Rambam on Praying for Geulah - The Love of HaShem and the Fear of HaShem

"A person should not occupy himself in the words of Aggadot (parables) concerning the matter of the Geulah (redemption), nor spend excessive time in the Midrashim on these and similar matters, and should not regard them as primary. For they lead neither to love of HaShem or to fear of HaShem."

-- Rambam, Hilkhot Melakhim 12:2


Plan of action: pray for Geulah, pray for Shekhinah to dwell. And yet with all of this, one must be of service to HaShem through the use of one's body. We must prove to HaShem that we are sincere in our prayers by taking action that is in conformity with this mission. We are building Computer System ZION and will not stop until it is online.

Maimonides on Becoming a Prophet

"It is impossible that an ignorant person should be a prophet; or that a person being no prophet in the evening, should, unexpectedly on the following morning, find himself a prophet, as if prophecy were a thing that could be found unintentionally.

"But if a person, perfect in his intellectual and moral faculties, and also perfect, as far as possible, in his imaginative faculty, prepares himself in the manner which will be described, he must become a prophet; for prophecy is a natural faculty of man. 

"It is impossible that a man who has the capacity for prophecy should prepare himself for it without attaining it, just as it is impossible that a person with a healthy constitution should be fed well, and yet not properly assimilate his food, and the like."

-- Maimonides, Moreh Nevuchim 2:32

Sefer haChinukh on the World to Come not Mentioned in the Written Torah

"Should one ask further: After you have said that the primary aspect of all Creation is the world of souls (olam ha-neshamot) and that the ultimate reward for observance of the mitzvot is received there, why does God not mention it in the Written Torah and say explicitly, 'When you perform My mitzvot, I will bequeath you a share in the World to Come'?

"The answer is as follows: It is because the idea of the World to Come is known and obvious to all who possess intelligence; it is as clear as the sun. There is no nation or culture that does not agree that souls endure after the bodies have ceased to be; nor is there anyone who disputes that commensurate with the goodness of a soul, its wisdom, and the righteousness of its deeds, its pleasures in that world is correspondingly greater.

"This is logical, for the origin of the intelligent soul is the Source of Intelligence, i.e. God, and the closer the soul draws to its natural environment, to the place from which it originates, the greater is its pleasure."

-- Sefer haChinukh, Introduction

While the anonymous author of the Chinukh was well versed in the thought of Maimonides, who was thoroughly of Aristotelian persuasion, this passage is very similar to Platonist doctrines on the soul, such as found in Phaedrus, Philebus, etc.