Chasidut su Geremia 1:22
Mevo HaShearim
Not only the messiah’s, but rather every prophet’s speech was an active stream of divine fire [penetrating] the hearts of Israel. Those who repented, repented, while those who were steadfast in their wickedness were destroyed, may the Merciful One save us. God said to Jeremiah (1:10) “See, I appoint you this day over nations and kingdoms: to uproot and to pull down...to build and to plant.”
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Chovat HaTalmidim
Accustom yourself to your holy thoughts and higher outlook, as described above. Now please contrast the lofty state of earlier times as opposed to our lowly state now. For according to what is apparent from the Prophets and the Writings, prophecy was not something unusual, a novelty or a wonder. When God wanted to inform Manoach and his wife of the [future] birth of their son, Samson, he did not inform them by way of a dream or a heavenly voice (bat kol). For what is the point of all these things, when He can send an angel to them? And if once was not enough, He sent it a second time - even though Manoach and his wife were not greats among the Jewish people, as the Sages, may their memory be blessed, have said. But were they not still Israelites - they were still among the holy people. And so they were able to see and speak to the angel, like one man to another - this one asks and that one answers. King Saul also prophesied among the band of prophets, even though he was not a prophet and it was before he became king. And not only him; but when he sent his messengers to chase King David and they came to Samuel the prophet and his students, the sons of the prophets, the spirit came upon them and they also prophesied. And it appears that it was not only to save David that God had the spirit of prophecy rest upon them. For He would not have changed bloodthirsty pursuers into prophets in order to save him. He would have rather done a different miracle, as He did other times when He saved him. But why is there a need for miracles and changing nature here? The Holy One, blessed be He, does not do miracles for no reason, if there is something as simple as making them into prophets [available] here. Were they not Israelites? When they distance themselves from their Source, they become more physical; but when they are alongside prophets, they too experience prophecy sprouting forth from them. And even when Saul chased after [David]; when he came to [the prophets], he prophesied the whole night. Moreover, the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Megillah 14a:11) that the prophets were twice as many as the [Israelite men] that came out of Egypt, meaning that there were 1,200,000 prophets in Israel. But they were not recorded in the verses, since only prophecy that was needed for [future] generations was written down; whereas prophecy that was not needed for [future] generations was not written down. And it is stated in Midrash Shir haShirim that this number was only during the generation of Elijah the prophet, and it did not include the prophets from other generations. The advantage of the prophet over other Israelites was that he was always a prophet, such that the level of his prophecy was much greater than theirs. To illustrate: Today there are tzaddikim that are always tzaddikim and serve God greatly - each one according to his level. Yet there is no getting away from the fact that there is righteousness (tzedekah) and divine service in every Jew, at least sometimes. And if their righteousness is not like the righteousness of the tzaddik, it is service and righteousness nevertheless. So too was it with prophecy in earlier times: The forty-eight prophets, who were recorded, rose to becoming great prophets - each one according to his level. They were permanent prophets, as it is stated in the verse (Jeremiah 1:5), "I have given you as a prophet unto the nations." But to receive prophecy once, at a time of need - as in the case of Manoach and his wife; or when they were among the prophets - every Israelite was able to merit that. For were the Israelites not close to God in earlier days? So the apertures of the Heavens were open, and the Father spoke with the children for any need.
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Kedushat Levi
An alternate approach to the line: במה אדע כי אירשנה. There is no question that Avram did not request a sign from G’d as proof that his as yet unborn descendants would inherit the land of Canaan.
The idea that his claim to the land of Canaan could be remotely due to his having Terach as a father never even occurred to him. If we needed proof of that, we need only recall the Talmud B’rachot 16, according to which the Jewish people have only three patriarchs and 4 matriarchs. The title “patriarch” implies that one is the “root” of the son whom one has sired by means of transmitting seed from the brain, the seat of one’s intelligence, which transmits it to the semen. It follows that the thoughts that preoccupy the father at the time when he engages in marital relations are transmitted through his semen to the ovum upon merging with it. If the father-to-be thinks holy thoughts at the appropriate time, some of these will be transferred to his seed, etc. There can be little doubt that Avraham was not the product of a father who entertained such godly thoughts when he helped conceive him. How could he therefore be considered a patriarch of the Jewish people? Terach was wholly consumed by thoughts and desires centered around the physical part of his existence on earth. If his offspring was of a diametrically opposite orientation this could not have been attributed to his biological father at all. It must have been due to G’d’s desire that with the development of the fetus resulting in Avram, G’d intended to lay the foundation of a Jewish nation. We can think of it in terms of G’d providing some additional spiritual light to His universe at the time of Avram’s birth. He was destined to become a new type of “tree of life,” albeit outside the boundaries of Gan Eden. According to Ari’zal, Terach and his wife became the “go-between” before this light could be made available in the terrestrial domain of the universe in order to assuage the feelings of Satan, who would otherwise have accused G’d of having favoured the creatures in the “lower” part of the universe. The fact that Terach, i.e. what he represented as a merchant of idols, sired Avraham according to the norms prevailing in our part of the “lower” universe, deprived Satan of the opportunity of accusing G’d of such favoritism of the human race versus other loftier regions and their inhabitants. [I have not seen the words of the Ari’zal, but I trust that I have understood them correctly. Ed.] The essential thing to remember is that the actual birth of Avram was a result through intervention by Divinely inspired intelligence.
Terach does not feature at all in the אב part of Avram’s name; no part of his intellect provided the characteristic in Avram’s personality that enabled him to develop as he did.
[It is important to remember, especially for people who have little background in kabbalah, that the idea of G’d predetermining a person’s lifestyle and his abilities has been spelled out in the Bible when G’d told Jeremiah that He had destined him to be the prophet during the period when the Temple was in danger of being destroyed. G’d was nearing the end of His patience with the Jewish state of that period even before he had been conceived. (Jeremiah 1,4) Ed.] In spite of all the reasons for disqualifying Terach from being given any credit as the indirect founder of the Jewish people, the fact that Avram had spent 9 months inside the womb of his mother after she had been impregnated with his semen, Avram was required to undergo 10 “tests,” in order to cleanse himself ritually from the spiritual contamination he experienced in his mother’s womb.
Rashi [not found there, Ed.] writes about this aspect of the ten trials Avraham had to undergo in his commentary on Exodus 6,8 נתתי אותה לכם מורשה אני ה', “I have given it to you as an inheritance, I am the Lord.” [The contradiction in this verse is obvious; since when is an inheritance “given?” it is transmitted from father to son upon the father’s death! Ed.]
The idea that his claim to the land of Canaan could be remotely due to his having Terach as a father never even occurred to him. If we needed proof of that, we need only recall the Talmud B’rachot 16, according to which the Jewish people have only three patriarchs and 4 matriarchs. The title “patriarch” implies that one is the “root” of the son whom one has sired by means of transmitting seed from the brain, the seat of one’s intelligence, which transmits it to the semen. It follows that the thoughts that preoccupy the father at the time when he engages in marital relations are transmitted through his semen to the ovum upon merging with it. If the father-to-be thinks holy thoughts at the appropriate time, some of these will be transferred to his seed, etc. There can be little doubt that Avraham was not the product of a father who entertained such godly thoughts when he helped conceive him. How could he therefore be considered a patriarch of the Jewish people? Terach was wholly consumed by thoughts and desires centered around the physical part of his existence on earth. If his offspring was of a diametrically opposite orientation this could not have been attributed to his biological father at all. It must have been due to G’d’s desire that with the development of the fetus resulting in Avram, G’d intended to lay the foundation of a Jewish nation. We can think of it in terms of G’d providing some additional spiritual light to His universe at the time of Avram’s birth. He was destined to become a new type of “tree of life,” albeit outside the boundaries of Gan Eden. According to Ari’zal, Terach and his wife became the “go-between” before this light could be made available in the terrestrial domain of the universe in order to assuage the feelings of Satan, who would otherwise have accused G’d of having favoured the creatures in the “lower” part of the universe. The fact that Terach, i.e. what he represented as a merchant of idols, sired Avraham according to the norms prevailing in our part of the “lower” universe, deprived Satan of the opportunity of accusing G’d of such favoritism of the human race versus other loftier regions and their inhabitants. [I have not seen the words of the Ari’zal, but I trust that I have understood them correctly. Ed.] The essential thing to remember is that the actual birth of Avram was a result through intervention by Divinely inspired intelligence.
Terach does not feature at all in the אב part of Avram’s name; no part of his intellect provided the characteristic in Avram’s personality that enabled him to develop as he did.
[It is important to remember, especially for people who have little background in kabbalah, that the idea of G’d predetermining a person’s lifestyle and his abilities has been spelled out in the Bible when G’d told Jeremiah that He had destined him to be the prophet during the period when the Temple was in danger of being destroyed. G’d was nearing the end of His patience with the Jewish state of that period even before he had been conceived. (Jeremiah 1,4) Ed.] In spite of all the reasons for disqualifying Terach from being given any credit as the indirect founder of the Jewish people, the fact that Avram had spent 9 months inside the womb of his mother after she had been impregnated with his semen, Avram was required to undergo 10 “tests,” in order to cleanse himself ritually from the spiritual contamination he experienced in his mother’s womb.
Rashi [not found there, Ed.] writes about this aspect of the ten trials Avraham had to undergo in his commentary on Exodus 6,8 נתתי אותה לכם מורשה אני ה', “I have given it to you as an inheritance, I am the Lord.” [The contradiction in this verse is obvious; since when is an inheritance “given?” it is transmitted from father to son upon the father’s death! Ed.]
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