Musar for Chagigah 28:8
ת"ר ארבעה נכנסו בפרדס ואלו הן בן עזאי ובן זומא אחר ורבי עקיבא אמר להם ר"ע כשאתם מגיעין אצל אבני שיש טהור אל תאמרו מים מים משום שנאמר (תהלים קא, ז) דובר שקרים לא יכון לנגד עיני
The Rabbis taught: There were four who entered the Orchard (a reference to the Garden of Eden), and they are - Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha Ben Avuya) and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva said to them: "When you reach near the pure marble stones, do not say 'Water, water'," Because it is said, "A speaker of lies shall not abide before my eyes (Psalms 101:7)."
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
When he had said "the G–d of my father has come to my assistance" (Exodus 18,4), he implied that even his father Amram had become so refined and purified that he qualified as an איש האלוקים. The words "He has saved me from the sword of Pharaoh," in addition to "the G–d of my father came to my help," mean that just as one grants additional wisdom to those who already possess a degree of wisdom, so Moses, seeing he had already possessed basic qualifications, advanced to even higher rank both spiritually and physically, so that even Pharaoh's sword could not harm his neck anymore than it could harm a pillar of marble. This is a hint that marble is incapable of becoming ritually impure. When the four sages entered the פרדס, i.e. the study of esoterics, מעשה מרכבה, Rabbi Akiva warned his colleagues "when you see pure marble, do not say "water, water!" (Chagigah 14)
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy