The Glory of this Latter House Shall be Greater than that of the Former: Like its Building, Great is its Reading in Torah
by tillerofthesoil
I have hearkened to your prayer and to your plea that you pleaded before Me. I have sanctified this house that you built to set My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart shall be there for all time (1 Kings 9:3).
“Rav Shmu’el son of Abba said: The blessed Holy One said to Israel, ‘Even though the House is destined to be destroyed and the sacrifices nullified, do not forget the order of the sacrifices, but rather be careful to learn them and review them. And if you occupy yourselves with them, I will reckon it to you as if you were occupied with the sacrifices.’
Come and see: When the blessed Holy One showed Ezekiel the design of the House, what did He say? You, man, tell the house of Israel about the house, and let them be ashamed of their crimes, and let them measure its design (Ezekiel 43:10). Ezekiel said before the blessed Holy One: Master of the Universe! Until now we are in exile delivered into in the land of our enemies, yet You say to me go and tell Israel the design of the House, [and if they are ashamed of all that they have done, inform them of the plan of the house and its design…] and write them before there eyes that they may observe all its design and its regulations [and do them] (ibid., 11). And are they able to do [them]?! Leave them until they go up from exile, and afterwards I will go and tell them. The blessed Holy One said to Ezekiel: And because My children are in exile, will the building of My House be nullified? The blessed Holy One said to him: Like its building, great is its reading in Torah. Go and say it to them and they will occupy themselves with reading the design of the House in Torah. And in reward for its reading, that they occupy themselves in its reading, I reckon it to them as if they were occupied with the building of the House.
And happy is the man who engages in Torah and gives his money to teach Torah to his son. As on account of the money that he gives for teaching, he merits life in the world to come, as is said, For He is your life and your length of days (Deuteronomy 30:20). Your life—in the world to come; and your length of days—in the world that is long. And know that it is so. Rabbi Asya said: Why do the schoolchildren of Rabban’s house study the book of Leviticus? Since all the sacrifices are written in it, and because they are pure until now and do not know the taste of offense and crime. Therefore, the blessed Holy One said: Let them first begin with the order of the sacrifices—let pure ones come and occupy themselves with acts of purification. Therefore, I reckon it to them as if they were standing and offering sacrifices before Me. And He is informing you that even though the Temple is destroyed and sacrifices are not practiced, were it not for schoolchildren that read the order of sacrifices, the world would not stand. Therefore, the blessed Holy One said to Israel: My children, even though the Temple is destroyed and the sacrifices are nullified and the sacrifice of the burnt offering is not practiced, if you occupy yourselves with reading the portion of the burnt offering and study the portion of sacrifices, I reckon it to you as if you were offering the sacrifice of a burnt offering before Me, as is said, This it the teaching for the burnt offering (Leviticus 7:37)—one who occupies himself with the teaching of the burnt offering merits life in the world to come. What is written above? Should a person offend and betray YHWH’s trust and dissemble with his fellow [about a deposit or a pledge, or by theft, or defraud his fellow, or should he find something lost… he shall pay back the principal and add a fifth to him to whom it belongs he shall give it, when his guilt is confirmed] (Leviticus 5:21). And afterwards: This it the teaching for the burnt offering. Isaiah said: For I, YHWH, love justice, and hate robbery (Isaiah 61:8)—with a burnt offering. The blessed Holy One says: Do not say, ‘I will steal and defraud, and bring a burnt offering and it will atone for me.’ Since I hate theft, even with a burnt offering made for theft. And if the world wants Me to accept a burnt offering, return the theft to its owner. Afterwards, if he bring up a burnt offering for it, I will accept it, as is said, For I, YHWH… hate robbery with a burnt offering—I hate the burnt offering when the theft is still in his hand.
And one who reads the teaching of the burnt offering is as if he brings and offers up a burnt offering before the blessed Holy One. Therefore, happy is the one who teaches himself Torah and gives his money to teach himself and his sons, as is said, And this is the teaching of the communion sacrifice (Leviticus 7:11). Israel said before the blessed Holy One: Master of the Universe: Behold You command us that we bring all of these sacrifices. When the Temple was still in existence, a man that offended brought a sacrifice and it ransomed for him. And so [too], he brought a meal offering and it was accepted. But now that the Temple is destroyed, what can we do for our offenses and for our guilt? The blessed Holy One said to them: If you want them to be atonement for you, keep My laws, and I will reckon it to you as if you offered up sacrifice before Me. From where is this known? This is the teaching for the burnt offering, for the grain offering, and for the offense offering and for the guilt offering and for the installation offering and for the communion sacrifice [which YHWH charged Moses on Mount Sinai…] (Leviticus 7:37). Do not read it so: [This is the teaching לָעוֹלָה (la-olah), for the burnt offering…], but rather: This is the teaching לֹא לָעוֹלָה (lo la-olah), not the burnt offering, not the grain offering, and not the offense offering and not the guilt offering and not the installation offering and not the communion sacrifice. Rather, occupy yourselves with Torah, and it will be reckoned by Me as if you offered up all of the sacrifices before Me. Therefore, David said, How I loved Your teaching. All day long it was my theme (Psalms 119:97)—since I know that engaging in Your Torah atones for crime, thus How I loved Your teaching.
What is [This is the teaching of the burnt offering. It is the very burnt offering] over its flame on the altar all night till morning (Leviticus 6:2)? That they burn the fats and the limbs the entire night. And the prayers were instituted corresponding to the sacrifices [cf. BT Berakhot 26b: ‘Rabbi Yehoshu’a son of Levi says: The prayers were instituted to replace the daily sacrifices’]. Now that we do not have burnt offerings, nor sacrifices, nor meal offerings, nor guilt offerings, they instituted them as prayers. And the evening prayer can be brought the whole night, just as we bring limbs and fats the whole night. But the Patriarchs instituted the prayers, and this means to say, its burning is on the altar the whole night. And why was the burning on the altar and not in another place? Rather, the verse says, An earthen altar shall you make for Me, [and you shall sacrifice upon it your burnt offerings and your communion sacrifices, your sheep and your cattle] (Exodus 20:24). Why earthen? Because the human was created from the soil, and his name was called אָדָם (adam), human, because he was taken from the אֲדָמָה (adamah), humus. And we offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices on that altar, made of earth, to atone for the body that is taken from the soil. And from where do we know that it ransoms for a life? As is written, For the life of all flesh, its blood is in its life (Leviticus 17:14). And it also says, for it is the blood that ransoms in exchange for life (ibid., 11). And cast the blood round the altar (ibid. 1:5). And cast the blood—the life; round the altar—of soil which is like the body; that ransoms in exchange for life. A perpetual fire shall keep burning on the altar. It shall not go out (ibid. 6:6). And it says, And they shall go out and see the corpses of the people who rebelled against Me, for their worm shall never die and their fire shall not go out (Isaiah 66:24)—those that deny the Omnipresent. But the perpetual fire on the altar atones for the offenses of Israel.
And what is מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeaḥ), altar? מ (Mem)—מְחִלָּה (meḥillah), wipe out, as it מּוֹחֵל (moḥel), pardons, their crimes; ז (zayin)—זְכוּת (zechut), merit, as it gives them merit for the world to come; ב (bet)—בְּרָכָה (berakhah), blessing, as the blessed Holy One brings them blessing in the work of their hands; ח (ḥet)—חַיִּים (ḥayyim), life, as they merit life in the world to come. One who leaves all of these (pardon, merit, blessing, and life) and goes and serves foreign worship, is burned by His great fire, as is said, For YHWH your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24). How is He jealous? As is said, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness (Hosea 2:22)—just as a husband is jealous for his wife, so too the blessed Holy One is jealous, as is said, [As a young man beds a virgin…] and a bridegroom’s rejoicing over the bride [shall your God rejoice over you] (Isaiah 62:5). One who leaves all these will be burnt by His great fire, as is said, For their worm shall never die and their fire shall not go out, and they shall be a horror to all flesh (ibid. 66:24). However, if he repents, the fire burning on the altar ransoms for him and extinguishes the fires of Hell” (Tanḥuma, Tsav 14).
“Rabbi Abba said, ‘I remember something that I heard from the Holy Lamp [Rabbi Shim’on son of Yoḥai], who heard it in the name of Rabbi Eli’ezer [son of Hyrcanus]. One day, a certain clever Gentile came to him and said, Old man, old man… you say that another Temple will be built for you, whereas only two were supposed to be built: the First Temple and the Second Temple—a Third Temple and a Fourth Temple you will not find in the Torah! Surely, what is meant to be built has already been built, and there will never be any more; for, after all, Scripture calls them the two houses of Israel (Isaiah 8:14), and it is written The glory of this last house will be greater than the first (Haggai 2:9)….’
[The Gentile] said, ‘Old man, old man, don’t say anything to me, because I won’t listen to you or accept it!’ [cf. Proverbs 18:2: A fool does not care for discerning but for exposing his inner thoughts; ibid. 26:4–5: Do not answer a dolt by his folly, lest you, too, be like him. Answer the dolt by his folly, lest he seem wise in his own eyes].
Rabbi Eli’ezer raised his eyes and gazed at him, and he turned into a heap of bones. When his wrath subsided, he turned his head and wept. He said, ‘YHWH our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout the earth! (Psalms 8:2). How mighty is the holy power throughout the earth! There is not a single tiny word appearing in the Torah that has not issued from the mouth of the blessed Holy One. These things asked by that wicked man I asked Elijah one day, and he said that they had been presented in the Heavenly Academy before the blessed Holy One.
For when Israel came out of Egypt, the blessed Holy One wished to make them on earth like holy angels above, and He wanted to build for them a holy house, bring it down from the utmost heavens, and plant Israel as a holy shoot corresponding to the image above. As is written: You will bring them, You will plant them on the mount of Your heritage. In which? A firm place for Your dwelling You fashioned, O YHWH (Exodus 15:17)—in the one that You fashioned Yourself, no one else—the First Temple. The sanctuary, O YHWH, Your hands firmly founded—the Second Temple. Both of them, the artistry of the blessed Holy One.
But because they angered Him in the desert, they died, and the blessed Holy One brought into the Land their children—who learned their ways—and the house was built by human hands. Consequently, it did not endure; and Solomon said, Unless YHWH builds the house, its builders labor in vain (Psalms 127:1), for it has no endurance [cf. Zohar 1:74a; Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah on 1:1 (5): ‘Rabbi Berekhiah said, It is not written here: The House that they were building, but rather: The House, in its being built (1 Kings 6:7). It was built by itself!’].
In the days of Ezra, sin took its toll—due to various transgressions—and they were forced to build it themselves, so it did not endure. Until now, the original building of the blessed Holy One has never appeared in the world. For it is written: YHWH builds Jerusalem (Psalms 147:2)—He and no one else. It is this building we await, not a human building, which has no endurance at all [cf. Mekhilta, Shirta 10; Melkhilta de-Rashbi, Exodus 15:17; Avot de-Rabbi Natan A, 1; Targum Yerushalmi, Exodus 15:17; Tanḥuma, Noaḥ 11; Pequdei 11; Tanḥuma (Buber), Noaḥ 17; Pesiqta Rabbati 31, 142b; Yalqut Shim’oni, Psalms 848; Rashi on Exodus 15:17; idem, Rosh ha-Shanah 30a, s.v. la tserikha; Sukkah 41a; Zohar 1:114a (MhN), 183b; 2:59a–b, 108a–b].
The blessed Holy One will bring down the First Temple and the Second Temple as one from above—the First Temple, concealed [Binah]; the Second Temple, revealed [Malkhut]. The house called Second Temple will be revealed, so that the artistry of the blessed Holy One will be visible to the whole world—total joy, aspiration of the heart, in full existence.
That First Temple, concealed, will ascend high above the one revealed; and the whole world will see clouds of glory surrounding the revealed one; and within those clouds will be the First Temple, in hidden fashioning, rising to the height of the glorious heavens. It is this building that we await, which has never existed in the world.
Even the city of Jerusalem will not be the work of human hands, for it is written: I Myself—declares YHWH—will be a wall of fire around her… (Zechariah 2:9). If this is what is written about the city, all the more so for the Temple, which is His dwelling. This act should have happened at first, when Israel came out of Egypt, but it has been deferred to the end of days in the final redemption” (Zohar 3:220b–221a).
“Come and see: Four hundred years, the minister of the children of Ishmael stood and begged before the blessed Holy One: ‘Whoever is circumcised has a portion in Your name.’ He said to him, ‘it is so.’ ‘Behold Ishmael who is circumcised. Why does he not have a portion in You like Isaac?’ He said to him, ‘It is not so, the one was circumcised properly and according to the full requirements, while the other was not so [as Ishmael do not fulfill פּרִיעָה (peri’ah), uncovering, which is alluded to by the verse: He will be פֶּרֶא אָדָם (pere adam), a wild ass of a man, his hand against all, the hand of all against him… (Genesis 16:12, see Zohar 2:86a; 3:192b). אָתוֹן (Aton), she-ass, is numerically equivalent to יִשְׁמָעֵאל (Yishma’el), Ishmael)].
Moreover, they cleave to Me as is specified, on the eighth day, while the others are distanced from me for many days [being circumcised only at age thirteen, see Bereshit Rabbah 55:4].’ ‘But still in all, since he is circumcised, would he not have a good reward for this?’ [Rabbi Ḥiyya said:] Woe is to the time that Ishmael was born into the world and was circumcised. What did the blessed Holy One do? He distanced the children of Ishmael from supernal cleaving and gave them a portion below in the Holy Land, because of their circumcision. And in the future, the children of Ishmael are destined to rule over the Holy Land for a long time when it is empty, like their circumcision, empty and imperfect. And they will prevent the children of Israel from returning to their place until the reward for the merit of the children of Ishmael reaches completion.
The children of Ishmael will cause great wars in the world and the children of Edom will gather against them, and wage war against them, one on the sea, one on the dry land, and one near Jerusalem. And they will rule over each other, but the Holy Land will not be given over to the children of Edom [cf. Numbers 24:19]. At that time, a nation from the end of the earth will be roused against evil Rome and wage war against it for three months. Nations will gather there, and will fall into their hands until all the children of Edom will gather against it from all the corners of the world. Then the blessed Holy One will be roused against them. This is the meaning of For YHWH has a sacrifice in Botzrah (Isaiah 34:6). And afterwards, it is written That it might take hold of the ends of the earth (Job 38:13).
He will destroy the descendants of Ishmael from the Land, and break all [its] powers above. There will not remain any power of any people on earth, except the power of Israel alone. This is the meaning of YHWH is your shade upon your right hand (Psalms 121:5). For the Holy Name is on the right, and the Torah is on the right. Therefore, everything stems from the right. We have learned that one should raise the right over the left, as it is written In His right hand a fiery law (Deuteronomy 33:2). In the time to come: Save with Your right hand and answer me (Psalms 60:7). And of that time, it is written: For then I will purify the language of the peoples, that all of them may call upon the name of YHWH and serve Him shoulder to shoulder (Zephaniah 3:9), and On that day YHWH will be one, and His name will be One (Zechariah 14:9)” (Zohar 2:32a).
“The world will prepare to enter the seventh [millennium], just like a person preparing on the sixth day, as the sun is about to set, to enter Sabbath” (Zohar 1:117a).
But it shall be one day which shall be known to YHWH, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light (Zechariah 14:7).
Jerusalem was liberated within the Hebrew Year 5728 (1968 C.E.). This is 272 years—עֶרֶב (erev), evening time, is numerically equivalent to 272—before the year 6000 and the Seventh Millennium described by the Mishnah and the Zohar as the cosmic Sabbath (cf. Zohar 2:17a, [MhN]).
וּלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ (U-yishma’el shematikha), And as for Ishmael, I have heard you (Genesis 17:20), is numerically equivalent to 1329.
In the year 638 C.E. after emerging victorious from the Battle of Yarmuk Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem mounted on a white camel, escorted by the magistrate of the city, the Greek Patriarch Sophronius. The Caliph asked to be taken immediately to the Temple Mount and there he knelt in prayer on the spot where Muhammed had made his Night Journey.
1329 plus 638 totals 1967 the year of The Six Day War when Jerusalem was liberated.
Photo credit: Mechaya Ruth Read of Jerusalem, of blessed memory.
“One said, ‘I am more beloved than you, for I was circumcised when I was thirteen years old.’ The other said, ‘I am more beloved than you, for I was circumcised sooner, namely, on the eight day.’ Ishmael said to him, ‘I am more beloved than you, because I could have objected but didn’t.’ At that moment Isaac said, ‘Would that the blessed Holy One appeared to me and told me to cut off one of my limbs. I would not object.’ Said the blessed Holy One ‘If I should tell you to offer yourself up to me, you would not refuse’ (Bereshit Rabbah 55:4).
“He sat and expounded: and saw the Kenite [i.e., ‘Midian’ or ‘Ishmael’ (Rav Ḥai Gaon)] (Numbers 24:21). When he saw that the kingdom of Ishmael would come [and exercise dominion over Israel], he said: Is it not enough what the wicked kingdom of Edom has done to us that we should also [suffer the dominion of] the kingdom of Ishmael?! Immediately Metatron Prince of the Presence answered him, saying: Do not be afraid my son, for the blessed Holy One is bringing about the kingdom of Ishmael only for the purpose of delivering you from that wicked one [Edom]. He shall raise up over them a prophet in accordance with His will, and He will subdue the Land for them; and they shall come and restore it with grandeur. Great enmity will exist between them and the sons of Esau….
The second king who will arise from Ishmael will be a friend of Israel. He will repair their breaches and the breaches of the Temple and shape Mount Moriah [cf. 2 Chronicles 3:1; JT Berakhot 4:5, 8c; Sifre, Deuteronomy 62] and make the whole of it a level plain. He will build for himself there a place for prayer upon the site of the אֶבֶן שְׁתִיָּה (even shetiyyah), Foundation Stone [cf. M Yoma 5:2; Tosefta, Yoma 2:14; BT Yoma 54b; JT Yoma 5:2, 42c; Vayiqrah Rabbah 20:4; Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana 26:4; Pirqei de-Rabbi Eli’ezer 35; Zohar 1:71b–72a, 231a; Rabbi Moshe de León, Sefer ha-Rimmon, 333], as it says, and saw the Kenite (Numbers 24:21). He will wage war with the sons of Esau and slaughter their troops and capture a large number of them, and he will die in peace and with great honor” (Nistarot shel Rabbi Shim’on bar Yoḥai).
“Rabbi Yehudah opened, ‘At three things the earth trembles […] at a slave who becomes king […] and a slavegirl supplanting her mistress (Proverbs 30:21-23). At a slave girl who becomes king—as it has been taught: There is no people as lowly and contemptible before the blessed Holy One as the Egyptians, and yet He granted them dominion on account of Israel. And a slavegirl supplanting her mistress—Hagar who bore Ishmael, who inflicted much harm upon Israel, dominating them and afflicting them with all manner of afflictions, and decreeing upon them numerous forced apostasies. Until this very day, they rule over them and do not allow them to practice their religion. There is no exile as harsh for Israel as the exile of Ishmael!’
Rabbi Yehoshu’a was going up to Jerusalem, traveling on the road. He saw an Arab traveling with his son. They came upon a Jew. He said to his son, ‘This Jew is abhorrent, despised by his Lord. Seize him and spit upon his beard seven times, for he hails from the seed subjugated by seven nations.’
His son went and grabbed his beard. Rabbi Yehoshu’a said, ‘O exalted ones, O exalted ones! I decree that the high descend below!’
Before he had finished [speaking] they were swallowed in their place” (Zohar 2:17a [MhN]).
“You know, my brethren, that on account of our sins, God has cast us into the midst of this people, the nation of Ishmael, who persecute us severely, and who devise ways to harm us and debase us…. No nation has ever done more harm to Israel. None has matched it in debasing and humiliating us” (Maimonides, The Epistle to Yemen, translated in Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross, xvi).
“O stone, O stone! Sacred stone! Most sublime in the entire world because of the sanctity of your Master! Someday the children of the world will debase you, and set impure corpses upon you, defiling your holy site; all the impure will approach you. Woe to the world at that time!” (Zohar Ḥadash 27d).
“Abominations will be eradicated from the Holy Land. Three battles will be waged by the Ishmaelites against this Messiah [son of Ephraim], but they will come and bow down before the Master of the Universe, at the holy mountain in Jerusalem. These battles will occur in the sixth millennium [1240–2239 C.E.]” (Zohar Ḥadash 56b–c).
“The letter ז (zayin) [alluding to זַיִן (zayin), weapon] belongs to the children of Kedar—all waging war, constantly, more than all the other nations. They are prepared to do battle at the end of days with all other nations of the world [on Kedar, see Genesis 25:13]” (Zohar Ḥadash 70a).
“And Remember when Moses said to his people: O my people! Remember the favors of your LORD that He has bestowed upon you, as He has made prophets and kings from among you, and has given to you that which has never been given to anyone amongst the nations. Enter then, My people, the Holy Land, that God has written for you, and turn not back, or you will suffer” (Qur’an 5:20–21 [6]).
“Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews” (Sahih Muslim, 41:6985).
Al Haram Al Sharif and Al Aqsa should be given Unesco attention. Israel doesn’t need a temple.
“Once Rabbi Yoḥanan son of Zakkai went out of Jerusalem and Rabbi Yehoshu’a was following him. Seeing the Temple destroyed he said: Woe unto us that this place is destroyed, the place where atonement was made for Israel’s crimes! Rabbi Yoḥanan said: My son, do not grieve yourself, for we have another means of atonement which is equivalent to it. What is it? Rendering kindness, as is written, For kindness did I want and not sacrifice, [and knowledge of Elohim more than burnt offerings] (Hosea 6:6)” (Avot de-Rabbi Natan A, 4).
“The lower Shekhinah is called the כּוֹתֶל מַעֲרָבִי (Kotel Ma’aravi), Western Wall. His [namely, the blessed Holy One’s] dwelling, being the תֵּל (Tel), Mount, to which all turn. כּוֹתֶל (Kotel), wall—[read instead:] כ״ו תֵּל (esrim ve-shesh Tel), Mount of Twenty-Six, and יהוה (YHWH) is [numerically equivalent to] כ״ו (twenty-six)” (Zohar 2:116a, Ra’aya Meheimna Mishpatim).
“As Rabbi Ḥiyya said: ‘Shekhinah never budged from the western wall of the sanctuary, as is said: There he stands behind our wall (Song of Songs 2:9)—beginning of faith, for the entire world’” (Zohar 2:5b [MhN]).
“So all Israel attune their hearts to one place…. Where do we learn this from? Like the tower of David your neck built לְתַלְפִּיּוֹת (letalpiyyot) (Song of Songs 4:4)—a תֵּל (tel), mount, to which all פִּיוֹת (piyot), mouths, turn” (BT Berakhot 30a).
“What is, From the west I will gather you (Isaiah 43:5)? From the quality which points ever towards the west. Why is it called מַּעֲרָב (ma’arav), west? Because there all seed is מִתעַרֵב (mit’arev), mixed. What is this like? A king’s son had a lovely and modest bride in his chamber. He took riches from his father’s house and brought them to her. She would constantly take it all and hide it, mixing it all together. After a time he sought to see what he had gathered and stockpiled. Thus, From the west מַּעֲרָב (ma’arav), I will gather you [alluding to עֲרֵמָה (aremah), pile]. And what is it? His father’s house, since From the east I will bring your seed (ibid.), to teach you that He brings from the east and sows to the west. Afterwards He gathers in that which He has sown” (Bahir §156).
“In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land [whom YHWH of armies shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, My handiwork Assyria, and My heritage Israel] (Isaiah 19:24). The seventy princes who govern the army on high are divided in their midst. One division is governed by the prince of Ishmael, called Egypt, and the other division is governed by the prince of Edom, called Assyria [cf. 2 Kings 16; Isaiah 7–9; 2 Chronicles 28]. Both divisions receive from Gevurah, at the left side of the Chariot, but as we said, Gevurah is divided in two: one aspect is harsh judgment and the other weak [cf. Zohar 2:178a, 187a]; the harsh is exceedingly hard and the weak is soft. However, one stately light expands from the way of Tif’eret engulfing these two qualities, covering and influencing them. And in the future yet to come, when these two princes behold this light, they will call it the Light of Blessing, as is written, In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land. And look, truly some of the nations will be restored to the dominion of Israel” (Berit Menuḥa, Third Way: The Way of Peace, cf. Zohar 1:13a, 164a; 2:57b; 3:218a–b [RM], 227b).
“Rabbi Ḥiyya was traveling to visit Rabbi El’azar. He found him sitting next to Rabbi Shim’on son of Rabbi Yose, son of Lekonya, his father-in-law. As he raised his head, he saw saw Rabbi Ḥiyya. He said, ‘In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, whom YHWH of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, My handiwork Assyria, and My heritage Israel’ (Isaiah 19:24). How foolish are the inhabitants of the world, who do not know or consider the words of Torah!
Are then Ashur and Egypt close to the blessed Holy One? Rather, all those members of the exiles who will go up from Egypt and Ashur. But if we say that it is Egypt and Ashur [themselves] it refers to the pious among them who repent, and remain to serve Israel and King Messiah, as is written, and may all kings bow to him, and all nations serve him (Psalms 72:11), and, kings shall be your foster fathers [and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am YHWH: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me] (Isaiah 49:23)” (Zohar 2:57b).
Let Me recall Rahab and Babel to those who know Me. Look, Philistia and Tyre together with Cush—this one was born there (Psalms 87:4, cf. Isaiah 51:9; Psalms 89:11; Job 9:13; 26:12; BT Bava Batra 74b; Zohar 3:246 [RM]).
“[The blessed Holy One] summoned Rahab [the prince of Ishmael], and said to him, ‘Do you want My Torah?’ He replied, ‘What’s written in it?’ He skipped ahead and said, ‘You shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:13).’ ‘He replied, ‘Woe, if the blessed Holy One transmits this legacy to me—an evil legacy, which will eliminate my whole dominion; for I have obtained a blessing of waters, a blessing of the fish of the sea, as is written: פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ (peru urvu), Be fruitful and multiply [and fill the waters of the seas] (Genesis 1:22), and similarly: He will be פֶּרֶא (pere), a wild ass of, a man (ibid. 16:12)” (Zohar 3:192b).
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Look, I will bless him and make him fruitful and will multiply him most abundantly, twelve chieftains he shall beget, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac (Genesis 17:20–21)—בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד (bi-me’od me’od), most abundantly, is numerically equivalent to מֻחַמַּד (muḥammad), Muhammed; twelve chieftains alludes to “There will appear among you twelve imams coming one after another, all of them from Quraysh” (Hadith). Cf. Maimonides, The Epistle to Yemen.
“Ishmael will repent in his own days” (Bereshit Rabbah 30:4, 38:12).
“In the hour that Solomon built the holy Temple, the whole world was filled with the fragrance of spices. In the end [however] he saw that it would be destroyed and he wept, saying ‘This fragrance was all for naught!’ The blessed Holy One said to him ‘Do not be distressed, I will build it as an eternal structure all night between my breasts (Song of Songs 1:13).’ Thus it says, His jaws are like a bed of spice (ibid. 5:13)” (Pesiqta Rabbati 20).
“I have been for them לְמִקְדָּשׁ מְעַט (le-miqdash me’at), a small santuary [in the lands into which they have come] (Ezekiel 11:16). Rabbi Yitsḥaq said, ‘This refers to synagogues and houses of study in Babylon'” (BT Megillah 29a, cf. Targum Yonatan and Rashi on Ezekiel 11:16; Zohar 2:164a–b).
“How beloved are Israel to the blessed Holy One! For wherever they dwell, He is found among them—because He does not withdraw His love from them. What is written? Have them make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them (Exodus 25:8). Have them make Me a sanctuary—unspecified, for every synagogue in the world is called a sanctuary, as has been established” (Zohar 2:126a).
“The blessed Holy One said, ‘It is My desire to dwell among you, but I cannot until you restore that spirit of Mine so that it dwells in your midst,’ as is written: Have them make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them (Exodus 25:8)” (Zohar 2:146a).
“Have them make Me a sanctuary (Exodus 25:8). What is the intent of this? Is it not written [Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says YHWH.] Do not I fill heaven and earth? (Jeremiah 23:24). What, then, is the intent of Have them make Me a sanctuary? To receive reward for making it” (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishma’el, 13:2:3).
“Come and hear: When the First Temple was destroyed, the cities with pastureland [… for the Levites] (Numbers 35:2) were abolished, the Urim and Thummim ceased, and there was no more a king from the House of David. However, if a person should whisper to you [that, in fact, the Urim and Thummim remained, as is written with regard to the time of the Second Temple:] And the governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till a priest could consult with Urim and with Thummim (Ezra 2:63), reply to him: like a man says to his fellow, ‘Until the dead live and the Messiah, son of David, comes!’ [i.e., the distant future].
However, Rav Naḥman son of Yitsḥaq said: Who are the former prophets? This excludes Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi who are the latter prophets. For our Rabbis have taught: When Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi died, the רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ (ruaḥ ha-qodesh), Holy Spirit, departed from Israel; nevertheless they made use of the בַּת קוֹל (bat qol), Daughter of Voice [i.e, a reverberating sound or echo, see Tosefta, Sotah 13:3; JT Sotah 9:12, 24b; BT Yoma 9b, Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah on 8:10].
On one occasion they were sitting in the upper chamber of Gurya’s house in Jericho; Daughter of Voice was granted to them from the heavens, announcing, ‘There is in your midst one man who is deserving that the Shekhinah should alight upon him, but his generation is unworthy of it.’ They all looked at Hillel the elder; and when he died, they lamented over him, ‘Alas, the devout man! Alas, the humble man! Disciple of Ezra!’ On another occasion they were sitting in an upper chamber in Yavneh; Daughter of Voice was granted to them from the heavens, announcing, ‘There is in your midst one man who is deserving that Shekhinah should alight upon him, but his generation is unworthy of it.’ They all looked at Shemu’el the Little; and when he died, they lamented over him, ‘Alas, the humble man! Alas, the devout man! Disciple of Hillel!’ At the time of his death he also said, ‘Shim’on [son of Gamaliel] and Yishma’el [son of Elisha the High Priest are destined] for the sword and their colleagues for death, and the rest of the people for plunder, and great distress will come upon the people.’
They also wished to lament over Rabbi Yehudah son of Bava [a victim of the Hadrianic Persecution], ‘Alas, the devout man! Alas, the humble man!’ But the hour was unstable and they could not lament publicly over those who had been murdered by the מַלְכוּת (malkhut), government” (BT Sotah 48b).
“Contemplate these two words found in the same verse, each one bearing witness to the other’s secret: But YHWH is in His holy palace (Habakkuk 2:20). And afterwards it says Hush before Him all the earth! (ibid.)—the secret of הַס (has), hush, is the secret of the word הֵיכַל (heikhal), palace [i.e., these two words are numerically equivalent]. [If one should protest] about the prefix ב (bet) in the word בְּהֵיכַל (be-heikhal), in [His holy] palace, it is merely instrumental, [and if it is removed, the word] heikhal, palace, remains. Now the secret of the word heikhal contains the secret of has, whose meaning is the Name YHWH, which is also called Heikhal, Palace [or: Temple], in which YHWH is hidden. Nevertheless its pronunciation is אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) which the whole world uses to call Him, according to the secret of has [אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) and הָס (has), hush, are numerically equivalent words]…. And he shall say, ‘הָס (has), Hush!’ so as not to mention the name YHWH (Amos 6:10)—be silent when you mention the Name, pronounce Adonai so as not to articulate the unique Name YHWH” (Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla, Ginnat Egoz, 26a–b).