Siman - Chagigah Daf 13
- The Bas Kol’s response to Nebuchadnezzar
It was taught in a Baraisa: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said: What answer did the Bas Kol give to that rasha, Nebuchadnezzar, when he said, אעלה על במתי עב אדמה לעליון – “I will ascend to the tops of the clouds; I will liken myself to the Most High!”? The Bas Kol called out and said, רשע בן רשע בן בנו של נמרוד הרשע – Rasha, son of a rasha, grandson of the wicked Nimrod, who led the whole world in rebellion against Me during his reign. כמה שנותיו של אדם – How many are the years of a man? Seventy years, and with strength, eighty years. מן הארץ עד לרקיע מהלך חמש מאות שנה – Now, from the earth until the rakia is a journey of five hundred years, and the thickness of the rakia is a journey of five hundred years, and between the first rakia and the second rakia is a journey of five hundred years, and so between each of the rakios. Then each of the nine parts of the holy Chayos, which are above the seven rakios, from their feet to their horns, span the entire distance of the seven rekiyos and the spaces in between them, followed by the feet of the kisei hakavod and the kisei hakavod itself. מלך קל חי וקים רם ונשא שוכן עליהם – The king, the living and enduring G-d, exalted and uplifted, has His presence dwell upon them. How then, could you ever scale the heights of Heaven? אך אל שאול תורד אל ירכתי בור – Rather, but to the nether world will you be brought down, to the uttermost depths of the pit.
- How Chananyah ben Chizkiyah saved Sefer Yechezkel from being concealed
Rav Yehudah said: ברם זכור אותו האיש לטוב – In truth, that man is to be remembered favorably, and Chananyah ben Chizkiyah is his name. If not for him, נגנז ספר יחזקאל שהיו דבריו סותרין דברי תורה – Sefer Yechezkel would have been hidden away, because its words contradict the words of the Torah. What did he do? They brought up three hundred barrels of oil to his attic and he darshened the pesukim in Yechezkel to reconcile them with the Torah. Another Baraisa relates that he saved Sefer Yechezkel a different time as well. It was taught that there was one child who was reading the pesukim in his Rebbe’s house, and when he understood the meaning of Chashmal, a vision in the Sefer, a fire emerged from Chashmal and burned him. The people wanted to hide away the sefer to prevent further tragedy. Chananyah ben Chizkiyah said to them, "אם זה חכם הכל חכמים הן" – If this child was so wise, are all children so wise?
- כל שראה יחזקאל ראה ישעיה
Rava said: כל שראה יחזקאל ראה ישעיה – Everything that Yechezkel saw, Yeshayah saw. Rashi explains that Yeshayah’s description of the Masseh Merkavah is not as detailed as Yechezkel’s vision. למה יחזקאל דומה – What is Yechezkel compared to? לבן כפר שראה את המלך – To a villager that saw a king. ולמה ישעיה דומה – And to what is Yeshayah compared to? לבן כרך שראה את המלך – To a city dweller that saw the king. Rashi explains that Yeshayah grew up within a palace. (His uncle, Amatziah, was one of the malchei Yehudah). Since he was used to seeing royalty, he was not so overwhelmed by the vision to compel him to write down every detail. Yechezkel, on the other hand, came from a small town, and was not used to seeing the monarchy. Therefore, when he had the vision of the Maaseh Merkavah, he wrote down every detail in amazement.
