There were several ways to induce prophecy, as the “sons of the prophets” learned. They included meditating either upon certain Hebrew letters, words, phrases, or Torah verses, or upon specific images and notions; chanting or reciting Divine names, either abstractly or in conjunction with praises of and prayers to G-d; and more.
The point of it all, though, was to enable a Divine emanation to flow down upon the disciple which would then overwhelm him physically and thus allow for revelation and d’vekut.
Understand however that the first thing required of any neophyte was a full and clear devotion to G-d, which was to be fostered and made stronger throughout his training (and lifetime) by means of the above disciplines and with righteous deeds. The more each one did along those lines, the closer he got to G-d and the greater his revelations until he finally achieved true prophecy.
All this was done under the tutelage of an experienced master-prophet who knew the process of initiation firsthand and was able to teach each neophyte how to reach his own potential.
The instruction didn’t end with initiation, though. The master would guide the student all along the way, step by step, even when the disciple would have begun to receive his own insights. Because there were many things to be trained in and each disciple was as unique as every single revelation. So someone fully aware of the various nuances and implications had to be on hand throughout.
This series is dedicated to the memory of Yitzchak Hehrsh ben Daniel, and Sarah Rivka bas Yaakov Dovid.
Copyright © 2004 by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org
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