Q&A: Neither Spirit Nor Holiness
Neither Spirit Nor Holiness
Question
A Hardal friend was recently drawn to a group around some figure whom some say has divine inspiration, and others oppose him.
To me it smells like a cult, or the basis for a cult. The figure is not a Torah scholar, and apparently doesn’t even present himself as one, but rather as someone with divine inspiration.
I googled and found that he “prophesied” about the elections in France, which in the end turned out the opposite, and also about the kidnapping of the three boys—that they were alive, when as is known they are in the grave.
The videos in which he said such-and-such would happen were apparently removed from YouTube.
This same figure was imprisoned and even tortured by a group that manages the funds of an association that collects money for what are called his institutions, and after more than 3 years that he was in captivity, no one saw him and rescued him (through the bars).
In short, the people around him fooled him, and even imprisoned him, humiliated him, and even physically abused him.
Is there, in all of the above, aside from the fact that he is a dim-witted Bibi supporter, enough to prove that he has neither divine inspiration nor holiness?
Answer
Nothing proves whether he does or does not have divine inspiration, unless you can show clearly that he does or does not. It has nothing to do with his personality or his intelligence. But if there’s no reason to assume he has it, then why assume that he does?
That figure’s trick is simply to close his eyes, speak in a slightly confused-sounding way, bring a few prophecies from the Hebrew Bible and the midrashim, and that way everyone thinks he has divine inspiration. By the way, the prophecies you mentioned aren’t especially impressive. If he prophesies exactly how much money I have in my bank account, that might impress me.