Chasidut for Chagigah 28:9
בן עזאי הציץ ומת עליו הכתוב אומר (תהלים קטז, טו) יקר בעיני ה' המותה לחסידיו בן זומא הציץ ונפגע ועליו הכתוב אומר (משלי כה, טז) דבש מצאת אכול דייך פן תשבענו והקאתו אחר קיצץ בנטיעות רבי עקיבא יצא בשלום
Ben Azzai glanced and died, and upon him the verse says, "It is precious in the eyes of Hashem, the death to his pious (Psalms 116:15)." Ben Zoma glanced and was hurt (mentally; he went insane), and upon him the verse says, "Honey you have found- eat [only] your fill, lest you become satisfied of it and regurgitate it (Proverbs 25:16)." Acher chopped down saplings [ie. he became a heretic]. Rabbi Akiva emerged in peace.
Kedushat Levi
According to the Sefer Yetzirah the word המקום in this verse is a reference to the name of G’d, [as we are familiar with from the haggadah shel pessach, ברוך המקום. Ed.] The reason that this word serves as a euphemism for G’d’s name is to remind us that He is מקומו של העולם, “the One to Whom all of ‘Space’ belongs, seeing He has created it.” In keeping with this approach we must translate the words: וישם מראשותיו, as related to ראשית, “beginning of time,” i.e. the Jewish people featured first in G’d’s thinking, and the word וישכב, may be broken up into יש כ'ב, the material world i.e. יש, is based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. [The letter ו at the beginning, is of course, only a grammatical tool for turning the future tense into an immediate past tense. Ed.]
Still another way of looking at this verse is based on a statement in the Talmud Chagigah 14. We are told there about four sages who decided to investigate the mystical aspects of the Torah, commonly known as the pardes, (acronym for the four approaches to valid interpretations, פשט, דרוש, רמז, סוד) Of these 4 scholars only one returned unharmed either physically or mentally, i.e. Rabbi Akiva. After his experience Rabbi Akiva warned anyone who would emulate him that when he would come to אבני שיש טהור, “stones made of pure marble,” he should not be misled into considering this מים, מים, (mistaking the phenomenon for completely transparent and therefore pure water). Rabbi Akiva quoted a verse from psalms 101,7 דובר שקרים לא יכון נגד עיני, “he who speaks deceitfully shall not stand before My eyes.”
In order to gain an understanding of what Rabbi Akiva alluded to here, we must first of all remember a rule that governs all legitimate exegesis of the Torah. The rule is that the 288 sparks which descended into the material world from the primordial world of Tohu, i.e. a world in which the Shechinah was the only manifestation of a creative spirit, and attached themselves to one or the other outstanding human being, have one thing in common. The persons so endowed must believe without doubt or reservation that all parts of the universe wherever, are the product of the One and only Creator Who has infused them with “life” (according to their respective functions). Their continued existence is totally dependent on this Creator, and this Creator dispenses of His largesse not only to those who believe in Him but also to those who hate Israel. (and, by extension, hate Him) The difference between the former (the tzaddikim) and the latter consists primarily in the ability of the tzaddikim to “pull down” additional largesse from the celestial reservoir thanks to their standing in that hierarchy. In doing so, they divert some of this largesse away from the infidels, the wicked.
Still another way of looking at this verse is based on a statement in the Talmud Chagigah 14. We are told there about four sages who decided to investigate the mystical aspects of the Torah, commonly known as the pardes, (acronym for the four approaches to valid interpretations, פשט, דרוש, רמז, סוד) Of these 4 scholars only one returned unharmed either physically or mentally, i.e. Rabbi Akiva. After his experience Rabbi Akiva warned anyone who would emulate him that when he would come to אבני שיש טהור, “stones made of pure marble,” he should not be misled into considering this מים, מים, (mistaking the phenomenon for completely transparent and therefore pure water). Rabbi Akiva quoted a verse from psalms 101,7 דובר שקרים לא יכון נגד עיני, “he who speaks deceitfully shall not stand before My eyes.”
In order to gain an understanding of what Rabbi Akiva alluded to here, we must first of all remember a rule that governs all legitimate exegesis of the Torah. The rule is that the 288 sparks which descended into the material world from the primordial world of Tohu, i.e. a world in which the Shechinah was the only manifestation of a creative spirit, and attached themselves to one or the other outstanding human being, have one thing in common. The persons so endowed must believe without doubt or reservation that all parts of the universe wherever, are the product of the One and only Creator Who has infused them with “life” (according to their respective functions). Their continued existence is totally dependent on this Creator, and this Creator dispenses of His largesse not only to those who believe in Him but also to those who hate Israel. (and, by extension, hate Him) The difference between the former (the tzaddikim) and the latter consists primarily in the ability of the tzaddikim to “pull down” additional largesse from the celestial reservoir thanks to their standing in that hierarchy. In doing so, they divert some of this largesse away from the infidels, the wicked.
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