JLI Retreat 2023
Prophecy for Beginners with Rabbi Pinchas Taylor
Prophecy is a core belief in Judaism
Prophet: Someone who receives messages from God to transmit to the people. One of 13 pillars of Judaism.
Prophets make corrections in the direction in which Jewish society is moving.
A prophet cannot change any law. The Torah is the law. Only false prophets go against the Torah.
Prophets must be wise, lucid, impeccable character, in full control of one’s evil inclination, always calm and joyous, shun materiality, devoting entire life to serving God.
God decides who gets to spread his prophecy.
Prophecies must be specific and unpredictable.
Negative prophecies that don’t come to fruition do not invalidate the prophet. It’s possible the people heeded the prophet’s warning and altered their behavior positively to ward off the catastrophe.
Israel is a prophecy. Smallest of nations. Hated by others. We were exiled but became an eternal nation.
Prophecy ended 2300 years ago when the desire for idolatry decreased. This was when the Second Temple was destroyed.
Our big prophecy is Moshiach. Miracles do not make a prophet. Miracles do not bring Moshiach.
JC was not a prophet. He did not restore the temple, gather the exiles, or bring about world peace.
Moshiach must be descendant from King David. JC has no genealogy. JC existed after prophecy ended. JC broke several commandments, including violating Shabbos.
Nostradamus was not a prophet. His predictions were all vaguely worded. He shoots the arrow at the tree and then draws the bullseye around it after.
False prophecies include Y2K and the Mayan calendar End of Days prediction.
No, the Simpsons are not prophets. Confirmation bias. Cherry-picked data.