It’s a question that’s been pondered for centuries, and our tradition offers some fascinating insights. a passage from Bereshit Rabbah 74, which delves into the nature of prophecy and how God communicates with different people.

The passage opens with the verse from Genesis 31:24: “God came to Laban the Aramean in a night dream, and He said to him: Beware, lest you speak to Jacob, good or bad.” This sets the stage for a deeper question: What's the difference between the prophets of Israel and the prophets of other nations?

Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yisakhar of Kefar Mandi offer contrasting views. Rabbi Ḥama suggests that God only speaks to the prophets of the nations with “truncated speech.” He points to Numbers 23:4, "God happened [vayikar] upon Bilam." The Midrash sees vayikar as a shortened form of vayikra – "He called" – the term typically used for Israelite prophets. It's like a divine game of telephone, where the message gets garbled in transmission.

Rabbi Yisakhar takes a different, even stronger, stance. He argues that vayikar is an expression of impurity, linking it to Deuteronomy 23:11: “If there will be among you a man who will not be pure due to an incident [mikre] at night.” Wow. That's quite a statement, isn't it?

But what about the prophets of Israel? According to these sages, God speaks to them “with complete speech, with expressions of endearment, with expressions of sanctity.” It's the language of the angels themselves, as we see in Isaiah 6:3: “And this one called to that one and said: Holy…”

Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina adds another layer, suggesting that God appears to the prophets of other nations only at night, a time associated with uncertainty and vulnerability. He references Job 4:12-13: “In thoughts from visions of the night, when slumber falls on men, a matter stealthily came to me…” It’s a fleeting, almost secretive encounter.

Then, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Menaḥem offers a stark contrast from Proverbs 15:29: “The Lord is far from the wicked” – these are the prophets of the nations of the world; “and He hears the prayer of the righteous” – these are the prophets of Israel.

The passage continues with Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa and Rabbi Simon, who use analogies to illustrate the difference. Rabbi Ḥanina compares it to a king speaking freely with his close friend in a hall. Rabbi Simon, even more vividly, likens it to a king visiting his wife publicly versus a concubine clandestinely. The message is clear: God’s relationship with Israel is intimate and open, while His interactions with others are more distant and veiled.

So, what does all of this mean? Why this distinction between how God communicates with different people? Perhaps it speaks to the nature of covenant and relationship. The prophets of Israel, bound by a unique covenant with God, receive a clearer, more direct line of communication. Others, while still receiving divine messages, experience them through a filter, a veil of separation. The Zohar, the foundational text of Jewish mysticism, often speaks of levels of divine emanation and how different souls connect to different levels. Maybe this is a reflection of that idea.

The passage concludes with a reminder of God's warning to Laban: “Beware of speaking with Jacob, good or bad.” Even Laban’s well-intentioned words could be misconstrued, highlighting the delicate and complex nature of communication, especially when it involves the divine. It's a reminder that even our best intentions can have unintended consequences.

Ultimately, this exploration from Bereshit Rabbah invites us to consider our own relationship with the divine. Are we striving for that intimate, open connection, or are we content with fleeting glimpses and whispered messages in the night? And what does it mean to be a "prophet" in our own lives, attuned to the subtle nudges and whispers of the Divine? It's a question worth pondering, isn't it?