted to find a place of
solitude where he could meditate where
he could meditate on godliness and on
God
which means and again this is I think a
very different way of thinking about the
story or the way that I grew up learning
the story is that mosha is just walking
in the wilderness and he comes upon the
burning bush that he happens to see a
burning bush but according to the N
that's not what happened that mosenu was
meditating on God and maybe this wasn't
the first day that he did it maybe this
was the hundredth time that he did this
that every day that he was thinking
about
that he had a Consciousness that he was
thinking in a very deep way about God
meditating he had to find just the right
place to do that where he would not be
disturbed he allowed maybe the Sheep to
kind of go off and knew they were in a
secure place and now mosh raenu
according to the ham and that's what the
is highlighting is that was the way that
he received the
prophecy it doesn't come automatically
it doesn't come easily it's something
that we need to be in a mindset and a
and a Consciousness in order and a
closeness and a Deus with Hashem in
order to receive it so again that's I
think it's a very different way of
thinking about the story and thinking
about what Mosher Renu was doing that
day so here I want to share with you the
following which is really and and this
is also like a foundation to our
discussion this morning and that is the
idea of niua and who is it that has the
the the um the blessing of receiving
niua now we got I think for many of us
we think about naua as prophecy is only
for very particular individuals and yet
the rambam speaks about prophecy as
something that is accessible to all of
us to any
person first of all where does the
rambam places he places it in the Mish
Torah in Hil T and here in the section
he's he's sharing in in different areas
of Jewish law and then he comes in per Z
in T he comes on this discussion or
opens the laws related to Nan look at
what he writes so he writes the
following this is perion the
first so the r is I want you to know the
very Foundation of Jewish faith is Le is
to
know that God communicates with man with
prophecy now that already is quite a
awesome idea in other words there isn't
Only a God in heaven there is a God in
heaven there's a God everywhere but a
God that can actually speak to us as
well that we can have a communication
that we can receive direct communication
from Hashem that we can hear a message
from Hashem that really is an astounding
idea and not only is that something
again for the for something that we read
about in days of old I'll take your
question in a moment but the rambam says
the following it's something that is
possible the potential is there for any
person now this is what's required so
just um take a deep breath for a moment
it's it does require a lot of a person
but look at what he
says you need to be a person of great
wisdom by the way this true we know this
for a man or a woman we have the great
women of of n as
well you have to be exceptional in
your and you have to overcome
your right and all those things the
world
right you're able to overcome your on a
regular on a constant
basis and you possess the translation a
broad and correct mental Outlook and he
goes on to
say if you're filled with
these your person a whole in body as
well physically you have to be sound you
have to be physically strong I guess
this is we know R cook speaks about the
importance of having a healthy body as
well the raah says you need it
for says you enter the parades the
parades means going
the you're going into the deepest ideas
of of
Judaism that in that very deep thought
that you're able to comprehend those
ideas and that person is
Sanctified you separate yourself from
from what everyone else is
doing you separate yourself from those
that are caught up in the darkness of
the of regular
life that you're not caught up in any
way with thing with what yeah extraneous
things you're not you're not on Facebook
you're not watching the news you're
you're person that's just your
T and you're not involved in any way in
the vanities and intrigues of the times
this says the rambam he doesn't say
anything about about you know being a
navi requires something that's superum
this is something that's accessible
what's interesting the rambam also does
not say and this is something that ruuk
is going to touch on it doesn't require
being in any particular place where RI
cook feels that you really need to be in
the land of Israel in order to receive
NAA and we're going to see that in in a
couple of moments I'll just share the
following incident or the following
story about ruk when he first came to
the vajan
Yeshiva so there were uh there were many
students at that time they were studying
seriously but along with their studies
they were kind of getting caught up a
bit in the HCA in some of the the
secular literature that was coming out
and many of them along with their
gamarra like underneath their gamarra
Ser of in their stender they would have
other literature that they were looking
at so uh a couple of students went to
the N of Alan to the rashash Shiva and
they said that we noticed that Ru cook
that he also has in his gamar and in his
shender we see that he also has these
papers these folded papers and and it
could be that he's also you know reading
material that he should not be reading
so the uh the NV said you can you can
trust the you know cook he he's he's
saintly famously he said he's a yasher
you don't have to worry about Riv cook
so this student actually the his name is
his name is zelik bis who actually
became a chief Rabbi of yal later in
life he was a great to so at that time
he was friendly with rev cook but he was
concerned about rev cook and one night
late at night he went into his gamarra
and went into his shender and to see
exactly what those papers were so he
opened the the papers and on all the
papers each of the papers was y was the
name of Hashem and that Rook was looking
at the name of God that he was
meditating on the name of God and
actually this is one of the one of the
methods in cabala that we we look at the
name of God and theu oot of the name of
God of moving around the letters of the
name of God and one the ways of of
meditating on God so that's what Ru cook
was doing when he Wasing at those papers
late at night okay and by the way we'll
get to that question in a moment or in
towards the end and the question is did
Riv cook do we believe that RI cook
became a prophet was he a navi so we'll
get to that we'll we'll hold on to
that all right we go now to page two and
we're going to we're going to see a very
very important teaching of ruk in just a
moment but just one more introduction to
uh to naua into prophecy into the loss
of Prophecy that we've uh that we've
gone a long time without prophecy it's
one of the things that the book of
speaks about in per in it says the
following so the PK says to translate
the P her gates are sunk into the ground
he has destroyed and broken her bars her
King and her princes are among the
Nations and says the the in Torah that
we've lost the
Torah we have lost the
prophets May Hashem and they find no
vision from Hashem from God so when we
think about what it means to lose the
BET mikdash what happened with our
destruction and Exile one we lost the
bet mikdash we were exiled but according
to the book of a there's something else
that was lost in the Exile and that was
neua prophecy was lost and that it says
in the PK and in the kenos as well it
speaks about that uh that loss of
Prophecy this is from the second Kina
that is recited in the morning and it
says the following just that the you can
look at just the uh the
underline Nai so this is uh the uh the
Kina from hak where he writes that one
of the things that were that we've lost
and one of the things that we're that we
feel bereft of is n
V and you murmur meaning Hashem the way
that it's described by the uh in this
Kina that Hashem is murmuring Hashem is
speaking and
saying PO is there none here Hashem is
searching for a na'vi Hashem from
hashem's side Hashem wants to
communicate with a na'vi and then
there's no na'vi that's present and this
is
what Z what he writes in his comment on
this
he says God asks is there nobody with
whom I can communicate God communicates
with the na'vi the prophet and so as
long as there is no prophecy as long as
there is prophecy God is Not lonely but
where there is no prophecy there's a
loneliness that God experiences so to
speak that God is not able to
communicate so that's part of what it
means the loss of the BET mikdash okay
so prophecy has been lost that's what it
says in the in
migas that's what the Kina says as well
the question is is it accessible again
according to ruk it is and especially as
we are returning to the land of Israel
we've lost it we've lost the art of
Prophecy maybe also and we'll see in a
moment the surroundings of the Exile the
spiritual surroundings has not allowed
us to attain those Heights of
spirituality and closeness with God but
now that we are returning to the land of
Israel
the possibility for prophecy is there
again interesting by the way the rambam
does not say that the rambam does not
say that you need arrell and we just
read it a moment ago it's open to
everyone it's open at all times Ru cook
says the following now we see a teaching
from ruk ruk in the uh in the mishos
that talk about the bringing of the
B it says the following and here this is
the the third Source on page two it says
those that were close those that Liv
nearby that lived in arel near you would
bring your first fruits to the BET
mikdash what would they bring according
to the the mishna describes that they
bring figs and they bring their grapes
however those that were distant those
that were coming from a far place and
outside
grow grow grow are dry figs and simuk
are what raisins that's right they would
bring raisins so why is it that those
that were close would bring the figs and
grapes those that were far so it sounds
like that's just practically well if
you're going to travel for a number of
days or a number of weeks to get to the
land of Israel so so it's and it's
that's right and it's hot as well good
point so that's um so it's you you you
need the dried you need the dried fruit
in order to bring it to uh to bring it
to the bet mikdash so this is what ruk
writes the interpretation that He
suggests he
says just as the figs and the grapes
that they're fresh and they're
moist it's not difficult for them to
bring it they're close by
and they
tastier in compared to gr the dried figs
and
raisins that being that they're
preserved they don't have the fullness
the richness of
taste that represents coming from a
distant place to the to the Mount of God
and here's the key look at the top of
the we'll read two lines at the top of
the next parag paragraph
there are two kinds of spiritual lives
for the Jewish
people and there is a distinction
between these two paths and what is
that so according to Rook what do the
grapes and figs
represent the lushness and the moistness
and the freshness of those fruits that
represents the naua n prophecy that's
found in ER Isel the distant what that
represents is that which is outside the
land of Israel and that is represented
by the dried figs and the raisins that's
the Torah right in a sense they're
they're they're not as moist right they
don't have the freshness outside the
land of Israel that you don't have
access in the same way to nbua and maybe
not access at all depending on who you
ask in the way that one accesses niua
here in the land of Israel and here the
gamar says the following look at the
following gamar the gamar says referring
toel when he was outside the land of
Israel this is
from it's the
says it says that the word of hasem came
toel the son of buzi the Coen in the
land of the shaldan of kazim he was
outside the land of Israel
and he received prophecy so the gamar
says how is that
possible what does it mean again the P
says that he was so says the
gar and look at the the explanation it
means that the word had already been to
yzel previously when he was in a Israel
and continued to visit him with Prophecy
in the land of Kim however the divine
presence does not initially come to rest
upon a person outside of er Israel so
the gamar says how was jesel able to
receive prophecy outside of the land of
Israel because he was once in because he
prophesied in the land of Israel and
once he received the prophecy there he
was able to take that level of
spirituality with him outside the land
of Israel but generally the gamar
suggests that you cannot receive
prophecy outside the land of Israel
that's the that's what the gamar mo
Katan what the gamar mo Katan says
yes please
yeah ah that once he would be outside
the land of Israel that he would no
longer he yeah interesting I I don't
remember I'm not familiar with that
explanation but but yeah beautiful
beautiful yes
please yes
all yes
yes
yes that's correct yeah that's correct
yeah many many speak about that that
prior to giving erel to the Jewish
people once you had that kadus
kadat with kadus Kess Isel then it
attains that that particular level but
yeah is a yeah you make a very very good
point
um absolutely that's that's that's our
that's our take-home lesson today that's
what R cook no no that's what R cook is
teaching us and we we'll see we'll we'll
see we'll see more about that in a
moment but that's that's exactly what R
cook says R cook says well first of all
the ramam says it the rambam says that
prophecy is accessible to everyone
that's the rambam's position and Ru cook
adds it's everyone but you really need
to be in a in order to receive that
prophecy look at what Ru cook writes
let's go to the top of Page
Three and this is from the very
beginning of aot one of the first
teachings in his classic work orot the
four teachings the four teaching and he
writes the
following it is impossible for a Jew and
I have the translation below
it's impossible for a Jew to be faithful
to his thoughts and Visions outside the
land of Israel you do not have Clarity
of thought you do not have Clarity of
vision outside the land of Israel in the
same
way in the same way that one is faithful
to one's thoughts to one's Visions in
the land of Israel we have a clearer
sense of understanding of vision of
perception of wisdom in the land of
Israel that does not exist outside the
land of Israel and the height of that
right the the the the reaching the very
top notch of understanding and
perception is nvua is prophecy now here
I want to share with you the following
the following teaching and this if I
didn't see the name Rabbi salvic with
this teaching I would think this is a
Riv cuk teaching but this comes from
Rabbi salvic and look at what Rabbi
salvic
writes and this is from the the work the
Lord is righteous in all his ways page
308 through
310 this is the writing of Rabbi salvic
prophecy is a natural phenomenon or
condition in a
Israel prophecies descend in a Israel
the way reign
and do descend in a Israel when you
breathe you breathe not only oxygen and
air but also something spiritually
important something with spiritual
potency and vigor the air in AR Israel
the plain physical air the atmosphere is
different the condition or quality of
atmosphere or of the air in erel is
saturated with Prophecy with Rua kodesh
with divine inspiration the rain is
different the de is different the soil
is different the stones are different
physically different the light in AR
Isel is different it is
brighter in AR Isel there is not only
the light that flows from the Sun from
natural sources but a Divine Light
intermingled with the natural light by
the way does this sound like Rabbi
salvic or R
cook well it's R Sal it it could be ruk
as well but it's RAB Sal the air is
clear and thinner it is charged with
rues nature is by far more magnificent
more beautiful and Zion than outside of
Zion when the Torah says a land that
flows with milk and honey it means that
there is something unique in the nature
of the land in the soil the doe the
climate the wind the air says RAB salvic
just open your window and take a
look rud refers to Isel Asim
Al means that it pours out as rain pours
in a Dell even if you don't want to
receive it or even if there's no one to
receive it prophecy is like a downpour
of rain says there's a lot of Prophecy
that's in the air right now we need to
be like the rambam says we need to be
people of
tremendous we need not to be caught up
at all in the heav hman we have to be
focused on Hashem and we our mote have
to be spectacular magnificent and with
that we can begin to pick up messages
communication from Hashem now I want to
to share what and just to one and I'll
take your your comments in a moment one
of the the PK that he quotes which is
really interesting what's the PK that he
quotes
R so it's a PK that we're all familiar
with it's a p that appears many times in
the Torah how many times I looked it up
before the class how many times any
guess how many times
do appear in the Torah what' you
say
30 50 no not that many no it can't be
that many 15 times that's a lot 15 times
in the Torah 15 times 15 times the Torah
keeps coming back to and by the way the
very first time that Moshe talking about
the SN and God says I want you to bring
the Jewish people to the land of Israel
God says I want you to bring them to
Arash now let me ask you something why
is that so important to keep
repeating it's a land flowing with milk
and honey bring the Jewish people to
land flowing with milk and honey the
Jewish people should come to a land
flowing with milk and honey now it's
very very nice to say that it has milk
and honey that it's there's good food
here there are good restaurants here and
you should come to Israel because a lot
of you know lot there's a lot of good
you know good items to eat here
delicious food but they keep coming back
again and again to erid
there's milk and honey there's milk and
honey there's good cheese there's good
dairy products and there's good honey in
the land of Israel why does Hashem keep
coming back to that again and again so I
think the answer to that is what RAB
salich hins to in this piece and that is
what does it say it does not say in the
PK it's a land of milk and honey it says
it's a land that flows with milk and
honey now that word flow is a very
important word what is the word n what's
the what's the root of the word
niua are you familiar with the word
NOA or there's one of the waters in
Israel is called
niveot have you seen that you ever buy
that the niveot water what does NOA what
does niot
mean it means flow like the word zat it
flows it's a land that flows there's
flow in the land of Israel there's flow
in the land of isra
there's a flow of
sweetness of and of
richness there's a rich flow in the land
of Israel there's a sweet flow in the
land of Israel there was a best-selling
book a few years ago millions of copies
were sold on the New York Times
bestselling list you can look it up I
looked it up the other day and looked at
a little summary of the book the title
of the book is flow flow now what is
flow about so the book is all about when
you do certain things where you have an
expanded Consciousness let's say you're
working on something and time just
begins to flow I mean a simple example
of that is when you're with a good
friend and you're having lunch and
you're talking and you kind of lose
track of time you're just in a flow
right there's nothing else that is
distracting you you're just with that
person and all of a sudden you see that
it's you know two hours later I was
working on an article yesterday and
something that I was was like working
hard at concentrating and and I was I
was sort of like in that flow like I was
not distracted by anything and then I
looked at my watch and I saw that it was
two hours later that I was working on
that so this book is all about flow and
he actually writes about how to create
more flow in your life you should have
more moments of flow that's the if
you're interested you can go you can I
don't you know what the author is almost
he's a um I think he it it's it's almost
an impossible name to pronounce you can
look at a put and flow bestselling book
you'll see it and it's sold millions of
copies now Flo is what happens in the
land of
Israel Z it's a place of flow and what
does that mean and the highest again the
the highest measure of that flow is when
we receive that flow from Heaven that
there's a n means the word NIU means a
flow NOA something that's flowing from
heaven that we're picking up that flow
that flow is not something that's easily
picked up or maybe According to some is
impossible outside the land of Israel as
Rook says only in the land of Israel are
you your ideas and your thoughts and
your insights and your vision right
that's that's precise in the land of
Israel that you cannot attain that
outside the land of Israel that's what
it means to be in the Holy atmosphere
and to be in the place where God resides
where the resides in the land of Israel
so this is and the highest level that
one can attain is not only R Kesh but
the highest level which is neua okay now
where can we find this within
our yes famously
rabi yeah yeah correct correct reud Lei
also argues and this is one of the yeah
this is one of the important yes also
that word of Flo that's correct um rabud
Le is also also argues that only the
land only in the land of Israel is it uh
Is it feasible is it accessible the
highest level of Prophecy so where can
we where can we experience this in our
lives is it possible to experience this
in our lives ruuk believes that we can
um and he said one of the examples that
he offers is
in and during and especially during the
night so just to share one line from
Mook this is from anay it's a piece that
speaks about the three that are
established by ab and yov and he talks
about what aam brought to the table in
terms of the the of the morning and the
afternoon and then ruk speaks about the
evening the night and here let me just
read one line This is the bottom of page
three Source number four this is the
commentary the famous and beautiful
commentary the of
R there's something another great
benefit when it comes to what are we
trying what are we trying to accomplish
in it's a very very high level that one
can attain
in people of of of elevated
Holiness elem that come
and come close to
God that in prayer that one can attain a
level of n or he
says or something close to
N so whenever I read Riv cook I'm I
always wonder people have asked me also
is he just describing something or he is
he describing himself is he describing
his own experience and I always feel
when I'm reading R cook that he is
describing his own he's not just talking
about it hypothetically he's not just
talking about what is Fe he's talking
about what he himself and if he's
talking about niua and experienc niua so
I wonder if Riv cook experiences
prophecy now here let's turn to our the
last page to page
four and again the big question is does
Riv cook attain prophecy so he had a
great student revid Cohen who was the
Nazir and by the by the way the Nazir
wrote that one of the reasons why he
became a Nazir when he came to Israel
when he came toim that he that he
followed the practices of a Nazir of
growing his hair long of not drinking
wine of not being the tamate not being
inure we in the presence of of a dead
body or a cemetery so why did he do that
he WR he writes that one of the reasons
why he did this is because he was trying
to reach a level of
nbua he himself was trying to reach to
attain this level of nibua of of
receiving communication from God in the
very introduction to one of the most
important Works called OTA kodesh and
this is was edited by Ravid Cohen um the
Nazir he writes in the introduction the
following I just have the I have the
have it translated for you at the top of
the page and this is the beginning of
aota kodesh now r whenever he would
write for the most part there were times
he wrote sat down and wrote sarim he
wrote books he wrote chuot but a lot of
his writings and orot Kesh and orot and
orot Chua were things that he just wrote
when he when he had an epiphany when he
had that thought he would wake up in the
middle of the night and a thought would
come to him and he would write it down
in the middle of the day he would write
it down waking up early in the morning
the thought came to him he would write
it down and from all these writings and
these notebooks and we have the shonat
him eight notebooks that he was writing
all the time all of these the
meditations that he would have the
thoughts that he would have so this is
what the Nazir writes in the
introduction he would jot down his
thoughts as they came to mind this is an
azir speaking of R cook rather than
present them in systematic form writing
disconnectedly he was just writing again
without connecting ideas just things
that came to mind inspired by his daily
Visions now the question is what does
that mean and some interpret that that
he's referring to the Nazir believes
that he had visions that he had naua
that he had
prophecy when I read R hook I I I I
always wonder am I am I hearing a
prophet what he's what he's describing
is there is there prophecy there what's
interesting so the early 1900s he's here
in Israel and he's describing what he
sees he sees the Jewish people coming
back to the land of Israel
now that's not happening yet there's
just you know 60 70,000 Jews and he sees
this is a time where we're getting
closer to a Messianic time writes R cook
and the Jewish people are coming back
they're coming back I see that now is he
just writing that as a very wise
insightful Rabbi or is it possible that
there is Neva that there's prophecy that
he's receiving a message from God that
this is what is unfolding what's about
to unfold I was at a wedding last night
and my wife's cousin so she's involved
in in real estate it's a good business
to be in here in Israel now real estate
so it's a new development or new houses
that are going up in bees in Rabbi
rosner's community so they're putting up
eight 80 new homes so she's involved in
that
project she has sold all 80 homes to
families in tenek and Bergenfield if you
know that if you know that Community
they're gone already all 80
cook wrote this in 1900 that that he
said in tenek they're going to be bu no
he never wrote in tenek but he he said
this is what's going to happen that the
Jews are going to start coming back to
the land of Israel and in droves they're
going to come back to the land of Israel
so I wonder and by the way the
question's been asked many times was he
a na'vi and the answer is that only Rook
knows if he was a na'vi or not he never
writes that he's a na'vi he never ever
says that he's a na only ruk knows it
now he writes the following two other
quotes from ruk and we're coming to a
close he writes the following these are
this is translation both from I just
mentioned a moment ago Theon these are
the notebooks of R cook eight notebooks
things that he wrote down that he jotted
down so look at the first in this Source
number two in truth the lack of Ru Kesh
in Israel is not only a lack of
perfection but a blemish and a
sickness and in the land of Israel it is
a painful sickness that must be healed
for I am Hashem your healer other words
this isn't something that's just an
aspiration that we don't have this
there's something very wrong there's
something very off-kilter in the Jewish
people and in Jews that were not
experiencing Rua Kesh and it's something
that needs to be fixed and something
that he believes will be healed when we
come back to the land of Israel and then
one other just one other quote the
spring of
prophecy we are to I'm sorry to the
spring of Prophecy we are
summoned to the spring in other words
it's spring time for
prophecy right the the possibility is
there parch with thirst we are right
it's been a long time this's been a long
2,000 years without without prophecy but
the Springs but the spring of gardens
the source of Living Water is before us
it's here we come back to the land of
Israel and we can now open the door as
re salic said a moment ago just open
your window and you'll experience you'll
be able to to sense the prophecy that's
accessible here two other points that I
want to make short points
yes
things he SE fault he sees faults but
yeah well what's interesting that he's
calling this not only we think of
Prophecy as a very very you know just
the the highest level of spirituality R
cook says you're missing something
that's so basic that there's that
there's something as I said something
off-kilter something not right when we
don't have rues we don't have prophecy
within our people so let me ask you two
um two ways in which we can get a sense
of what prophecy is has anybody here by
the way anybody by show of hands anybody
received prophecy recently
or so the gamar says the following the
gamar nun I don't have that I'll show
you the Second Source says that when you
dream that's 160th of
Prophecy every dream that you have is
one say now what does that mean okay
different ways of interpreting that but
by the way one way of interpreting that
is that's just a sense of what prophecy
could be like there words when you're
seeing something experiencing something
that is beyond you and something that is
so real for that moment right that when
you to experience that is a is a taste
says the gamar is a taste of what
prophecy is like interesting just to
think about prophecy again it's such a
like an esoteric idea but we have a
little bit of a taste of that when we
dream at night when we wake up and we
think about that dream and that we were
so you know we we were so much part of
that dream and it was so real to us so
that's one idea the second one I'll just
read the one line and you have uh no you
don't have it here this is from the
gamar also the same
D it says Aman
you want to know another way that you
can experienced prophecy and you may
have experienced this prophecy the gamar
says if you wake up in the morning and
there's a PK on your lips and there's a
PK that you say or PK that's in your
mind God is giving you a little bit of
Prophecy has anybody ever woken up to a
to a verse in the Torah
okay so what yeah okay good yeah mod
very
nice
um okay I want to end with the uh I want
to end with the
following so the uh there's a famous
there's a famous uh there's a famous
gamar famous medish and it says the
following it says that the and I'm sure
you're familiar with this it says that
at the at the splitting of the sea at
yamu it says that even the
sh the sh what the shka what the what a
woman who didn't really know very much
right a maid servant that she saw a
prophecy that even yzel Ben buzi even
the great yzel did not receive that kind
of Prophecy just an average person a
person without a lot of a lot of
background with a lot without that great
wisdom without the Great Mido
necessarily that that person received
the highest the higher level of Prophecy
Ru cook writes when it comes to prophecy
and he says as we're moving closer and
closer to a Messianic time he says
sometimes prophecy is not going to come
from the great rabbis it's going to come
from just average people from from the
typical person who's going to somehow
access or receive a kind of Prophecy
from Hashem so I wanted to just share
the following just to end the class we
spoke last week about aam Burger so she
was one of the young hostages that was
released about a week and a half ago and
she had her first message I don't know
if you saw that her first it wasn't an
interview but she put out a video just
to give a message to am Isel and we know
from again she's not necessarily I I
don't know exactly her religious
background in her commitment but we do
know that while she was a hostage that
she asked for a sedor and somehow one of
the terrorist brought her a sitter and
she davened and she tried to keep chabas
she fasted on yum Kipper and we spoke
about last time and she came home she
said B that I went on the way with amuna
and I come back with with amuna with
faith in Hashem but this is what she
this is what she broadcasted just a
couple of days ago to the Jewish n
nation and I have the uh just in
translation from
arucha and just to just to highlight two
things that she said one is she he says
the following and I quote when we were
there they Hamas saw our
division and it made them happy they
said that when we are together it is our
strength she said that I took note when
I was there of the terrorists of Hamas
that they were aware when there was
infighting within the Jewish people and
they knew when we're together the
strength of am Israel that's what she
said so I ask you despite all the
differences is let's maintain unity and
maintain our strength as a people so
that's a
message I say that's a prophetic message
coming from a young woman saying this is
what we need to do and then one other
message that she shared she said I ask
you to do one good thing that you take
upon yourself whether it's a good deed
for the envirment or and she said or a
Mitzvah she said a small Mitzvah
everyone should take on one more Mitzvah
and it says it really brings everyone's
return home closer than than it has been
until now every good deed of yours and
what you have done brings our return
home closer and here we are we want
everyone here soon so that's her message
so when I think about prophecy and R
cook says sometimes prophecy may not
come from the great prophets it may come
as we're coming closer to Gula may come
just from the Shi
just a woman who saw something who had
an epiphany who received a message a
Divine message and this is the message
that she's uh that she's sharing with am
Israel so one thing we know for certain
that
ruuk believe that Jews can Le and we are
to strive for a a closeness with Hashem
right this was rook in his own Lifetime
and what he saw the Jewish people what's
so unique about the Jewish people and
especially now coming back to the land
of isra
and who knows says R cook that maybe we
can reach even the highest levels that
it's accessible to us as well to try to
obtain to try to attain the highest
level of spirituality and closest with
hasem which is n all right yes if
anybody has any uh any there was a hand
or two up earlier please yes
Rosanne whether it's AOW or non I if I
as a Jew nice to a non he's to say you
know look at these je people they so
good and I'm very careful if I go to
certain neighborhoods to dress not to be
in's much aware everything on a daily
basis and how important it is to be good
very good beautiful La of cook says that
our Insight that our thoughts that our
Visions are are more accurate more
precise than land of Israel where you're
describing yes
please uhhuh a lot of distraction
yes very good
it's very it's
beautiful beautiful beautiful that's
where we started we started with mosenu
that he wanted to find a place where you
could just think where you could just
meditate and that's where he received
the prophecy so that's absolutely that's
part of it as well did you want to
say
right the basic definition of prophecy
is is to be able the the possibility and
the reality of
receiving communication from God to
receive a communication from Hashem
which is really like an astounding idea
to hear the voice of God to receive a
communication from
God
yeah so bril right that that could be
that's more that's in the
rues category where that's an inspir
that's a a god inspired a divinely
inspired that's that's R
KES it's a or it could just be a thought
right just a very wise thought not
necessar
raes yes did
you yeah
not right very good very nice right
right right very good so that's like
what RAB salich said there's all of this
like out there in the air there's all
the Rua KES and prophecy now it
requires Great people very spiritual
people and um and people as you said
that are not there's so much distraction
today that's one of the things that
Nazir would just go out to the mountains
he would just walk outside into the
fields
and yeah yeah well that's that's exactly
right MH that's what he was doing yes
please yeah K so the Nazir wrote a fat
book about 500 pages about niua and how
to receive niua I haven't read it but if
anybody's interested in becoming a
prophet so that's the no that's and he
spent his lifetime was very much
dedicated to this idea of how to bring
back n and practically how to how to how
to achieve
it yes and he write he writes in his
journals that he believes that he has
attain levels of Prophecy that he's
received prophecy he he does write that
R cook doesn't write it but the Nazir
says that he he he's he's received what
he believes is is bits of nibua
yes
okay okay that that's needed also we
need to whatever it is that Hashem needs
to
communicate to be able to receive that
yes
yeah
right right
yes yes
correct correct they were Amal messages
right they were for for the rest of
History so you're right there are
different kinds of
Prophecy
yes I think I think both I think no your
point is well taken I think both are
true we could use a prophet or two today
to help us to help guide us with what we
need to do in the
coming yeah oh we have Trump okay
all right well let let's stop here we'll
take questions but I wish everyone a
wonderful day we should all be Z to very
high levels of spirituality