The Real McCoy Or A Ponzi Navi
How do you know if a Navi is for real or just needs to get back on his meds??The Rambam [Yesodei Hatorah 10/4] says that if he says a nevuah for the BAD and it doesn't happen as predicted, it is not proof that he is a fake. Maybe the Jews did teshuva and that changed things. However, if he said that something good - a נבואה לטובה - was going to transpire and it doesn't then he is a navi sheker.
דברי הפורענות שהנביא אומר כגון שיאמר פלוני ימות או שנה פלונית רעב או מלחמה וכיוצא בדברים אלו אם לא עמדו דבריו אין בזה הכחשה לנבואתו ואין אומרים הנה דבר ולא בא שהקדוש ברוך הוא ארך אפים ורב חסד ונחם על הרעה ואפשר שעשו תשובה ונסלח להם כאנשי נינוה או שתלה להם כחזקיה אבל אם הבטיח על טובה ואמר שיהיה כך וכך ולא באה הטובה שאמר בידוע שהוא נביא שקר שכל דבר טובה שיגזור האל אפילו על תנאי אינו חוזר ולא מצינו שחזר בדבר טובה אלא בחרבן ראשון כשהבטיח לצדיקים שלא ימותו עם הרשעים וחזר בדבריו וזה מפורש במסכת שבת הא למדת שבדברי הטובה בלבד יבחן הנביא הוא שירמיהו אמר בתשובתו לחנניה בן עזור כשהיה ירמיה מתנבא לרעה וחנניה לטובה אמר לו לחנניה אם לא יעמדו דברי אין בזה ראיה שאני נביא שקר אבל אם לא יעמדו דבריך יודע שאתה נביא שקר שנאמר אך שמע נא את הדבר הזה וגו' הנביא אשר ידבר שלום בבוא דבר הנביא יודע הנביא אשר שלחו ה' באמת
[The above principles do not apply to] prophecies of retribution which a prophet will utter - e.g., "So and so will die," "This or that year will be a year of famine or a year of war," and the like. If his words do not come true, this does not nullify the validity of his prophecy, nor do we say [in condemnation of him]: "Behold, he spoke and his words were not fulfilled."[This is because] the Holy One, Blessed be He, is slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and forgiving of evil. Thus, it is possible that they will repent and [their sin] will be forgiven, as in the case of the people of Nineveh, or that [retribution] will be held in abeyance, as in the case of Hezekiah.
[This does not apply regarding prophecies for the good.] If [a prophet] promised that good would come and such and such will occur, and the good about which he prophesied did not materialize, he is surely a false prophet. Any good which God decrees - even if [the decree] is provisional - will never be nullified. {We find [God] nullifying a positive prophecy only during the destruction of the first Temple. He had promised the righteous that they would not die together with the wicked; however, He nullified this prophecy, as explained in the tractate of Shabbat.}
We can conclude from this that a prophet should be tested on the basis of his positive prophecies. This was what Jeremiah meant by his reply to Chananiah ben Azur, when he was prophesying doom and Chananiah was promising a [glorious future]. He told Chananiah: "If my words are not fulfilled, this will not lead to the conclusion that I am a false prophet. If your promises are not fulfilled, however, it will be proven that you are a false prophet," as implied by [Jeremiah 28:7,9]: "Hear, now, this word... As for the prophet who prophesies for peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, it will be known that God has truly sent this prophet." [G-d bless Chabad.org - Just saw that they translated the Mishna Torah.]
Famous Double Bread
1] The Lechem Mishna asks in the name of the Mizrachi that we find that Yaakov Avinu was afraid that Hashem would not fulfill his promise to guard him lest his sin cause him to lose out. So we see that Hashem DOES change his mind even from a נבואה לטובה?
2] The gemara [Shabbos 55a] seemingly contradicts this rule:
R. Zera said to R. Simeon, Let the Master rebuke the members of the Resh Galuta's suite. They will not accept it from me, was his reply. Though they will not accept it, yet you should rebuke them. For R. Aha b. R. Hanina said: Never did a favourable word go forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, of which He retracted for evil, save the following, where it is written, And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark [tav] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof, etc. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Gabriel, Go and set a tav of ink upon the foreheads of the righteous, that the destroying angels may have no power over them; and a tav of blood upon the foreheads of the wicked, that the destroying angels may have power over them.
Said the Attribute of Justice before the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Sovereign of the Universe! Wherein are these different from those?’ ‘Those are completely righteous men, while these are completely wicked,’ replied He. ‘Sovereign of the Universe!’ it continued, ‘they had the power to protest but did not.’ ‘It was fully known to them that had they protested they would not have heeded them.’ ‘Sovereign of the Universe!’ said he, ‘If it was revealed to You, was it revealed to them?’ Hence it is written, [Slay utterly] the old man, the young and the maiden, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; [and now there is a change] and begin at my Sanctuary [mikdashi]. Then they began at the elders which were before the house [so in the end even the righteous were killed]. R. Joseph recited: Read not mikdashi but mekuddashay [my sanctified ones]: this refers to the people who fulfilled the Torah from alef to tav.
So we see that Hashem "changed His mind" about a נבואה לטובה, namely, saving the tzadikim.
Uh oh!
What makes things even weirder is that the Rambam mentions this gemara and writes that it is an exception ולא מצינו שחוזר בדבר טובה אלא בחורבן ראשון כשהבטיחו לצדיקים שלא ימותו עם הרשעים חוזר מדבריו וזה מפורש במסכת שבת
So if we have an instance where Hashem did change his mind about a נבואה לטובה so how are we testing a Navi based on a נבואה לטובה? Even if it doesn't come true we can say that it was an exception to the general rule and was cancelled?
What makes things yet weirder is that the Rambam quotes his source "וזה מפורש במסכת שבת" - When does the Rambam do THAT??
3] The gemara [Brachos 4a] says that Hashem promised in the Torah that in the time of Ezra we would come up to Eretz Yisrael with great miracles but we lost it because of our sins. WAIT! Hashem never changes his mind regardless, no?
The Lechem Mishna and others offer some difficult answers.
Resolutions - A Matter Of Time - Not A Nevuah But Heavenly Discussion
Rav Avraham Zimmerman - [Chiddushei Rayah page 17. He was a "gaon olam" and not a small baal mofes either - a goy once raised his hand to hit him and his hand became paralyzed on the spot, and there are many such stories - who lived in the 1800's and was the grandfather of the famous Gaon Rav Chaim Zimmerman] answers three questions as follows:
The first question can be answered by saying that Yaakov knew that Hashem was going to protect him but that protection was going to be postponed to a later date due to his sin.
The same with the third question. Hashem promised that we would come to Eretz Yisrael with miracles and that would spell the final geulah but because of our sins it was postponed until [I hope] TODAY. So, of course, the promise would be fulfilled just the time wan't ripe.
The second question can be answered by saying that the discussion between Hashem and His angels doesn't have the status of a prophecy. So even though Hashem's "initial inclination" was to save the tzadikim, he "changed his mind" and decided that they too deserve to be punished.
The great "HANC"er Rosh Yeshiva [yes, that HANC of Nassau County fame that plays HAFTR in hockey] Rav Shlomo Wahrman ztz"l [Shearis Yosef Vol. 7/54 - if you don't have his sfarim - get 'em!] says that Rav Kreiswurth ztz"l of Belgium showed him a Rambam where the entire line about the gemara in Shabbos was omitted.
This would mean that it was NOT an exception to the rule because it was a completely different case. A conversation with prophets is NOT nevuah. Also, it is not difficult why the Rambam uncharacteristically quotes a source - because he doesn't.....:-).
לזכות חנה ליבא בת נעכא גיטל ועדינה בת שבע בת נעכא גיטל לברכה והצלחה וכל טוב סלה!!!
