The 7th Principle - The Prophecy Of Moses

ד' באדר תשס"ז

More on the Moses Spell and testimony.

Zayin ז - The woman of valor, the sceptre of selection. Rambam's seventh principle of faith concerns the unique nature of the prophecy of Moses.

From Maimonides, the Seventh Principle, The Prophecy Of Moses at Aish.com

"Just as the Almighty gave our hearts and our emotions to use in order to serve Him, He also gave us our minds. In contrast, a leap of faith demands that an individual not use his intellect in serving God; rather, he should "just have faith."

In the same way, Moshe Rabbeinu is the prophet in history whose authenticity was attested to, publicly, by God Himself. He is the only prophet appointed in the presence of an entire nation. He is the only prophet who was made known as such to his followers, rather than being accepted on "blind faith." Subsequently, any other prophet merits credibility only through the authority of Moshe Rabbeinu. The validity of their prophecies is based upon the definition which Moshe told the Jewish people God provided as to when an individual should be accepted by a nation as a prophet.

Since a prophet's credibility is based upon the criteria revealed through Moshe Rabbeinu, the Rambam refers to Moshe as "the father of all prophets." Thus, the world knows that Abraham was a prophet only because Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to the father of the Jewish People. The world knows that Isaiah was a prophet only because he fulfilled all of the requirements that Moshe Rabbeinu communicated to the nation, in the name of God, concerning the status of a prophet.

Therefore, all prophets are prophets only through the testimony of Moshe Rabbeinu, the father of all prophets."

I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses is absolutely true. He was the chief of all prophets, both before and after Him.

-- Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith, the 7th Principle

Perfectly paradoxical - as zayin is the "highest" link from the lower psycho-emotive-physical configuration of the sefirot into the chet (made of the letters zayin and vav) of the higher sefirotic configuration consisting of the mochin -

From Wiki:

For Reform Jews, the prophecy of Moses was not the highest degree of prophecy; rather it was the first in a long chain of progressive revelations in which mankind gradually began to understand the will of God better and better. As such, they maintain, that the laws of Moses are no longer binding, and it is today's generation that must assess what God wants of them. (For examples see the works of Rabbis Gunther Plaut or Eugene Borowitz). This principle is also rejected by most Reconstructionist Jews, but for a different reason; most posit that God is not a being with a will; thus they maintain that no will can be revealed.

Consequently, we can see how both the traditional and progressive views on the prophecy of Moses can be true, as zayin is "the highest" of the psycho-emotive-physical sefirot (the middot and expression) and yet, is also "just an aspect" of the chet, "the lowest" of the mochin.

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