YU TORAH Following False Prophets is Following Your Eyes By HaRav Avigdor Nebenzahl

SIGN OR NO SIGN We read in Parshat Re-eh about the prohibition against listening to a false prophet: "if there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, and the sign and wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you saying: 'let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them.'" (Devarim 13:2-3). The Torah then commands us: "Do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for Hashem, your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul" (ibid. 4). The prophet may have been able to produce a sign or a wonder nevertheless we may not listen to him if we sense that he is attempting to persuade us to violate the dictates of the Torah and deny the prophecy of Moshe Rabenu. In addition to violating the specific prohibition against following this false prophet, one who follows this prophet has also violated "velo taturu acharei levavchem ve-acharei eineichem" "do not explore after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray" (Bamidbar 15:39). This can prove to be a very difficult challenge indeed.