Читать книгу The Essential Agus - Steven T. Katz - Страница 21

When Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, the last of the prophets died, the Holy Spirit was removed from Israel. Nevertheless, they were able to make use of the Divine Echo (bath-kol). One day, the disciples were sitting in the garret of Guriah at Jericho, when they heard a heavenly Divine Echo announce:

“There is one here who is worthy of the Shechinah resting upon him even as it descended on Moses our teacher, but his generation is not worthy of this honor!”

Then the Sages directed their eyes to Hillel the Elder, and when he died, they said of him—“Oh, the saint, oh, the humble man, a disciple of Ezra.” ⁵¹

They said of Rabbi Jonathan, son of Uziel,—At the time when he would sit down to learn Torah, every bird that flew above him would immediately be burned.⁵²

The story is told of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai [died c. 80 C.E.] that he was riding upon a donkey, with his disciple Rabbi Elazar ben Arach holding the reins. Said Elazar, “My Master, teach me a chapter concerning the Divine Chariot.”

Said the Rabbi, “Did I not tell you that one may not teach about the Divine Chariot save to one person at a time—and he must be one who understands by himself?”

“May I then present to you some teaching that I derived from you?” asked Elazar, and Rabbi Yohanan consented. He descended from his donkey, wrapped his coat around him and sat under an olive tree. “Why did you get off the donkey?” asked Elazar, and his teacher replied:

“Can it be that you will speak of the Divine Chariot, and the Shechinah is with us, and the ministering angels follow after us, and I shall be riding upon a donkey?”

Then Rabbi Elazar, son of Arach, began to preach of the intricacies of the Divine Chariot, and a fire came down from heaven and irradiated the trees of the field, which began to sing their praises to God . . . And an angel cried out of the fire—“This, surely, is the right account of the Divine Chariot.” ⁵³