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        Mind Reading 3
        Moshe Ben-Chaim
 
 
 Reader: My friend called another friend on the phone, this
          friend was speaking to a rabbi known for his kaballah. this rabbi
          tells the lady "the lady who just clicked in to the phone call
          and started telling her things about her and she must come to him
          quick there is a great danger.
  
        Now my friend who is a yemenite and not a pushover told me how this
          rabbi told him everything about him and hit it a direct bullseye. he
          told him to pick a letter out of an envelope and before he picked told
          him the letter, when my friend picked this letter the rabbi said check
          the envelope all letters are different. his rabbi was not only able to
          predict this persons past but told him if he does so and so 48 hours
          later so and so will happen by the way it did happen like that the
          rabbi gave my friend different types of amulets of different malachim
          to safeguard him.One night his daughter woke up and told her father she saw a malach
          sitting on her sisters bed watching her sister. (this girl had no idea
          the parents went to this rabbi)
  
        I am thinking to go to this rabbi to see what this is all about what
          do you think?Is it against the torah to go or is it like the ramban holds, a
          science (people used to read clouds or listen to the birds to tell the
          future) Thank you.
  
         
        Mesora: First
          rule, don't believe everything you hear. Many people tell stories over
          again and again, greatly distorting the original, which itself may be
          a fairy tale that was taken by a few as literal. These ridiculous
          stores are constantly repeated. Unfortunately, these stories replace
          truth and become the belief of many Jews.
         
        This rabbi clearly violates Torah laws. I do not have to explain
          what he does. Although if you wish, see Saadia Gaon in Emunos v'Daos
          where he refutes magic, explaining the Egyptian "magicians"
          as using slight of hand. He says they had no powers.
         
        If halacha and reason opposes this 'rabbi', he can claim to lift
          buildings, and I still wouldn't follow him.
 We are bound not to seek satisfaction for our insecurities by these
          types of prohibited methods. Rather, the Torah teaches that these are
          all false, and against God's desire that man use his mind in all
          areas.
         
        You must know, catering to the instinctual need for security hurts a
          person in the following ways:
        
          1) It directly violates God's words, diluting the reverence owed
            to the Divinely given Torah.
          2) He will be incapable of directing his life appropriately when
            the "false notion" no longer works.
          3) It teaches an unfair view of God, as this position of relying
            on "mystics" implies that God selected only these few
            mystics to have a monopoly on how the remainder of mankind makes
            their life decisions.
          4) It cripples him from using his mind, so in future scenarios, he
            will have no intelligent resources to help himself out of his
            problems.
          
          
        I am certain you would not quit your job if this rabbi told you to
          do so. Even if he guessed the truth once or twice, you still would not
          place your sustenance at risk. Why? Because you wisely realize that
          this rabbi's tricks aren't following reason, and lack proof of
          duplication.
         
        "Reason" is necessary in guiding one's life. Reason is
          consistent. Since you desire a consistent livlihood, you must follow a
          realistic path to obtain it. Hopefully, you would not quit your job at
          the behest of a rabbi. This proves to you the indispensable need for
          "reason" inherent in the human mind. Following "false
          notions" and "tricks" is a deadly path and destroys the
          mind.
         
        For this reason, you would not quit your job, even at the behest of
          this rabbi. I feel this proves to even you, that reason is the only
          course the human mind can accept. Following tricks that cannot be
          repeated consistently is not something for which we are ready to place
          our lives on the line.
         
        A girl seeing a "malach" is definitely a proof,...that the
          girl has imagination! Tell me, how does she know what a malach is that
          she can distinguish it? Should I also believe my friend's son if he
          says he saw a monster?
         
        People believe what they wish, just as King Saul believed he heard
          Samuel talking to him from the dead. Saul felt it was true. If King
          Saul can make that mistake, we certainly can!
         
        These tales attract our emotions. How does the Torah teach us to
          react? To study human nature, to understand our instincts, to see
          through fallacy, and to guide these drives away from beliefs in
          falsehood, towards realization of reality.
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