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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>R’ Eli Turkel wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Yirrmayahu haNavi prophesizes that Nevuchadnezzar and his son/grandson will rule over Judea. Chananiah announces that within 2 years G-d will destroy the Babylonian empire.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I would imagine that Chananih looked like a very pious individual. How was a Jew at that time to decide between the two opposing sides? Today with hindsight we know that Yirmiyahu was the true prophet and Chananiah was the navi sheker.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>However, at the time both sides seem to be legitimate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>My 2 cents:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>As a rule, nevi’ei emet generally told people things they did not want to hear, while nevi’ei sheker tended to say things that made everyone, especially the powers that be, comfortable. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Case in point: Yehoshafat has two reasons to suspect that Ah’av’s neviim are lying (Melakhim Alef, Perek 22): <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>First, they are all saying, en masse, exactly the same thing, which means that they rehearsed it. (Ein shnei nevi’im mitnab’im besafa ahat. Or maybe it is ‘lashon ehad’. I may not have the exact lashon here. Corrections welcome.) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Second, they are telling Ah’av exactly what he wants to hear, which is not what Yehoshafat—who is a tzadik, despite his mistaken alliance with Ah’av—expects from a navi Hashem. Ah’av himself says that he doesn’t like to ask Mikhayhu ben Yimla anything because he always prophesies badly and never says anything good. (Check out the perek; the street theater aspects are almost comical.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I’ve been asked the same question by many students over the years: How could people worship idols/sin/doubt Hashem (pick your variation) when they had nevi’im? The subtext is something like: We, nebbach, don’t have access to revelation/truth/God (again, pick your variation), so we can’t help ourselves, but our ancestors had miracles, prophets, etc… The short answer is something like what R’ Eli has said: Where there are true prophets (the real deal), there’s a profitable marketplace for false prophets (the comfortable lie). (Sorry, just noticed the pun.) Determining what is genuine requires real spiritual work, self-awareness, and introspection. The fact that there were prophets in bayit rishon did not remove the fact that there was also, as always, behira hofshit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Kol tuv,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Simi Peters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div>
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