After the Destruction: When Prophecy Became Wisdom

Full Summary

This shiur provides a comprehensive analysis of a famous Aggadic passage in Bava Basra 12a discussing the transition of prophecy after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. The Gemara (גמרא) states: 'From the day the Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to the sages.' Rabbi Zweig examines two major interpretations of this enigmatic statement. According to Rashi (רש"י)'s understanding, there were two distinct categories before the Temple's destruction: prophets who received prophecy, and sages who also had prophetic abilities. After the destruction, prophecy was removed from the prophets but remained with the sages. The Gemara proves this by noting that when one sage says something and another sage coincidentally expresses the same idea, this synchronicity can only be explained through prophetic insight. The Ramban (רמב"ן) offers a fundamentally different interpretation, arguing that every prophet was necessarily also a sage - there was never a prophet who lacked wisdom. According to the Ramban, the Gemara's statement means that before the destruction, sages accessed truth through two channels: prophecy (seeing from God's perspective) and wisdom (seeing from human perspective). After the destruction, prophecy ceased entirely, but the capacity for wisdom was enhanced so that sages could now perceive through human understanding what previously required divine revelation. Rabbi Zweig explores the profound implications of each interpretation, addressing various challenges and objections. He discusses the Maharsha's question about how the requirements for prophecy (being wise, wealthy, and strong) applied to Moshe Rabbeinu before he became wealthy from carving the second tablets. The shiur introduces a novel distinction between two types of prophetic agency: shaliach l'halacha (הלכה) (God's messenger to the people) versus shaliach l'kabbalah (the people's representative to God). When God initiates the prophetic communication, the prophet serves as His messenger and doesn't require the traditional qualifications. However, when the people need a representative to approach God, the prophet must possess wisdom, strength, and wealth. This explains why Moshe didn't need to be wealthy for receiving the Torah (תורה) at Sinai (shaliach l'halacha) but required wealth for the second tablets (shaliach l'kabbalah). The shiur concludes by explaining the Gemara's proof text about sages coincidentally expressing identical ideas. Since each person has a unique portion in Torah understanding, it's impossible for two people to naturally arrive at identical insights through wisdom alone. When this occurs, it indicates either prophetic inspiration or, according to the Gemara's alternative explanation, exceptional closeness in their thinking patterns (bar mazla).