Talmud Bavli Sotah on the City of Luz

"'And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and he called it Luz; this is its name until this day.' (Judges 1:26) A Baraisa states: This is Luz where they dye techeiles, this is the Luz to which the Assyrian king Sennacherib came and did not disarrange it, i.e. he did not exile its inhabitants and replace them with others,and to which the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar came and did not destroy it.  And even the angel of death has not permission to pass through it.  Rather, the elderly in this city, when their minds become weary of life and they wish to die, go outside the city wall, and die."

-- Talmud Bavli, Sotah 46b

Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin on the Powers of the Messiah

"Bar Koziva ruled two-and-a-half years.  He declared to the Rabbis: I am the awaited Messiah!  They said to him: Regarding the Messiah it is written that 'he sniffs and judges'.  Let us see for ourselves whether he can 'sniff and judge'!  Once they saw that he could not 'sniff and judge', they killed him."

-- Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 93b


The powers of the Messiah are enhanced by becoming a son of Aaron the priest and performing the incense service in the Tent of Meeting.

Who Should Study Torah? How Does Ritual Purity Impact One's Experience and Merit in the Study of Torah?

It is a law that every human being should study Torah.  The conditions that fall upon one's status regrading taharah (purity) and tum'ah (impurity) will have an impact on one's experience and merit in the study of Torah. When expanded, this idea leads to the secrets of the indwelling of Shekhinah, so one is advised to gain a practical understanding of the Order of Purities (i.e. the Sixth Order of the Mishnah).

Isaiah on The Barren One and The One Who Had No Labor Pains

"Sing out, O barren one, who has not given birth, break out into glad song and be jubilant, O one who had no labor pains, for more numerous are the children of the desolate than the children of the inhabited, said YHVH."

-- Isaiah 54:1



BARREN ONE : When an unwedded girl loses her virginity.

ONE WHO HAD NO LABOR PAINS : A girl who waited until she was married before having sexual intercourse.

THE DESOLATE : Those who pray for Jerusalem.

CHILDREN OF THE INHABITED : Those who fall prey to the idolaters.

Midrash Rabbah Vayiqra on The Study of Mishnah and the Offerings in the Temple

"Rabbi Huna said two aggadic teachings:  All these dispersed exiles will assemble once more in the Land of Israel only through the merit of studying the Mishnah.  What is the basis?  'Although they pay hire (יתְמוּ) among the nations, I will now gather them' (Hosea 8:10).

"Rabbi Huna also said another teaching, based on this verse: 'For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My Name is great among the nations, and in every place it is put to smoke and presented to My Name, and it is a pure meal offering' (Malachi 1:11).  But is there, in the literal sense, a pure minchah, and scooping and putting to smoke in Babylonia?  Rather, what is this 'offering'?  This is the study of Mishnah!  The Holy One, blessed is He, said, 'Since you engross yourselves in the study of Mishnah, it is considered as if you are actually bringing an offering."

-- Midrash Rabbah, Vayiqra Rabbah §7.3


----------

THEY PAY HIRE : Do not read יתְנוּ as "they pay hire".  Rather, read as תָּנָא, that is, "they learn".  That is, they learn the Mishnah.

BRINGING AN OFFERING : Does this refer to only the minchah (meal) offering, or are there other types of offerings for which the study of the Mishnah would serve as an equivalent?

Rambam on Praying for Geulah - The Love of HaShem and the Fear of HaShem

"A person should not occupy himself in the words of Aggadot (parables) concerning the matter of the Geulah (redemption), nor spend excessive time in the Midrashim on these and similar matters, and should not regard them as primary. For they lead neither to love of HaShem or to fear of HaShem."

-- Rambam, Hilkhot Melakhim 12:2


Plan of action: pray for Geulah, pray for Shekhinah to dwell. And yet with all of this, one must be of service to HaShem through the use of one's body. We must prove to HaShem that we are sincere in our prayers by taking action that is in conformity with this mission. We are building Computer System ZION and will not stop until it is online.

Talmud Bavli Ta'anit on Teachers Learning from More From Students

"Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: Why are the words of Torah compared to a tree?  As it is said: 'It is a tree of life for those who cling to it' (Proberbs 3:18).  This is to teach you that just as a small piece of wood ignites a large one, so too with Torah scholars - the younger ones sharpen the minds of the older ones.

"And this is what Rabbi Chanina said: I have learned much from my teachers, and from my colleagues more than from my teachers, but from my students more than from them all."

-- Talmud Bavli, Ta'anit 7a


How do the younger ones sharpen the minds of the older ones?  When they persist with many difficult Qashe questions.

Sefer Hekhalot on Seventy Names of Metatron and the Oral Tradition of Torah

"Seventy names has Metatron which the Holy One, Blessed be He, took from His own Name and put them upon him. And all of them were revealed to Moshe on Sinai so that he learned them during the forty days, while he was sitting up there. The Torah in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, the Halakhot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, the Shamu'ot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, the Hagadot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, and the Toseftot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues. These seventy names are a reflection of the Shem HaMeforash on the Merkava which are engraved upon His Kissei Kavod. For the Holy One, Blessed be He, took from His Shem HaMeforash and installed the Seventy names in His name: Metatron."

-- Sefer Hekhalot, ch. 48 (transl. S.A.O.)


HALAKHOT : Ways of life.
SHAMU'OT : Oral traditions.
HAGADOT : Parables.
TOSEFTOT : Lucid teachings.
SHEM HAMEFORASH : Explicit Name.
KISSEI KAVOD : Throne of glory.

Rashi on Exodus - The Patriarchs and Those Who are Lost and Not Found

"Moses returned to Hashem and said, 'My Lord, why have You harmed this people, why have You sent me? From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name he harmed this people, but You did not rescue Your people."

-- Exodus 5:22


"The Holy One, Blessed is He, said to Moses in response: Woe! For those who are lost and are not found! I have good cause to bemoan the death of the Patriarchs. Many times I revealed Myself to them as El Shaddai, yet they did not say to Me, 'What is Your Name?' But you said, 'If they will say to me, What is His Name, what shall I say to them?'"

-- Rashi, Commentary on Exodus


LOST : Because they did not enter the promised land.

NOT FOUND : They did not find what Moses found when he asked for the Name to be revealed to him.

Midrash Tanhuma on the Day the Mishkan was Erected

"The Holy One, Blessed be He, said, 'Also I, when I come to you, I will come loaded with blessings and I will bless you. Where did He hint this to them? At Sinai, as it is stated, 'An altar of earth shall you make for Me... wherever I permit My Name to be mentioned I shall come to you and bless you' (Shemot 20:21).

"And when He came to them He blessed them, as it is stated, 'May Hashem bless you and protect you' (Bemidbar 6:24). When? On the day the Mishkan was erected. 'It came to pass on the day Moshe finished erecting the Mishkan' (Bemidbar 7:1). Do not read 'finished' (כלות), instead read 'bride' (כלה): 'On the day the bride entered the wedding canopy (chuppah)'."

-- Midrash Tanchuma, Naso §26


Once the Mishkan was erected, the Shekhinah dwelt with all Israel. Similarly, when the bride enters underneath the chuppah, the Shekhinah dwells with the couple and bestows blessings upon them.

Maimonides on Becoming a Prophet

"It is impossible that an ignorant person should be a prophet; or that a person being no prophet in the evening, should, unexpectedly on the following morning, find himself a prophet, as if prophecy were a thing that could be found unintentionally.

"But if a person, perfect in his intellectual and moral faculties, and also perfect, as far as possible, in his imaginative faculty, prepares himself in the manner which will be described, he must become a prophet; for prophecy is a natural faculty of man. 

"It is impossible that a man who has the capacity for prophecy should prepare himself for it without attaining it, just as it is impossible that a person with a healthy constitution should be fed well, and yet not properly assimilate his food, and the like."

-- Maimonides, Moreh Nevuchim 2:32

Aderet Eliyahu Commentary on Ezekiel - Anointed with Oral Torah

"Then I washed you with water, and I cleaned your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil." -- Ezekiel 16:9

Commentary ADERET ELIYAHU:

"In this verse, Hashem began to tell them the good deeds that He did for them at Mount Sinai: that He initially gave them the Written Torah and then the Oral Torah.

"The Torah is called 'water' as in Isaiah 55:1, 'For everyone who is thirsty, go to the water'. It is also called 'oil', as in Song of Songs 1:3, 'your oils have a pleasant fragrance'.

"Thus, the Written Torah is called 'water': just as everyone needs water every day and cannot live without it, so must everyone study the Written Torah every day. However, there are many who do not study the Oral Torah and hence, it can be called 'oil' because some people anoint themselves with oil and others do not.

"'I washed you with water', meaning that the Written Torah washes and cleans the soul of a person. 'I cleaned your blood from you' means that at the time of the giving of the Torah, the contamination they received from the serpent had ceased to be among them. 'I anointed you with oil' means that He then gave us the Oral Torah."

---

"And if the entire community of Israel sins, the congregation shall bring a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it before the Tent of Meeting. The ANOINTED KOHEN shall bring some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting. Then he shall cause it to go up in smoke on the altar. Thus the kohen shall make atonement for the community, and they will be forgiven." -- Leviticus 4:13-20

----------


You will find that the ones who study Oral Torah and learn the secrets of Metatron will be the ones chosen to serve as the ANOINTED KOHANIM in the rebuilt temple and offer the sacrificial bulls and make atonement for the sins of all human beings. Only those who master the Oral Torah will be able to correctly perform the priestly service, thereby arousing the highest levels of divine mercy. 
 

Rashi on the Shema - To Love Hashem your God

"And it will be that if listening, you will listen to My commandments that I command you today, to love Hashem your God..." -- Deuteronomy 11:13

"TO LOVE HASHEM : That you should not say, 'Behold I shall learn so that I will be rich', or 'so that I will be called Rabbi', or 'so that I will receive reward for having studied'. Rather, all that you do, do out of love and the honor will come in the end." -- Rashi


honor = כבוד
כבוד = 32