Chasidut for Bava Batra 150:7
אמר רבי חנינא בר פפא בקש הקדוש ברוך הוא לתת את ירושלים במדה שנאמר (זכריה ב, ו) ואומר אנה אתה הולך ויאמר אלי למוד את ירושלים לראות כמה רחבה וכמה ארכה
The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Lord of the Universe, many towns for the nations of the earth hast thou created in thy world, and thou didst not fix the measurement of their length or the measurement of their breadth, wilt thou fix a measurement for Jerusalem in the midst of which is Thy Name, Thy sanctuary and the righteous?' Thereupon, [an angel] said unto him: 'Run speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 8. ');"><sup>17</sup></span> Resh Lakish said: The Holy One, blessed be He, will in time to come add to Jerusalem a thousand<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' No satisfactory explanation of the peculiar words, [H], that occur in the text, seems to be available. Some regard them as numerical symbols: [H] = 169, [H] = 210, [H] = 146, [H] = 345. Others take them as corrupt Greek, or Persian terms, corresponding to those in Hebrew that follow them in the text. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> gardens, a thousand<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' No satisfactory explanation of the peculiar words, [H], that occur in the text, seems to be available. Some regard them as numerical symbols: [H] = 169, [H] = 210, [H] = 146, [H] = 345. Others take them as corrupt Greek, or Persian terms, corresponding to those in Hebrew that follow them in the text. ');"><sup>18</sup></span>
Kedushat Levi
Looking at the plain meaning of the text it is difficult to understand Onkelos.
Perhaps we have to fall back on the principle that every human being, as part of his character, (virtues) must endeavour to maintain close relations with his Creator. This involves a degree of awe and reverence for the Creator to be present in his mind at all times. It also presumes that he is imbued with a degree of love for his Creator, as he contemplates the greatness of G’d. He is obligated to do this if for no other reason than G’d has performed so many more deeds of loving kindness for the Jewish people than He has performed for any other nation. The same is true for other attributes of G’d that have been of benefit to us on numerous occasions. The sum total of such a relationship between us, the creature, and the Creator, makes this an עולם האמת, a world in which truth is predominant. Once we appreciate this we can understand the Talmud in Megillah 18 in which the rhetorical question is posed of how we know that G’d had referred to Yaakov by the title א-ל, a name used for referring to Him on many occasions?
The foregoing will also help us understand what the Talmud meant when it described G’d as having built and destroyed worlds on a regular basis before He commenced with the construction of the universe described in Bereshit. The Talmud in Baba Batra 75 tells us that just as G’d has been building worlds, so the righteous, in a future, refined world, will also “build worlds;” not only that but they will be given titles used by G’d to describe Himself. The ministering angels when meeting up with these righteous will address them as “your holiness.” Although such statements first strike us as bordering on blasphemy, when we consider that these “righteous people” have already acquired many of G’d’s own attributes, it is not difficult to understand the Talmudic references to the future better state of the world at all.
If man has not attained the level of perfection described in the last few lines, then instead of being accorded titles that he can share with G’d, he remains below that spiritual level; this is why Joseph asks his brothers if they have such a low opinion of him that he is תחת אלוקים, “beneath the level of minimal perfection” described in the Talmud, so that he would be capable of dealing on a basis of revenge with them.
If man has not attained the level of perfection described in the last few lines, then instead of being accorded titles that he can share with G’d, he remains below that spiritual level; this is why Joseph asks his brothers if they have such a low opinion of him that he is תחת אלוקים, “beneath the level of minimal perfection” described in the Talmud, so that he would be capable of dealing on a basis of revenge with them.