Q&A: Belief in Maggids, Sacred Names, etc.
Belief in Maggids, Sacred Names, etc.
Question
Following your criticism of Yom in the latest column, the following question comes up:
Quite a few Torah scholars over the generations, and it seems very plausible to me that at least some of them were highly reliable, reported various phenomena. For example, some told of maggids dictating books to them and speaking with them about Jewish law (Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Responsa from Heaven). The Chatam Sofer claimed that he believes in sacred names because he saw their effects with his own eyes. Those are the examples that came to mind, but I seem to remember there were other reports too from people who ought to be considered reliable about such phenomena, including fairly detailed testimony. In your opinion, can those testimonies be relied upon and the existence of these phenomena accepted? If not, I’d be glad to know why.
Answer
I was asked a similar question there. I’m skeptical about reports like these. Of course it’s possible, but in order for me to believe it I would need good evidence.
Discussion on Answer
What is unclear about what I wrote? I said I’m skeptical, meaning there is a reasonable chance that the events did not happen, though they cannot be ruled out categorically.
It could have been a hallucination in a dream, psychosis while awake, or esoteric language (as Rabbi Margaliot explains the Raavad’s words, “the holy spirit appeared in our study hall”). The fact that someone is a Torah scholar does not mean he cannot have hallucinations, psychoses, superstitions, or use esoteric language. And not everyone who has hallucinations is crazy. It can happen from time to time. There is also a question of interpretation here: what people once thought was demonic possession would today be seen as a kind of unusual mental state.
What do you mean? Are you skeptical in the sense that you think the events didn’t really happen, that Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto and Rabbi Yosef Karo did not hear a maggid? Or that they did hear a maggid, but it was some kind of psychosis? Because if you mean the first possibility, then your words imply that some of our greatest rabbis were liars, and if you mean the second possibility, that would imply they were crazy.