א"ל אביי והא מר הוא דאמר הקדיש זכר לדמיו קדוש קדושת הגוף לא קשיא הא דאמר לדמי עולה הא דאמר לדמי נסכים
are liable to be trespassed against as soon as they are verbally consecrated; when they are consecrated in the vessel, they become liable also to invalidation by [the touch of] a tebul yom, and one lacking atonement, and by linah, [Hence we may deduce:] When 'they are consecrated in the vessel' - yes, [they become liable to invalidation by linah,] but before they are consecrated in the vessel - no.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This vessel is not the mortar in which the incense is pounded, but the vessel in which it is placed when brought to the altar to be burnt; for, while in the mortar, the Baraitha states, it is invalidated by the touch of a tebul yom, and not by linah, whereas this Mishnah states that when the incense is consecrated in the vessel it is invalidated also by linah; obviously, therefore, this is a different (holier) vessel. The incense, then, before it is placed in this holier vessel is not bodily holy.');"><sup>16</sup></span> He said to him: You argue from [the fact that it is not invalidated by] linah [that therefore the incense is not bodily holy]! Incense is different [it is bodily holy even in the mortar, but is not invalidated by linah], because it retains its form all the year.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Linah does not alter its appearance or freshness as it would, for example, in the case of meat. When consecrated in the vessel, however, it is liable to invalidation by linah (though it still retains its form) , because all other things consecrated in a vessel are liable to invalidation by linah; if incense were not so liable, it might sometimes be erroneously inferred that the others were also not so liable.');"><sup>17</sup></span>
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
In the Mishnah Torah, in the second chapter of Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, the Rambam writes that there are ten different names of angels, corresponding to ten different levels of angels. His words are well suited to the view of the Zohar on this matter, (Bo, 43a), with the exception that he replaces Elim with Keruvim. A study of the Zohar in Parshat Pinchas (235a-b) will show that it is really the same thing. And in the Zohar Hadash (Bereshit, 6b), the enumeration of the order of angels is precisely as is found in the Rambam, mentioning Keruvim in the place of Elim. That which he wrote concerning the tenth and lowest level of angels called Ishim, who speak to the prophets for their stature is close to the status of man’s consciousness, is also the view of the Zohar (Lekh, 81a): (The Zohar is discussing how the new soul is drawn into the desire at the time of intercourse.) Through the desire, and together with the soul (nefesh) that is drawn there, another force is also drawn below. This force comes from the level of angels called Eeshim, and all enters from the drawing of the seed. The body of the newborn is built from them. This is the first and most primal level of soul, called nefesh. The Zohar Hadash (Bereshit, Midrash haNe’elam, 6b) enumerates the ten classes of angels from below to above. Here the Zohar Hadash also says that the lowest of the ten level is Eeshim. Rav Tordos haLevi, the author of the Otsar haKavod, argues against the Rambam on his treatment of the angels. However, he admits that the Rambam had true intentions in general, yet wonders how he could have said this. Also we find many other places in the Rambam that hint both in particular and in general that he possessed a true tradition of the mysteries of the Torah. In the tenth chapter of section two of the Guide, the Rambam makes reference to the special usage of the words brass (nehoshet) with regard to the angels; in Zecharia (6:1), “and the four chariots came out from between the two mountains, which mountains were mountains of brass.” And in Yehezkel (1:7), “burnished brass (nehoshet kalal).” There is no explanation of these phrases in pshat (the plain meaning). Here the Rambam is making an explicit reference to the treatment of this phrase in the Zohar (Teruma, 139a), “In the book of Shlomo HaMelech there are lofty secrets surrounding the brass altar. With the altar, we find it said, ‘make me an altar of earth.’ This secret is well and good. Yet brass is mentioned when other mountains rule, and she (malkhut) must nourish them. This is when she colors herself in the color of brass in order to sustain them, and she is called the mountains of brass.” There are many other examples such as which attest to the Rambam’s knowledge of Kabbalah which I do not have time to add.
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