The concept of the "Holy Ghost" is unclear for Jews, yet the Hebrew term "Ruach Elohim" means the Spirit of God. The Hebrew word for breath and wind is closely related to spirit. There are several Biblical verses using these words. One of my favorites is in the vision of dry bones.

"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. . . . And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. (Ezekiel 37:7-14)

In the previous Lesson 5, "Born Again," I wrote, Ezekiel spoke of breath and of wind bring life into a dead skeleton. As the sticks (ETZ-emot) of the body are clothed again with flesh and come alive again, so shall the stick (ETZ) of Judah, the dead skeleton of a once true and living religion come together with the stick of Joseph, embodying the true religion and with the "breath" of the Lord, his spirit - a resurrection - a new life begins again.

"Flesh is the term used in the Bible to distinguish mortal man from God. The Hebrew word for flesh, basar, is contrasted with the Divine Spirit, ru'ah, with which man is temporarily endowed. Thus: "My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for that he is also flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3). The Talmud and Midrash refer to man as basar va-dam ("flesh and blood") to indicate his mortality as against the eternity of God."

"Ruah ha-Kodesh (holy spirit) is often used as a synonym for prophecy. However, according to some rabbis, unlike prophecy, there are some types of ruah ha-kodesh which also can be attained by doing good deeds." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

In the previous Lesson 4, "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord," I included the following thoughts that should be considered again. The expression of the "Holy Spirit has been used to describe various righteous teachers and sages.

". . . Luria already had a reputation as a man of striking personality who possessed the holy spirit."

". . . Nahman was the great-grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, and his mother was said to "possess the holy spirit."

". . . Phinehas is known to have traveled to redeem captives, and on one journey a river in flood parted for him, so as not to delay his mission. He constructed the famous "ladder of saintliness" in which Caution (against evil) leads through Eagerness (for good), Cleanliness, Purity, Asceticism, Holiness, Humility, Fear of God, Attainment of the Holy Spirit (divine inspiration), ultimately to the Resurrection of the Dead." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

A tool or gift of spirit used by ancient (and modern) prophets is the Urim and Thummim.

"The exact meaning of the words "Urim" and "Thummim" have puzzled scholars over the generations. Both in the Greek and Latin translations of the Bible they were rendered as "revelation and truth" or "teaching and truth" and this understanding gave rise to the incorporation of the Hebrew words Urim ve- Thummim on the official seal of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

The point to consider is that the Lord’s gift of spirit reveals and teaches truth. In the upcoming Lesson 28, "We Are Witnesses," there is a discussion of A Pentecost when the comforter that Jesus promised his Apostles was given as the gift of the spirit. This occurred on the Mount of Olives fifty days after the Passover when Jesus completed the great atonement. In the Biblical calendar, fifty days after Passover is Shavuot, a day to commemorate receiving the "Law of Moses at Mount Sinai," a Jewish Pentecost.

"In many modern synagogues, the ceremony of confirmation takes place on Shavuot. This is a group ceremony in which the boys and girls of the community who have reached the age of maturity (usually when they are 15 or 16 years old), take a sort of symbolic oath of allegiance to the Torah and Judaism. The custom began with the Reform Movement's efforts to deepen the significance of bar mitzvah and to emphasize the relationship between Shavuot and the study of Torah." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

For Latter-day Saints, the procedure of confirmation includes giving the gift of the Holy Ghost. One of its blessings is helping us understand (teaching and revealing) as we study the scriptures.

". . . the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)

"In this last great gift through one of the Godhead, even the Holy Ghost, is to be found the way to the certain knowledge, after one's study of the scriptures . . ." (Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, Pg.317)

The companionship of the Holy Ghost is like a dear friend. A wise Orthodox Jew once told me, "It is easy to be friendly, but rare to be a friend."

Friendship is a relationship between people arising from mutual respect and affection. The ideal of friendship in the western world is derived from classical Greece, which exalted friendship as one of the great human achievements and prime goals of life. The significance of friendship is recognized in the Bible, but is never raised to such an important place. A friend is defined as "one who is like your very self" (Deuteronomy 13:7) and as one "who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). Of the few depictions of close friendship in the Bible, perhaps the most famous is that of David and Jonathan. The Bible appears to be more concerned with social and family relations than with individual ones, and thus puts more emphasis on being a good neighbor than it does on friendship. The Bible also warns against false friendship, saying that people might be attracted to a person solely because of his wealth, and not out of motives of respect."

"Hebron is an ancient biblical city in Erez Israel located in the Judean Hills, 19 miles south of Jerusalem. The name Hebron may derive from the Hebrew word "haber" meaning friend . . . In Arabic it is known as al-Khalil, which means "the city of the beloved" and refers to Abraham." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

In Hebrew, a Latter-day Saint member is called Haver or in plural, Haverim. The word we use for members in Israel is friend!

"The majority of the people respected the Pharisees and observed most of their teachings, but only a relative few were actually members of the community, and carried the title haver (friend or associate). A non-member was known as an am ha- arez, a term which at first meant "one of the people" who does not observe all the rules of a haver, but later came to designate those who were not learned in the Torah. The sages tried, by living amongst the masses, by loving their fellow men as themselves, by teaching the Torah to all who were interested, and by performing deeds of loving kindness, to bridge the gap between themselves and the am ha-arez." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

In Jewish philosophy, the moral aspect of kindness, goodness and friendship is greater than the "reward" aspect of an afterlife. The minimal discussion of life after death in Jewish culture contrasts the doctrine of life after death that exists in scriptures and various sage’s writings.

"Jewish theology, as opposed to Jewish philosophy, has no clear doctrine on the relationship between body and soul. Some Talmudic rabbis did not consider views on such a purely theoretical subject important; rather, they focused their interest on the practical question of the resurrection of the body and God's future judgment."

"The Talmudic rabbis thought the body to be separable, in a sense, from the soul. God breathed the soul into the body of Adam (Genesis 2:7). During sleep the soul departs and receives spiritual strength from above. However, the Midrash states that body and soul are indeed closely related. The body cannot survive without the soul, nor can the soul survive without the body. The close relationship is also seen in the rabbinic understanding that the soul is a guest in the body during its stay on earth. Just as God fills the world, sees but is not seen, so the soul fills the body, sees but is not seen." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

"The soul is pure, (it is) the spiritual essence of man." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

There are various expressions of spirituality in Judaism, yet it seems to be a minimal part of Jewish dialogue. Also, rarely discussed is the principle of life after death or resurrection. Even at Jesus’ time, religious division existed based on acceptance or rejection of resurrection.

"Essenes were a religious sect in Erez Israel toward the end of the Second Temple period. The little we know of them is preserved in the writings of Philo and Josephus. They numbered about 4,000 and lived austerely in isolated communities which, with few exceptions, excluded women. They were intent on personal piety, and on separation from the defilements of everyday living in what they considered the corrupt society around them. They studied the Torah in minute detail and regularly practiced ritual immersion. They supported themselves by manual labor, mostly farming, and lived together as a group, holding everything in community ownership. They opposed slavery and animal sacrifice, bringing only flour and oil to the Temple. Their religious outlook was close to that of the Pharisees, but they had some beliefs and rituals all their own. They believed in reward and punishment; in immortality of the soul; but not in physical resurrection."

"The Sadducees also rejected the Pharisaic belief in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body."

"Some rabbis believed in resurrection. That is that at a certain point in time God will bring everybody back to life and then the world will be a perfect place and physical life will go on indefinitely. This doctrine poses some obvious difficulties: the body actually decomposes after burial so how can it be reconstituted; furthermore what about overpopulation of the world? Those who believe in resurrection claim that anyway the whole process will be miraculous and the miracle will solve all the problems. Other rabbis however denied physical resurrection entirely and understood the afterlife to be a completely spiritual experience."

"The argument about resurrection lasted well into the Middle Ages, and was one of the reasons for the sharp attacks against Maimonides. Many believed that he denied the doctrine and his views started a controversy that lasted for hundreds of years. In modern times most Jewish theologians do not subscribe to the doctrine of physical resurrection and movements such as Reform Judaism do not consider it to be a necessary belief for the Jew."

"The whole subject of (an) afterlife is not explicitly stated in the Bible and many scholars are of the opinion that belief in (an) afterlife was adopted by Jews during the Babylonian exile after the destruction of the First Temple when they came into contact with eastern religions such as Zoroastrianism. Traditional believers claim that there are "hints" to future life in the Torah, such as the verse "Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song" (Exodus 15:1). The Hebrew word for "sang" is in the future tense and the sages took this to mean that Moses and the Israelites will sing in the future, that is, in the world to come." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

This thought has led Jews to suggest that Moses would "live on" and be able to be an intermediary for the "now living."

"Because of the greatness of Moses as a man and because of his towering role in the history of the Jewish people, many stories and legends are told about him. Throughout the legends, however, although he is the most renowned of all Jewish teachers and the intermediary between God and man, there is no attempt to ascribe divine or even semi-divine attributes to him. In contrast to Christianity and Islam which center around a powerful, godlike personality, Moses is never made out to be more than a man and it is emphasized that it is God and not Moses Who gave the Torah to Israel. Divine honors are denied Moses, but his human suprernacy is consistently affirmed."

"Hasidism was aware that a program of utter devotion to God could hardly be carried out by all men. The solution was therefore to have a zaddik (holy man) in each Hasidic group to act as intermediary between God and Israel." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

The present Judaic concept of the "singleness" of God, however, must be compared with references to intercession in the Talmud. One is about the angel Gabriel, another about the part of the sacrifice that acts as intercessor.

"Piskunit," ‘an arguing spirit, — an additional name of the Angel Gabriel, who always interceded on behalf of Israel." (Talmud - Mas. Sanhedrin 44b - Footnote 11)

"Why does it (sin offering) come before the burnt-offering? Because it is like an intercessor who enters to appease the King: When the intercessor has appeased him, the gift follows." (Talmud - Mas. Zevachim 7b)

The principle of unity in Judaism usually refers to the "singleness" of God, yet it is acceptable to have varied or differences of opinion. The concept of heresy applies more to opposition to religious authority than to doctrine.

"Heresy is the belief in ideas which are contrary to those of religious authority. Since Judaism has no official creed of belief, there is no clear definition of heresy. Differences of opinion have often led to controversy among distinguished scholars as to what actually constitutes heretical belief. The basic heresy is the denial of the unity of God. It differs from apostasy in that the apostate renounces his religion. The heretic does not. He remains a Jew, although holding controversial beliefs. The rabbis understood that the study of philosophy and theology without a thorough grounding in traditional Jewish thought could well lead to error. In the Bible and the Talmud there is no exact listing of the ideas the Jew must believe in but contact with other philosophies, Greek, Muslim, Christian, led Jewish scholars of the Middle Ages to define the religious beliefs which are distinctly and uniquely Jewish. The best known of these are Maimonides' Thirteen Principles (Articles of Faith) which are widely, although not universally, accepted as the basic dogma of Judaism."

"Biblical scholars believe that the verse comes to emphasize Israel's faith in the absolute uniqueness and unity of God. Because God is one and unique, He alone is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and He alone is its judge. The unique, sole God is completely independent, He has no needs, and therefore the worshiper can "give" God nothing, except his own personal loyalty which is expressed by obedience to the Divine Law."

"Rabbinic scholars expand this concept beyond Israel to include the hope that all mankind will become unified through its faith in the One God. They interpret: "The Lord our God" (who is now our God alone), "The Lord is One" (He will someday be the sole God)." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

The sole, unified purpose of the Godhead is to return, sinless and proven to God the Father. The way was prepared for us by His Son who atoned for all sins if we would repent. It is through the Holy Ghost we can know for a surety of the true nature of God , His Son and the Holy Ghost.