Spinoff: What is Ruach Hakodesh?

yamz

Wed, Aug 10 2016, 10:18 am

In the other thread, people are debating whether contemporary Rebbes/Rabbis have "Ruach Hakodesh." The term seems to mean different things to different people. If you translate "Ruach Hakodesh" into English, you get the unhelpful "holy spirit" which sounds quite Christian and still quite murky and mysterious. So what exactly is Ruach Hakodesh? Can you define it in clear and definite terms instead of as a vague concept that attaches to holy people?

amother

Saddlebrown

Wed, Aug 10 2016, 10:29 am

I am a chassidishe woman, and I believe that many of our gedolim are intuitive and blessed with syatta d'shmaya. Ruach hakodesh is used by chassidim to refer to a mild form of what is essentially nevuah. I do not believe that exists.
I believe that an adam gadol who is on a higher Ruchnius'dige plane, is more in touch with kedushah. Someone told me that his relative was driving the Skulener Rebbe through NYC. The Rebbe did not look out the window the entire time. When they drove through Times Square, the Rebbe suddenly shuddered and became agitated. When they left the vicinity, he relaxed. That is not ruach hakodesh, but an indication of his exalted level of Ruchnius.
I ask my Rebbe for brachos and sometimes eitzas, but not for predictions! I do not ask what to name my baby or when to make a wedding, but I will ask for his bracha on my choices.

HonesttoGod

Wed, Aug 10 2016, 10:33 am

I believe it is used as a term to say a person has the powers to see into the future.
Meaning you want to know if you should move or not and the Rav will say "bad things will happen if you move" and you move any way and bad things happen. He saw the future.

BUT

I personally do not see it as that at all.
Ruach Hakodesh as you said is literally holy spirit. Any great Rabbi or Rebbe who is connected to G-d, learned and holy, has a holy spirit. What gives it to them or how they get it, we can't answer that but there are many Rebbes who DO have this holy spirit.
They give us blessings etc.

For example the Bobov Rebbe, Satmar, Ger, Belz, Skver etc. R' Chaim Kanievsky and l"bclc Harav Ovadia Yosef,and many others, are/were Holy, Special people.
People go to them for blessings and prayers. There have been many stories where people have received incredible brachos and answers to questions that may come across as "he saw the future". I don't think there is such a thing as visibly seeing the future rather these Rabbanim are so connected with Hashem, so in tune to the way of Torah, that they can give you a true Bracha and it will come be a real Blessing.

I personally know someone who was about to get engaged and went to one of these Rebbes for a Bracha. The Rebbe said 'you should be healthy and happy but now is not the time.' So they called it off.
6 months later the same shidduch kept coming up again and again. They asked the same Rebbe saying we know you said it is not the time back then but it keeps coming up this suggestion, what should we do. He said 'You should go forward with it with hatzlacha bsha tova.' 1 week later they got engaged.

I don't think this is seeing into the future to know in the future it will be good. I think this was just sensing that for whatever reasons to do with either the boy or the girl it was just not the right time right now. When it came up again, it was the right time. For whatever had changed. It is blessings not Tarot card readings.

I hope this makes sense, it does in my head but I am tired so it doesn't seem to be coming out so clearly.

chicco

Wed, Aug 10 2016, 10:52 am

The more you understand things, the more you notice, or maybe it's the other way around. People with ruach hakodesh are tapped in at a level that make it easy for them to see things and make valid extrapolations.

An extremely skilled Dr can see things others can't. He can read signs that they don't teach in medical school. When you have a true chush for something, you see deeper than what others notice. You may even try to trach someone else what you see, but if you'read not at that level, you don'the have the same shychis as someone who earned it. Certain things can'take be taught. These things that can be noticed are rarely superficial. They are usually slight expressions of something bigger and deeper. Someone who interacts with the world at a deeper level, who sees things not just how they present themselves, but what they can represent, and their significance, is someone, I believe with ruach hakodesh. It's not that Hashem is speaking to them outright, but that they have an eye to understand or recognize deeper than the average Joe, based on their connectedness with what's really going on.

I totally believe that there are people like this today. So connected to a spiritual realm, they see they physical one on a spiritual level. They can make sense of what they see physically, based on what they are connected to spiritually.