Sukkah

and it has been taught, R. Jose stated, Neither did the Shechinah1 ever descend to earth, nor did Moses or Elijah ever ascend to Heaven,2 as it is written, ‘The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth hath He given to the sons of men’.3 But did not the Shechinah descend to earth? Is it not in fact written, And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai?4 — That was above ten handbreadths [from the summit]. But is it not written, And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives?5 — That will be above ten handbreadths. But did not Moses and Elijah ascend to Heaven? Is it not in fact written, And Moses went up unto God.?6 — [That was] to a level lower than ten [handbreadths from heaven]. But is it not written, And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.?7 -[That was] to a level lower than ten handbreadths. But is it not written, He8 seizeth hold of the face of His throne, and He spreadeth His cloud upon him,9 and R. Tanhum said: This teaches that the Almighty spread some of the radiance of10 his Shechinah and his cloud upon him?11 — That was at a level lower than ten handbreadths. But in any case is it not written, ‘He seizeth hold of the face of His throne’?12 — The throne was well lowered for his sake until [it reached a level] lower than ten handbreadths [from Heaven] and then he11 seized hold of it. One can well understand that the ark was nine [handbreadths high] since it is written, And they shall make an ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half13 the height thereof,14 but whence do we know that the ark-cover was a handbreadth [high]? — From that which R. Hanina learned: As for all the vessels which Moses made, the Torah gave the measurements of their length and breadth and height, [while in the case of] the ark-cover its length and its breadth are given,15 but not its height.16 Proceed, therefore, to deduce it from the smallest of the vessels, concerning which it is said, And thou shalt make unto it a border of a handbreadth round about.17 Just as there the height was a handbreadth so was it there also a handbreadth. But why should not our deduction be made from the vessels themselves?18 — If one select the greater, one does not select well; if one select the lesser, one selects well.19 But why should not our deduction be made from the plate of gold,20 as it was taught: ‘The ziz21 was in the shape of a plate of gold two finger-breadths broad and stretching from ear to ear, and upon it were engraved two lines, Yod and He22 above, and Kodesh23 [followed by a] Lamed24 below,25 and R. Eliezer son of R. Jose said, I saw it in Rome26 and it had Kodesh Ladonai27 on one line? — We deduce [the measurements of a] vessel from another vessel, but we do not deduce [the measurements of a] vessel from an ornament. Why then should we not deduce from the crown,28 of which a master stated, The crown was on the smallest possible size?29 — We deduce the size of a vessel from that of another vessel, but not from the appurtenances of a vessel. If so, [it may be objected] was not the border also an appurtenance of a vessel?30 — The border was below [the top of] the table.31 This is correct according to the authority who holds that the border was below, but according to the authority who holds that it was above32 what can one answer33 seeing that it34 was only an appurtenance of a vessel? — The fact is that one adduces the size of a thing some of whose measurements are given by the Torah from another thing whose measurements are given by the Torah, but no deduction can be made from the plate of gold or the crown of which the Torah gave no measurements at all. R. Huna said: [The height of the ark-cover may be deduced] from the following verse, Upon the face of the ark-cover’ on the east,35 and a ‘face’ is not smaller than a handbreadth. But perhaps it means a face like that the earth is at that level, viz., ten handbreadths from, the ground. Consequently a wall whose height is less than ten handbreadths cannot be regarded as a valid wall. Almighty spread the radiance of’. is included in the greater, but the greater is not included in the lesser. The selection of the lesser is, therefore, the safer course. line, so that by reading from right to left (as Semitic languages are to be read) one obtained the phrase ‘holy to the Lord’ (cf. Tosaf. s.v. ase a.l.). carried off after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. V. Bacher, Agg. Tann, Heb. ed. Part II, vol. II, p. 100.