At first glance,
the nature of prophecy would appear to be a relatively marginal feature of
Jewish thought. In fact, discerning prophecy’s essence was critically important
to leading medieval Jewish philosophers, including Saadiah, Maimonides, Yehuda
HaLevi, and Ibn Ezra. Their ideas on the topic, many of which are not widely
known, are complex, and are often very distant from the popular notion of God
speaking directly to the prophet. Prophecy may be viewed in the two ways:
is it a natural phenomenon, stemming from a human being’s innate ability to
encounter the divine, or is it more of a supernatural phenomenon, representing
God’s active involvement in communicating with humans? To put it differently,
what is God’s precise role in the prophecy? Read the complete article at -- http://thetorah.com/what-is-prophecy/
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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