This is explained in Hekhalot Rabbati and Hekhalot Zutarti. They [the mystics] would do certain actions, pray certain prayers in purity, make [theurgic] use of the crown, gaze upon the palaces, see the divisions of angels according to their position and palace after palace… They did not ascend on high but rather in the chamber […]
“And the people saw it” (Exod. 20-15). What did they see? They saw the great Glory (kavod gadol). R. Eliezer said- Whence do we know that the Israelite maidservant saw that which the greatest of prophets did not see? It is written, “And the people saw it.” What did they see? They saw the great […]
The Holy One, blessed be He, said, Certainly “I spoke to the prophets,” but “I multiplied visions,” for the prophecy of one was not like that of another. Amos saw Me standing… Isaiah saw Me sitting… Moses saw Me as a warrior… Daniel saw Me as an elder… Therefore it says, “through the prophets I […]
The secret of the splendor of the supernal light, the good that is hidden for the souls of the righteous, “no eye has seen, O God, but You” (Isa. 64-3). We must believe and know that the supernal Garden of Eden is the secret of the bundle of life, and the Holy One, blessed be […]
The essential strength of pietism is that, even though [people] insult him, he does not abandon his piety, and his intention is directed to God and he does not look at women whereas others apart from him do look. Thus he merits the abundant goodness that is hidden and his eyes will be satiated by […]
It is written “I will make all My goodness pass before you” (Exod. 33-19). The word “all” (kol) [in the expression “all My goodness,” kol tuvi] numerically equals fifty [which corresponds to the fifty] gates of understanding. Upon each and every gate there is appointed an angel. The expression “all My goodness” (kol tuvi) numerically […]
A clay tablet containing 80 Hebrew letters arranged in five lines has been found in an excavation outside Tel Aviv at Izbet Sarte. The letters appear to date from about the end of the 11th century B.C.—the time of Saul and David. If this dating is correct, the letters are older by about 100 years […]
“No actual remains of Solomonic Jerusalem have survived,” Dr. Kathleen Kenyon wrote shortly before her death in 1978.1 Most scholars would agree with famous British archaeologist even today. I believe she is wrong. A major Solomonic monument is visible in Jerusalem today for all to see. Indeed, virtually every visitor to Jerusalem does see it, […]
September 1928 American Presidents President Herbert Hoover: 1929-1933 “I have watched with genuine admiration the steady and unmistakable progress made in the rehabilitation of Palestine which, desolate for centuries, is now renewing its youth and vitality through the enthusiasm, hard work, and self-sacrifice of the Jewish pioneers who toil there in a spirit of peace […]
Arab Higher Committee: Submission to the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations: The Arab Higher Committee therefore urges that the only solution compatible with justice and a true desire for peace in the land must be based on the following principles: -one, the recognition of the right of the Arabs to complete independence […]