ואם לחשך אדם לומר (עזרא ב, סג) ויאמר התרשתא להם אשר לא יאכלו מקדש הקדשים עד עמוד כהן לאורים ותומים [אמור לו] כאדם שאומר לחבירו עד שיחיו מתים ויבא משיח בן דוד
Come and hear: When the first Temple was destroyed — the cities with pasture land<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the Levites; v. Num. XXXV, 2.
');"><sup>8</sup></span> were abolished, the Urim and Thummim ceased, there was no more a king from the House of David; and if anyone incites you to quote, And the governor said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezra II, 63. From this verse it would appear that the Urim and Thummim continued up to the destruction of the first Temple, contrary to the view of R. Huna.
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Humility can also be viewed as something that applies to one's body, to one's financial dealings and to one's mind or soul respectively. The highest level of humility is that of the mind, i.e. when a person such as Moses, the wisest of men and greatest prophet remains unassuming both in speech, manner and his heart. This is what may be termed as the "Torah" level of humilityץ The next level of humility comprises humility of the body. This may be compared to the "Prophets" level of humility. The aptness of this comparison is based on the fact that all the prophecies recorded in the Books of Prophets concern only a physical future of man, an era up to and including what our sages call the ימות המשיח, the Messianic age on earth. At that time the body will regain the perfection possessed by Adam's body before the sin. Our sages (Yuma 9) have said that since the deaths of Chagai, Zecharyah and Malachi (the last three prophets) the "white glass" has disappeared. Rabbi Alkabetz explained that the expression "white glass" is a metaphor for refinement of matter. The prophecies comprise the mystical dimension of the Holy Spirit. In order to qualify for the recording of such writings in the Hagiographa one must first have achieved this refinement of matter (the material which makes up one's body). The way to achieve this is through שלימות הממון, one's absolute integrity in matter of money. Our sages (Avodah Zarah 51) illustrated this when they said that Rabbi Menachem bar Sima'i was called "the son of holy people" because he had never even looked at a coin. People who display this kind of disregard for money merit a measure of "Holy Spirit." We find a similar definition for such people in Psalms 15: "Who may sojourn in Your holy mountain? He who lives without blame, who does what is right, and in his heart acknowledges the truth….who considers the virtue of humility as minor,…who honors those who fear the Lord; who has not ever lent money at interest nor accepted a bribe." We see that the way one handles money is an indispensable part of the definition of a person who wishes to be at home on the Mountain of G–d" One may summarize: The lower one's profile on earth the higher one's profile in a world of purely spiritual values.
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