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R' Zvi Lampel wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid2bea391778644f6ca84b0c7ebb5bd95f.hlampel@thejnet.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn Fri, 03 Nov 2006, wrote:
"Sefer Haikarrim 3:17 says that prophets other than Moshe are fallible
i.e. they can misunderstand what they are seeing.
New ZL:
But he also says in what sense the prophets misunderstood., and the sense is as
I stated. Again: They sometimes saw things that were false in their literal
sense, and in this sense "misunderstood," but were also perfectly aware that
what they saw was meant in a non-literal sense. What they lamented was the fact
that unlike Moshe Rabbeynu, they were not on the level to be priveleged to
perceive the prophecy in a non-metaphorical representation. This is clear from
the words of the Sefer HaIkarrim:
"Yeshaya said ... ‘Oy li that my eyes saw the King Hashem Tsevakos and /I know/
that this is the work of the imaginative faculty, because it is without
question impossible to attribute any form to Him, Yisborach.’" The Sefer
Ikarrim is therefore clear that the prophet is /aware/ that the "literal" image
is false, and that the real message is solely in the nimshal to which that
imagery alludes (as RDE himself wrote: "He [Yeshaya] himself said that his
perception of Gd was in fact a mistake because of the involvement of his
imagination"). The Sefer Ikarrim clearly holds that the imagery the prophet
perceives is true in its message, although untrue in its "literal" sense.*
</pre>
</blockquote>
IMHO your understanding of Sefer HaIkkarim is inaccurate.. In the
section immediately before that which you cited above is:<br>
<br>
"We know that the words of Moshe are true according to their literal
meaning without any question. In contrast the words of Yeshaya - who
is on a lower level then Moshe - are not correct. Therefore because of
his lower level Yeshaya said, "I saw G-d." YESHAYA THOUGHT THAT HE WAS
SEEING G-D - but it wasn't so. This image was the result of his
imaginative faculty. .... But Yeshaya [in contrast to Moshe] utilized
the imaginative faculty in his prophecy - that which is called by our
Sages as "aspaklaria she'eino me'ira". He was brought to error and to
imagine that he had actually seen Gd.<br>
<br>
He is clearly saying that Yeshaya mistakenly thought - when he saw the
vision - that it was literally true. It was only later that he realized
it was a mistake.<br>
<br>
<br>
Daniel Eidensohn<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre wrap=""><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big></big></big></big></big></big></big></big></big></big></big></big></big>
</pre>
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