Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Halakhah for Bava Batra 149:18

מאי (יחזקאל כח, יג) מלאכת תופיך ונקביך בך אמר רב יהודה אמר רב אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא לחירם מלך צור בך נסתכלתי ובראתי נקבים נקבים באדם ואיכא דאמרי הכי קאמר בך נסתכלתי

R. Meir says: [it means] two hundred cubits; twice the height of Adam.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. [H] 'Adam the first'. That is, the people will gain in stature to twice the height of Adam. His height, originally from earth to heaven or from one end of the earth to the other, was, after his sin, reduced to a hundred cubits. V. Hag. 22a. ');"><sup>35</sup></span> R. Judah says: A hundred cubits; corresponding to the [height of the] temple<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra 3a. cf. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) 100a. ');"><sup>36</sup></span> and its walls. For it is said: <i>We whose sons are as plants grown up in their youth; whose daughters are as corner-pillars carved after the fashion of the Temple</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. CXLIV, 22. How then, in view of their increase to a hundred cubits in height, necessitating correspondingly high gates, can R. Johanan say that the gates were only twenty in height? ');"><sup>37</sup></span> R. Johanan speaks only of the ventilation windows. Rabbah in the name of R. Johanan further stated: The Holy One, blessed be He, will make seven canopies for every righteous man; for it is said: <i>And the Lord will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud of smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a canopy</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. IV, 5. ');"><sup>38</sup></span> This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, will make for everyone a canopy corresponding to his rank.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'his honour, glory.' ');"><sup>39</sup></span> Why is smoke required in a canopy? — R. Hanina said: Because whosoever is niggardly towards the scholars in this world will have his eyes filled with smoke in the world to come. Why is fire required in a canopy? — R. Hanina said: This teaches that each one will be burned by reason of [his envy of the superior] canopy of his friend. Alas, for such shame! Alas, for such reproach! In a similar category is the following: <i>And thou shalt put of thy honour upon him</i>,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXVII, 20. ');"><sup>40</sup></span> but not <i>all</i> thy honour. The elders of that generation said: The countenance of Moses was like that of the sun; the countenance of Joshua was like that of the moon.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Joshua's glory was inferior to that of Moses. ');"><sup>41</sup></span> Alas, for such shame! Alas for such reproach!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That there should be so much deterioration in the course of one generation. ');"><sup>42</sup></span> R. Hama b. Hanina said: The Holy One, blessed be He, made ten canopies for Adam in the garden of Eden; for it is said: <i>Thou wast in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was thy covering, the cornelian, the topaz and the emerald, the beryl, the onyx and the jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle and the emerald and gold</i>]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezek, XXVIII, 13. The text speaks of Hiram, King of Tyre, who is tauntingly asked whether he could compare himself with Adam who had all these canopies. 'Every precious stone' is not included in the number. ');"><sup>43</sup></span> etc. Mar Zutra says: Eleven; for it is said: <i>Every</i> precious stone.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mar Zutra obtains the number eleven by including 'Every precious stone' in the list of materials used for making Adam's canopies. ');"><sup>44</sup></span> R. Johanan said: The least of all [these] was gold, since it is mentioned last. What is [implied] by <i>the work of thy timbrels and holes</i>?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');"><sup>45</sup></span> — Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Hiram, the King of Tyre. '[At the creation] I looked upon thee, [observing thy future arrogance]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Ezek. XXVIII, 2ff, Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am a God, etc. ');"><sup>46</sup></span> and created [therefore] the excretory organs of man'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'many holes' or 'orifices', created to curb human pride. ');"><sup>47</sup></span> Others say: Thus said [the Holy One, blessed be He].' I looked upon thee

Shulchan Shel Arba

And now that I have explained all of this to you, you ought to meditate on the idea that if in this world you will find that things are so according to nature and their inherent virtues, how much the more so will it be the case at the end of time when nature will be made anew and be changed for the better to meet the needs of everything that has been created based on its status! And it goes without saying for the status of the people of Israel and the righteous among them, that the Holy One Blessed be He will make anew the kinds of pleasures and meals, just as He will make them a new creation, in whom the flow of intelligence and the capacity for prophecy has been strengthened. And if the heart of man who thinks he’s so smart objects to this idea, and says the words of the sages z”l are based on the pillars of science and the splendor of the intellect, and that all of them are in accordance with reason, and that they did not speak or say a word except by means of allegory, and the meal of the Leviathan is not physical but only an allegory for intellectual capacity and “the bundle of eternal life,” we will say to him in reply: we are compelled by necessity to believe that the words about a physical meal words refer literally to a physical meal, and not just an intellectual experience. For see what they said in the Perek Ha-Sefinah (“The Ship”):22B. Baba Batra 75a. R. Yohanan said, The Holy One, blessed be He, will in time to come make a banquet for the righteous from the flesh of Leviathan; for it is said: “Companions will make a banquet of it [yikhru ‘alav habarim].”23Job 40:30: literally, “Shall traders traffic in him?” (JSB). Kerah must mean a banquet; for it is said: “And he prepared [va-yikhreh] for them a great banquet [kerah] and they ate and drank.”242 Kg 6:23. “Companions” [habarim] must mean scholars for it is said: “the companions hearken for your voice; cause me to hear it.”25Song of Songs 8:13. The rest [of Leviathan] will be distributed and sold out in the markets of Jerusalem; for it is said: “They will part him among the Kena’anim.”26Job 40:30. R. Bahya omits the Talmud’s explanation of kena’anim: “Kena’anim must mean merchants, for it is said: “a trader [kena’an] with balances of deceit in his hand; he loves to oppress.’ (Hos 12:8) And if you wish, you may infer it from the following: ‘Whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers [kena’anim] are the honorable of the earth.'(Is 23:8)” b. Baba Batra 75a.
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