{"id":59137,"date":"2019-07-09T13:54:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T10:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=59137"},"modified":"2023-01-31T14:51:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T12:51:45","slug":"no-we-dont-believe-in-seances-ghosts-and-the-talking-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/no-we-dont-believe-in-seances-ghosts-and-the-talking-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"No, We Don\u2019t Believe in Seances, Ghosts And The Talking Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[662,444,752],"acf":{"old_id":"59137","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"260","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A guest column by the Gaon R. Shmuel bar Hofni (d. 1034)","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The opinion of R. Shmuel bar Hofni, Gaon of Sura in the latter half of the 10<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century, has been known ever since it was cited by Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi)\u00a0 in his commentary: \u201cHe said that in spite of the fact that the Sages appear to have confirmed that the woman resurrected Samuel this cannot be accepted because it contradicts reason.\u201d Thanks to the Cairo Genizah, however, we now possess a portion of the original commentary, which took the form of a response (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">teshuvah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) to a questioner. Here are some key excerpts (translated from the Judeo Arabic).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first question [derives] from the language of Scripture: \u201cSaul knew that it was Samuel\u201d (14). The petitioner asked: If Samuel did not truly arise and was not visible, what apparition was [Saul] shown that is referred to by Scripture as \u201cHe knew\u201d? [The Gaon] replied: Knowledge is used metaphorically to signify thought, as in \u201c`Onan knew\u201d (Gen. 38:9). Similarly \u201cSaul knew\u201d [means] he thought, felt, and believed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second question: \u201cSaul said to Samuel, \u2018Why have you agitated me\u2019? And he replied, \u2018Why do you ask me?\u2019\u201d (15). This states explicitly that Samuel spoke to him, and he could not have spoken to him unless he was alive. We say [in response] that \u201cSamuel said\u201d means that Mistress \u2018Ob said to him that Samuel is speaking to you such and such. If one were to ask, but Scripture does not [explicitly] state that the woman said that Samuel had spoken? We would respond that while this is true, reason mandates that Scripture is only speaking from the perspective of Mistress \u2018Ob. This is not distinct from the language of Scripture in the case of the emissaries of the king of Jericho, \u201cThey pursued [the Israelite spies] all the way to the Jordan\u201d (Joshua 2:7) even though they were actually with Rahab [and could not have been the subjects of the pursuit]\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[The witch also] misled him into initiating this inquiry by saying \u201cWhom shall I raise for you?\u201d [leading Saul] to reply, \u201cRaise up Samuel for me\u201d (11), and she fooled him into thinking that she had that ability. Every time we encounter the word \u201che said\u201d or \u201che spoke,\u201d wherein it is impossible to be the speech of the one so identified, then we may say that it may be as we have explained in this episode. If it is not impossible, then we may not purge any \u201csaid\u201d or \u201cspoke\u201d of its literal sense unless it contradicts reason or is [otherwise] impossible. Look at the language of Scripture \u201cThe vine spoke\u201d (Judges 9:13); it is as we have explained that it is inconceivable and preposterous for a vine [to speak].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":59142,"id":59142,"title":"isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon","filename":"isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/no-we-dont-believe-in-seances-ghosts-and-the-talking-dead\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":59137,"date":"2019-07-09 10:54:19","modified":"2022-12-31 21:08:24","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":399,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon-249x300.jpg","medium-width":249,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","medium_large-width":399,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","large-width":399,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","1536x1536-width":399,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","2048x2048-width":399,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon.jpg","post_full_size-width":399,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam28-samuel_ben_hofni_gaon-349x420.jpg","home_baner-width":349,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"No, We Don\u2019t Believe in Seances, Ghosts And The Talking Dead","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A guest column by the Gaon R. 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