Sukkah, Daf Mem Heh, Part 5
Introduction
This mystical section opens with R. Shimon b. Yohai’s statement as to how many people there are in heaven who have merited the right to greet the Shekhinah, God’s divine presence.
ואמר חזקיה אמר רבי ירמיה משום רבי שמעון בן יוחי: ראיתי בני עלייה והן מועטין, אם אלף הן – אני ובני מהן, אם מאה הם – אני ובני מהן, אם שנים הן – אני ובני הן.
Hezekiah further stated in the name of R. Yirmiyah who said it in the name of R. Shimon b. Yohai: I have seen the sons of heaven and they are but few. If there be a thousand, I and my son are among them; if a hundred, I and my son are among them; and if only two, they are I and my son.
This continues the theme from the end of yesterday’s section. R. Shimon b. Yohai says that there are few human beings who are righteous enough to merit seeing God in heaven, but that if there are only two, they are he and his son.
There is a debate among commentators whether R. Shimon b. Yohai refers to all of history or just his own generation. R. Hananel says that he refers to his own generation for R. Shimon b. Yohai observed the behavior of the people in his time and based on that observation he claimed that there are few who truly merit seeing the Shekhinah.
ומי זוטרי כולי האי? והא אמר רבא: תמני סרי אלפי דרא הוה דקמיה קודשא בריך הוא, שנאמר +יחזקאל מח+ סביב שמונה עשר אלף!
לא קשיא: הא דמסתכלי באספקלריא המאירה, הא – דלא מסתכלי באספקלריא המאירה.
Are they then so few? Did not Rava say, There is a row of 18,000 righteous men before the Holy One, blessed be He, for it is said, "It shall be eighteen thousand round about [and the name of the city from that day on shall be ‘The Lord Is There’" (Ezekiel 48:35)?
This is no difficulty: The former number refers to those who see Him through a bright speculum, the latter to those who do not see him through a bright speculum.
The Talmud cites a contradiction with R. Shimon b. Yohai’s statement that there may be as few as two who see God’s presence. Rava, a Babylonian amora, claims that there are 18,000 righteous sitting before God. According to Ezekiel this is the size of the perimeter of the city of Jerusalem 18,000 cubits. The name of the city is "The Lord Is There." Since we know from elsewhere that a person takes up one cubit’s worth of space, we can conclude that there are 18,000 people sitting around the city of the Lord, "The Lord Is There."
The answer is that there are only few people who see the Shekhinah clearly, through a bright speculum (some interpret this word to mean a partition). But there are many who can see God but more dimly, without this bright speculum (or through a thick partition). We should note that this "seeing of God" and how it relates to prophecy, and what prevents people from being prophets, who were/are true prophets is a complicated and rich topic. But this is not the space to delve deeply into the topic. I will say that for the Rambam what bars a person from being a prophet are that person’s own bad qualities, stubbornness, anger, haughtiness, stupidity, jealousy, etc. The prophet is therefore one who perfects his qualities to such an extent that he can see God clearly. This is indeed a rare quality, as our sugya teaches us.
ודמסתכלי באספקלריא המאירה מי זוטרי כולי האי? והא אמר אביי: לא פחות עלמא מתלתין ושיתא צדיקי דמקבלי אפי שכינה בכל יום, שנאמר +ישעיהו ל+ אשרי כל חוכי לו – ל"ו בגימטריא תלתין ושיתא הוו!
לא קשיא: הא – דעיילי בבר, הא – דעיילי בלא בר.
But are those who see Him through a bright speculum so few?
Did not Abaye in fact state: The world never has less than thirty-six righteous people who see the Shekhinah every day, for it is said, "Happy are they that wait lo [for Him]" (Isaiah 30:18) and the numerical value of lo is thirty-six?
There is no difficulty: The latter number refers to those who may enter [the Divine Presence] with permission, the former to those who may enter without permission.
Again the Talmud raises a difficulty. Are there only a few, perhaps as few as two people who see God through a bright speculum? Abaye says that in every generation there are 36 righteous people who see the Shekhinah every day. This is the source for the famous legend that there are thirty-six righteous people who sustain the world.
The Talmud resolves this by saying that there are indeed only a very few who can, so to say, go see God without permission. This, in my opinion, also alludes to Moses of whom it is said that he is "Faithful in all my house" (Numbers 12:7). "In all my house" sounds as if God is saying that He allows Moses to come and go freely in his house, the Tabernacle/Temple. Others may see God, but they must do so at prescribed times, it is more formal, less intimate relationship. In our sugya this means that they need special permission to see God’s Divine Presence, the Shekhinah.