Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Chasidut for Chagigah 26:5

אמר רבא כל שראה יחזקאל ראה ישעיה למה יחזקאל דומה לבן כפר שראה את המלך ולמה ישעיה דומה לבן כרך שראה את המלך אמר ריש לקיש אי דכתיב (שמות טו, א) אשירה לה' כי גאה גאה שירה למי שמתגאה על הגאים דאמר מר מלך שבחיות ארי מלך שבבהמות שור מלך שבעופות נשר ואדם מתגאה עליהן והקב"ה מתגאה על כולן ועל כל העולם כולו

Rava said, "Everything that Ezekiel saw, Isaiah saw. To what is Ezekiel comparable to? To a villager who saw the king. To what is Isaiah comparable to? To a city dweller who saw the king. Reish Lakish said, "What is the [meaning of] the verse, 'I shall sing to G-d for he has truly glorified himself (heb. Ga'oh Ga'ah, Exodus 15:1)'? A song to the One who is glorified above the glorified." As a master said, "The king from between the beasts is the lion. The king from between the livestock is the ox. The king from between the birds is the eagle, and man is glorified above them, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, is glorified above all of them and above the whole entire world."

Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut

It is written in the Zohar (Shemot, 2b): We must ask, if Yehezkel was a faithful prophet, then why did he reveal all that he saw in his prophetic vision? If the king invites someone into his private chamber, is it proper for that person to divulge all he saw there to the press? Yet it is clear that Yehezkel was a faithful prophet. He had permission from God to reveal all that he did. Furthermore, everything he revealed was necessary. The Zohar concludes that all that Yehezkel revealed was necessary for the people of Israel to know in order to survive the ensuing exile. They were accustomed to great delights while living in the land of Israel, and the Babylonian exile was going to be harsh. Therefore they needed to receive the knowledge of Ma’aseh Merkava dressed in this form, as the Gemara says (Hagiga, 13b), “Yeshayahu was like a townsman who saw the king, while Yehezkel was like a country person who saw the king.”
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