Divine Truth?

Iyar 23, 5767
Prophecy in Halacha?
There is a view that all great teachers of the Torah have had Divine Assistance with their Torah decisions. In fact the view is that all of the Great Books such as the Mishneh, Talmud , Rambam , Shulchan Aruch etc… could not have been made without the assistance of Heaven . This is consistent with the remark of the great Raavad that “for the last 20 years, Ruach Hakodesh- Divine Presence has been manifest in our Study Hall“..!
The question that is obvious is from the response of Rabbi Yehoshua to the Heavenly Voice that “It-meaning the Torah, is not in Heaven!”
If that is the case , then how do we understand the assertion that the great Rabbis and their works were assisted by the Divine?
Where does the Divine come in, in order to not be considered intervening from Heaven?
Every scholar has a Divine soul which is the root of his intellect in Torah. For the understanding of the Torah requires an altogether different set of powers. As the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that through
The study of Torah there is a unity of mind , subject and soul that doesn’t exist in the physical world. This , says the Rebbe , includes matters of intellect in the physical world including the most abstract mathematics and sciences, This is because the Torah is the Wisdom of G-D and as such can cause this complete unity with the soul .
Other wisdoms remain apart from the soul no matter how profound the topic.
In that case how is it that certain individuals have had the ability to come to conclusions that have been accepted as the standard for Halacha and others have not been so fortunate ,even though they were of equal devotion and intellect?
There are two factors. One is the root of the soul. A person whose soul is rooted in Chessed will by nature conclude more leniently than a person rooted in Gevuros. Secondly , the person involved in a halacha has to be searching for the truth , not just intellectually but the truth of G-D’s Will.
In the process of seeking the truth of G-D’s Will, there is Divine Assistance . Here is where the ruach Hakodesh helps. Within the person’s mind the search for this truth can have divine Assistance in discovering the relevant issues that determine the true Will of G-D, I.e. the Halacha.
The Ruach HaKodesh cannot issue the verdict as a gift from on High. In fact , a Prophet who claims that G-D revealed the Halacha to him is killed as a false Prophet! In that case , the only Divine Assistance is when the person toils in the Torah and is completely devoted to finding the truth even if it goes against one’s pre-conceived notions or even or Torah insights attained over a lifetime.
In other words ,you seek to find what G-D wants not what you think
Or want.
In the case of Rabbi Eliezer, since all of his ideas came only from that which he heard from his teachers, it was impossible to sway him to think differently. In that regard he toiled diligently to remember and classify every nuance of his Holy Rebbes. However, this limited him in his quest and as such in certain cases he could go no further than the wisdom he had received. Even if the conclusion were true a generation earlier, it is possible that upon further review the Law would change . This is because the details of the Halacha vary and the need of the community and the world changes. Sometimes the need for leniency is needed due to extenuating circumstances. On other occasions the law must be stricter.
Since Rabbi Eliezer had finished opinions on every matter , it was impossible for him to conclude differently than that which was fixed in his mind . The voice from Heaven represented the Torah as it had been received by Rabbi Eliezer exactly as he had heard it from his teachers. However, this did not mean that the application of the Halacha would be in sync with these teachings as there are variables ,different circumstances and details that can change the conclusion.
This is why Rabbi Yehoshua could say with conviction -”It is not in the Heavens”. For the Torah must be studied in the here and now.
Each case has to be studied anew!