Maaseh Merkava - The Divine Chariot

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1. The Ideological Foundations of the Sin of the Golden Calf

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   How could have Bnei Yisrael performed the Sin of the Golden Calf immediately after receiving the Torah? A look at the description of God's chariot shows that the cherubs are in fact oxen. Aharon had intended on bringing the Divine Presence down to earth after Moshe had disappeared; but the nation misunderstood his intentions, and believed the calf was a replacement for God. The same mistake was made, hundreds of years later, by Yerovam.

2. "How Good Are Your Tents Ya'akov" The Organization of God's Dwelling Place

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   Why was the camp of Israel set up in the order described in Bemidbar? Why was the Mishkan positioned in the middle of the camp? Throughout their journey in the boundless and wild desert, the camp is organized in perfect and precise order. The tribal banners are adorned with the animals that carry the Divine Chariot, expressing the fact that the nation is a Chariot for the Shechina.

3. The Marriage of Israel and the Holy One, Blessed Be He

   Haftarot: Shavuot

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   Are the restrictions placed on the study of Ma'aseh Merkava based in the fear from error, or due to the immodesty of the subject? Does Ma'aseh Merkava relate to God's eminence, or to His relationship with Am Yisrael? Why is it permissible to read about God's chariot in public on Shavuot?

4. The Nation and the Shekhina in the Wilderness

   Rabbanit Sharon Rimon

   The Book of Numbers can be divided in a number of ways: based on the years during which events take place (second year/fortieth year); based on the actions of Bnei Yisrael (preparations for the journey/The journey through the desert); and based on the spiritual status of the nation (ideal/sins and complaints/return to the original ideal state). The initial narratives demonstrate that the camp is a Chariot for the divine presence on earth - an integration of the divine ideal in the human reality.

5. The Camp and the Chariot

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman

   What is the reason for the commandment to send the impure form the camp? Why are the laws of impurity in the camp placed at this intersection in the Book of Bemidbar? Was the distance meant to prevent accidental impurity in Holy Places? Or perhaps the prohibition indicates that there is inherent purity to the Camp of Israel? Apparently the order and structure of the Israeli Camp indicates that the Camp is a chariot for the Divine Presence, which requires an attention to the purity of the camp as a whole.

6. The Camp and the Chariot (Audio)

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman |

   This shiur explores concepts of sanctity and defilement (tuma'h ve-tahara), and compares their various appearances in the Torah. The placement of the tribal standards (Degalim) around the Mishkan is analyzed, and compared with the “Divine Chariot” vision of Ezekiel, where the keruvim (cherubim) surround the Divine Celestial Throne.

7. Majestic Buildings

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   The description the building of Shlomo's palace - The House of the Lebanon Forest - interrupting the detailed description of the  of the building of the Mikdash, raises troubling questions as to the relationship between the Mikdash and the palace. The bulk of chapter 7 deals with the elaborate metalwork of the Mikdash - the two pillars, the Yam, the Mekhonot and the Kiyorim. Many of these vessels seem to include imagery which reminds us of the Merkava imagery. When Ahaz king of Yehuda later rebels against God and adopts an Assyrian deity, he rids the Mikdash of the vessels with the Merkava imagery. 

8. King Ahaz – Abandoning God

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   After two generations of kings who upheld God's worship unequivocally, we encounter Ahaz - a king who is attracted to everything Assyrian. He looks to Assyria to offer his country military backing against Israel and Aram's alliance, disregarding an explicit prophetic directive from Yishayahu. In the religious sphere, he transforms the Beit HaMikdash into an Assyrian shrine. 

9. Inside the Divine Chariot: Deciphering the Book of Yechezkel

   Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ד | |

   This shiur begins with the Ma’ase Merkava (the Chariot Vision), and takes a broad look at the entire book of Yehezkel, noticing Yehezkel’s distinctive style in dealing with the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash in his prophecies, such as that of the “double prophecy” wherein Yehezkel provides the prophetic content twice: first allegory and then exposition. Emerging from this study is a recurring image of the Garden of Eden, a comparison between the Kohen Gadol and Adam HaRishon, the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and a message of sadness and consolation about the departure and return of the Divine Presence.

10. The Book of Yehezkel

    Introduction

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    The Book of Yehezkel covers a fateful period of some 22 years in the history of the Jewish People: beginning with year five of the exile of King Yehoyakhin and ending fifteen years after the Destruction of the First Temple. As opposed to other prophets, Yehezkel's prophecies are conveyed in Babylon and grapple with the contemporaneous crisis from a Diaspora vantage point.

    The purpose of Yehezkel's prophecies – in the years preceding the Destruction – was to inform the people that God had departed from His Temple in Jerusalem. He therefore describes in detail the Divine chariot and the journeys of God's glory outside the Temple.

    Yehezkel presents the view of the "inhabitants of Jerusalem," who say that the exiles have distanced themselves from God and from His Land, and that they are not counted among the inheritors of the land and those close to God. God's response, however, conveyed through the prophet, is that while those taken in captivity are currently in exile, God is with them there, as a "miniature Temple". For the first time, the prophet affirms the Jewish identity of the exiles: they remain part of God’s nation, even though the Jews still living in their homeland have a different view, and maintain that God's place is still in the Temple in their midst.

    Both groups, the inhabitants in the land and those exiled to Babylonia, despite their differences, have this in common: neither changed its behavior during these years. Thus, Yehezkel's prophetic mission during these years was not to call upon the people to mend their ways and repent, but rather to explain the significance of the events in Jerusalem, and thereby to prepare the ground for the prophecies of rebuilding which came after the Destruction, as well as the vision of the future Temple.

11. The Chariot and the Journeys of God's Glory

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    At the beginning of his book, Yehezkel describes how "the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God." Chapter 1, described by Chazal as the "ma'aseh merkava" is one of the most difficult chapters to understand in all of Tanakh.

    This Divine vision, which appears at the very outset of the book, holds the key to understanding one of the central prophetic messages of the book. The recollection of this vision accompanies Yehezkel's prophecy throughout the rest of the book. In these visions, God's glory is borne in a chariot, which indicates motion. The upshot of all these visions is that God's glory has departed from the Temple.

    Even in Yehezkel's pre-Destruction prophecies the glory of God has already departed from the Temple and the Divine Presence is no longer within the city of Jerusalem. Therefore, during the six first years of Yehezkel's prophecy – from the time he began to prophesy until the destruction of the Temple – there is no call to the nation as a whole to mend its ways and to repent. The fate of Jerusalem has already been sealed; the Temple is defiled and desecrated, and the city will not be purified until God has poured out His wrath in its midst.

    Where is God's glory is to be found during the years of the Destruction? Does God's glory wander with the people to Babylon, or does it remain in the Land of Israel, outside Jerusalem, waiting for the people to return?

    Yehezkel emphasizes that even though this is the first time that God's glory has departed – indeed the Temple lies in ruins – nevertheless the same Divine vision will return and once again dwell in the future Temple. The nation need not fear that the departure of God's glory from the Temple means the departure of His glory from the nation.

    God’s Presence in the Temple cannot be assumed to be unconditional; God will not allow His Presence to dwell there if the nation causes the Temple to be defiled. But even though the nation refuses to accept the message of the prophets and fails to repent, even after the destruction of the Temple, God will never abandon His people.

12. Yehezkel 1-3

    Matan Al Haperek

    Rabbi David Sabato

    Yechezkel's prophecy is unique because it was delivered in exile. These learning pages deal with the background to Yechezkel's prophecy, the vision of the divine chariot, and his inauguration prophecy and unique mission.  

13. The Vision of the Future Temple

    Part 1 - The Temple with God’s Glory in Its Midst

    Dr. Tova Ganzel

    The final nine chapters of Sefer Yechezkel set forth a vision of the future Temple. These chapters are rich in detail about the dimensions of the building, the various sacrifices, land inheritances, and more.

    It is not coincidental that Yechezkel’s prophecy about the future Temple comes now, a point when the nation has become accustomed to the reality of life in exile, without an active Jewish center in the land. In their new reality, the exiles are left uncertain about their future and their status.

    The detailed but opaque description of the future Beit HaMikdash carries a dual – and indeed self-contradictory – message: on one hand, the Mikdash is presented as something concrete and real; on the other, it cannot actually be built, at least not at this stage.

    The prophet describes the return of God’s glory to the Temple, creating an exalting sense of God’s complete presence, followed by a harsh description of the sins that led to the destruction of the Mikdash and the departure of God’s presence. The sudden fall from such lofty exaltation to such depths seems to reflect the fact that one of the conditions for the return of God’s glory to the Temple is that “the house of Israel will no more profane My holy Name”.

14. Symbolism of the Rainbow: Diversity of Creation and God's Glory

    Rabbi David Silverberg

15. Haftarat Yitro and Kedusha in Context

    Erev Shabbat Parshat Yitro

    Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell | 18 minutes

    Haftarat Yitro contains a selection that is part of Kedusha, an important part of liturgy, which is perhaps  not appreciated enough. Another part of Kedusha is found in Yehezkel, and we compare the two, looking at the verses in their respective contexts.

    Both prophets  are describing majestic visions in which angels and the like play significant roles, but different aspects of the Divine Presence are manifest. Yeshayahu describes the earth as filled with God's presence, and Yehezkel, prophesying in exile, describing God's presence as being more concentrated somewhere else. 

    Yehezkel's message is that God did not abandon the Land of Israel, even during exile.  Even though it seems like there is a big distance - as if God's presence is somewhere far above- He will yet eturn to dwell within us.