Chagigah 13b — the Talmud in English

Hashmal is an acronym":

“living creatures speaking” [

fire comes forth from their speech].

In the metanita [

in the beraita]

it was taught

another acronym:

At times “they are silent” [

the living creatures are silent],

at times “they speak” [

that is: they praise and laud the Lord, Rashi on Ezekiel];

When speech goes forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He,

they are

silent, and when speech does not go forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He,

they are

speaking.

It is written further concerning the Chariot in Ezekiel:

“And the living creatures were running and returning, like the appearance of lightning”:

What is “running and returning”?

Rav Yehuda said: Like light

like a flame

that comes forth from the mouth of the furnace

in which stones are burned for lime.

That is: the living creatures bring their heads out from beneath the firmament stretched above their heads, and return and insert them because of fear of the Divine Presence, swiftly, like the running and returning of a flame that comes forth from the mouth of the stones when they are burned.

What is “like the appearance of lightning”?

Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: Like light that comes forth from between earthenware shards.

It is the practice of gold refiners to make holes, holes, in an earthenware vessel, and to turn it over the coals in which the gold is placed, within crushed shards of bricks on top of earthenware, and a flame comes forth above through the holes of the vessel. And it is made of many colors, and continually goes out and enters.

It is written further at the beginning of the account of the Chariot:

“And I saw, and behold, a storm wind was coming from the north [

from Babylonia, which is in the north],

a great cloud and a flaming fire, and a brightness around it.

And from within it, the likeness of hashmal, from within the fire.”

What was the wind seeking

the wind

there [according to the Bach, following Rashi]? Why did the wind go to Babylonia?!

[Baḥ, based on Rashi]? Why did the wind go to Babylonia?!

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: It went to conquer the entire world under the rule of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar.

And why so much?

In order

that the nations of the world should not say,

when the Israelites were delivered into the hands of Babylonia:

“The Holy One, blessed be He, delivered His children into the hands of a lowly nation,”

and therefore He first gave their king authority over the entire world.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Who caused Me to become a servant

to idol worshippers,

to give them authority over the entire world?

The sins of Israel caused Me to do so!

It is written further concerning the account of the Chariot in Ezekiel:

“And I saw the living creatures, and behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures.”

He said,

he explained,

Rabbi Elazar: It is one angel

that

stands on the earth, and its head reaches beside the living creatures,

and this is what it says: “On the earth, beside the living creatures.”

In the metanita it was taught: Sandalfon is his name, and he is taller than his fellow by a journey of five hundred years, and he stands behind the Chariot and binds crowns for his Maker.

And we raise an objection:

Is that so?!

Is it possible that he knows where the place of His glorious Divine Presence is, so that he can place a crown upon it?!

But it is written: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord ‘from His place’”!

That is: from that unknown place where He is found.

By inference, “His place”

of the Holy One, blessed be He—

there is no one who knows it! [

there is no one who knows where His place is].

And we answer: Indeed, he does not himself bind a crown for his Maker.

Rather, he binds it

Sandalfon

to the crown [

he prepares the crown],

and he adjures

the crown

with the Explicit Name, and the crown goes [

the crown goes by itself]

and sits in its place [

the Bach: and it sits by itself in its place].

Rava said: Everything

that

Ezekiel saw

in the visions of the account of the Chariot,

he saw

also

Isaiah

the prophet when the Divine Spirit rested upon him, as it is stated: “And I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up”; only Isaiah did not take care to explain everything, because Isaiah was like a city-dweller who sees the king continually, and therefore is not frightened by him, is not astonished by his appearance, and does not take care to relate this, as the Gemara explains and proceeds.

And why did Ezekiel relate what he saw, whereas Isaiah did not relate it?

Because

to what is Ezekiel comparable? To a villager who saw the king.

And to what is Isaiah comparable? To a city-dweller who saw the king.

Reish Lakish said: What

is the explanation of the verse

that is written: “Sing to the Lord, for He is greatly exalted”

[the Bach]?

Sing to Him who exalts Himself over the exalted.

For the master said: The king among the wild beasts is the lion.

The king among domestic animals is the ox.

The king among birds is the eagle.

And man exalts himself over them.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, exalts Himself over all of them, and over the entire world.

The Gemara further explains verses from the account of the Chariot in Ezekiel: “

And I saw, and behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud and a flaming fire, and a brightness around it, and from within it, the likeness of hashmal, from within the fire.

And from within it was the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: the likeness of a man for them.

And four faces for each one, and four wings for each one of them.

And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like the appearance of burnished copper.

And human hands were beneath their wings on their four sides. And their faces and their wings were for all four of them.

Their wings joined one to the other.

They did not turn when they went; each went toward the direction of its face.

And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man [from the front].

And the face of a lion was to the right [on the right side of the man’s face] for all four of them [so it was with all four living creatures].

And the face of an ox was on the left [on the left side of the man’s face], and the face of an eagle for all four of them [behind the man’s face].”

One verse says: “And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man.

And the face of a lion was to the right for all four of them. And the face of an ox

was on the left for all four of them,”

and the face of an eagle for all four of them.

But

on the other hand,

it is written

in the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 10:

“And four faces for one” [

the verse speaks of the holy living creatures].

The face of the one—

the face of a cherub [

one face, it had the face of a cherub],

and the face of the second—

the face of a man, and the third—

the face of a lion, and the fourth—

the face of an eagle.”

But

the face of

an ox he does not count for it [

but a face of a cherub]?!

Reish Lakish said:

he answered:

Ezekiel pleaded for mercy concerning it, and changed it

from “the face of an ox”

to

the face of a

cherub.”

And thus

said

Ezekiel

before Him: “Master of the Universe! An accuser cannot become a defender!” [

the Bach]

For we need Your Chariots to plead for mercy concerning us, whereas the ox is an accuser because of the incident of the calf.

And we explain:

What is “cherub”?

Rabbi Abbahu said: “

Keruv” is as though one said:

like

a

young child.

For in Babylonia they call a child [

a baby]

a young child,

and the living creatures have the face of a child.

Rav Pappa said to Abaye: If that is so,

since the living creatures have the face of a child, and this is the face of the cherub:

This

that is written [

there, in the aforementioned verse]

“The face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle,”

then according to your words

is the face of a cherub the same as the face of a man?!

And we answer:

A man and a cherub

indeed

are one [

the Bach].

And the difference between them is that a man has

a large

face [

large features],

whereas

a cherub has

“a small face” [

small features].

The Gemara further raises a difficulty from Isaiah’s prophecy against Ezekiel’s prophecy:

One verse

in Isaiah’s prophecy

says: “In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His hems filled the Temple.

Seraphim stood above Him.

Серафимы стояли над Ним.

Six wings, six wings for each one

With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called to the other and said: Holy.”

And Isaiah testifies that he saw six wings for the seraphim.

But

on the other hand,

one verse

in Ezekiel’s prophecy

says

about the living creatures:

“And four faces for each one, and ‘four wings’ for each one of them?!”

That is, they had only four wings, and not six wings as Isaiah saw!

And we answer:

It is not difficult,

because:

Here,

in Isaiah’s days they had six wings,

when the Temple was standing.

Here,

in Ezekiel’s prophecy,

when the Temple was not standing,

for the time had already come for it to be destroyed.

As it were, the wings of the living creatures were diminished—

when the Temple was destroyed—from three pairs of wings to two.

And we explain:

Which of them was diminished [

which pair of wings among the three pairs was diminished]?

Rav Ḥananel said in the name of Rav: Those

wings

with which they recite song.

These are those concerning which it is said, “And with two he flies,” which make a sound with their wings and recite song with them, as is indicated by the juxtaposition of the verse: “And with two he flies. And one called to the other and said: Holy,” and so on.

For it is written here: “And with two he flies,” and one called to the other and said

Holy, and so on.

And it is written: “When you raise your eyes to it, ‘and it is gone.’”

You have therefore learned: Those wings with which it flies are the wings concerning which it says, “it is gone.”

But the Rabbis say:

The wings

those

wings

that cover

the living creatures

with them

their

feet [

as it is stated: “And with two he covers his feet”] were diminished.

And the proof that in Ezekiel’s prophecy those two with which they cover their feet were missing is

that

it

is stated

in Ezekiel’s prophecy:

“And their feet

of the living creatures

were straight feet.”

And if they had not been diminished

those wings that cover their feet,

how would he

Ezekiel

know

what their covered feet looked like?! Rather, necessarily, at the time of his prophecy these wings were diminished and their feet were exposed.

And we challenge: And what proof is this?

Perhaps they uncovered

the living creatures

and showed them to him [

the Bach: perhaps the living creatures uncovered their feet and showed them to Ezekiel]?!

For if you do not say this [

if you do not say that the living creatures revealed covered matters to Ezekiel], then, concerning what is stated in Ezekiel’s prophecy:

“And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man,”

do you also

say that the two wings were diminished

with which he covers his face [as it is stated: “And with two he covers his face”]?!

Rather,

necessarily,

they were uncovered, and he saw them [

their faces were revealed, and Ezekiel saw them].

If so,

here too

one can say:

they were uncovered,

their feet,

and Ezekiel saw them

Ezekiel.

And we answer:

How can you compare them?!

What is the comparison?! This case is not similar to the proof, for one cannot compare the revealing of the face with the revealing of the feet!

Granted, the face: it is proper conduct to reveal it before one’s master [

it is proper conduct to reveal one’s face before the master].

But the feet: it is not proper conduct to reveal them before one’s master! [

but the feet—it is not proper conduct to reveal them before the master].

And necessarily, the wings with which they cover their feet were diminished, and Ezekiel was able to see them.

The Gemara further raises a contradiction between the verses concerning the heavenly retinue:

One verse

in the Book of Daniel

says: “A thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him” [

a thousand thousands of attendants served the Holy One, blessed be He, and myriad myriads stood before Him].

Thus, there is a number for the heavenly retinue.

And one verse

in the Book of Job

says: “Is there a number to His armies?”

It is not difficult: here,

in the Book of Job,

when the Temple was standing.

Here,

in Daniel,

when the Temple was not standing,

for in Daniel’s days the Temple had already been destroyed.

And then

as it were [

we were likewise compelled to say this concerning the host of the Divine Presence, as with flesh and blood, to which diminution applies, Rashi]

the heavenly retinue was diminished.

It was taught: Rabbi says in the name of Abba Yosei ben Dosai

to reconcile the verses:

“A thousand thousands served Him”—

the statement in Daniel—is

the number

of those serving

one host.

And

whereas

for

the number of

His hosts—

there is no number!

as it is stated in Job.

And Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said

to reconcile the verses:

“A thousand thousands served Him”—the River of Fire.

For it is stated

in that verse in Daniel:

“A River of Fire flowed and issued from

before Him” [

drawn and issuing from before Him],

“a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.”

But for the entire heavenly retinue there is indeed no number, as it is stated in Job.

And the Gemara explains the matter of the River of Fire:

From where does it issue,

from where does the River of Fire flow?

Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said in the name of Rav [the Bach]:

[Baḥ]:

From the sweat of the living creatures.

And where does it flow [

it pours forth]?

Rav Zutra bar Tovya said in the name of Rav: Upon the heads of the wicked in Gehinnom, as it is stated: “Behold, the storm of the Lord, fury, has gone forth, and a whirling storm shall whirl upon the head of the wicked.”

And Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov said:

The River of Fire pours

upon “those who were cut off” [

these are the generations whom the Holy One, blessed be He, removed from the world before the giving of the Torah and did not create, and the Holy One, blessed be He, placed them in Gehinnom, as below, and upon them the River of Fire is poured],

as it is stated: “Those who were cut off, and not in due time; a river was poured out as their foundation.” [

the verse is explained below],

“a river was poured out as their foundation.”