Chasidut zu Daniel 10:7
וְרָאִיתִי֩ אֲנִ֨י דָנִיֵּ֤אל לְבַדִּי֙ אֶת־הַמַּרְאָ֔ה וְהָאֲנָשִׁים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָי֣וּ עִמִּ֔י לֹ֥א רָא֖וּ אֶת־הַמַּרְאָ֑ה אֲבָ֗ל חֲרָדָ֤ה גְדֹלָה֙ נָפְלָ֣ה עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וַֽיִּבְרְח֖וּ בְּהֵחָבֵֽא׃
Nur ich, Daniel, sah die Erscheinung, aber die Männer, die bei mir waren, hatten die Erscheinung nicht gesehen, doch ein großer Schrecken war auf sie gefallen, und sie flohen, sich zu verbergen.
Kedushat Levi
Deuteronomy 28,1. “it will be if you will meticulously hearken to the voice of the Lord your G’d, etc;” [Our author zeroes in on the meaning of “the voice,” seeing that we do not all merit hearing G’d’s voice speaking to us. ” Ed.]
We can understand this verse better when we recall a statement of our sages in Chagigah 15 that a heavenly echo emanating from Mount Chorev (Sinai) is heard daily calling on the sinners to return to G’d in penitence.
In accordance with the Talmud there, every individual Jew, according to his spiritual level, is able to hear this voice in accordance with Megillah 3 where we are told that once when Daniel (Daniel 10,7) describes himself as meriting a heavenly vision, one that his companions were unable to see, [his companions being the prophets Zecharyah, Chagai and Maleachi, who were unable to share this vision with him. Ed.] Nonetheless, according to Daniel’s own testimony, these three prophets were overcome by a great fear all of a sudden at that very time. In examining this phenomenon, the Talmud asks that if those prophets were not shown the vision why were they overcome by such an unreasoning fright? They answer that although they personally did not see the vision their mazzal, (alter ego in the celestial spheres) saw it. The Talmud uses this example to prove that when some of us are sometimes overcome by sudden weakness bordering on unconsciousness, this may be an indication that our alter-egos have heard or seen a heavenly message. Our sages whom we quoted in Chagigah claim that every person does possess such an alter ego in the celestial spheres, one that is privy to hearing G’d’s voice, the exception being Acher, i.e. elisha ben avuyah famous for having become an apostate although at one time being a close friend of Rabbi Akiva. He himself told Rabbi Meir, who asked him to become a penitent, that his alter ego had heard in heaven that his penitence would not be accepted. What matters to us in all this is that penitence is something that must not be put off. We must act as if we had been invited to become penitents with the implication that our repentance will be welcomed by G’d, and therefore we must not “wait” for a second invitation. According to Devarim Rabbah 7,3 the קול, “voice,” which the Israelites must hearken to if they want to become recipients of all of G’d’s promises is this heavenly echo calling us to become penitents. The introductory word והיה in that verse, alludes to the joy which will result from listening of G’d’s instructions.
We can understand this verse better when we recall a statement of our sages in Chagigah 15 that a heavenly echo emanating from Mount Chorev (Sinai) is heard daily calling on the sinners to return to G’d in penitence.
In accordance with the Talmud there, every individual Jew, according to his spiritual level, is able to hear this voice in accordance with Megillah 3 where we are told that once when Daniel (Daniel 10,7) describes himself as meriting a heavenly vision, one that his companions were unable to see, [his companions being the prophets Zecharyah, Chagai and Maleachi, who were unable to share this vision with him. Ed.] Nonetheless, according to Daniel’s own testimony, these three prophets were overcome by a great fear all of a sudden at that very time. In examining this phenomenon, the Talmud asks that if those prophets were not shown the vision why were they overcome by such an unreasoning fright? They answer that although they personally did not see the vision their mazzal, (alter ego in the celestial spheres) saw it. The Talmud uses this example to prove that when some of us are sometimes overcome by sudden weakness bordering on unconsciousness, this may be an indication that our alter-egos have heard or seen a heavenly message. Our sages whom we quoted in Chagigah claim that every person does possess such an alter ego in the celestial spheres, one that is privy to hearing G’d’s voice, the exception being Acher, i.e. elisha ben avuyah famous for having become an apostate although at one time being a close friend of Rabbi Akiva. He himself told Rabbi Meir, who asked him to become a penitent, that his alter ego had heard in heaven that his penitence would not be accepted. What matters to us in all this is that penitence is something that must not be put off. We must act as if we had been invited to become penitents with the implication that our repentance will be welcomed by G’d, and therefore we must not “wait” for a second invitation. According to Devarim Rabbah 7,3 the קול, “voice,” which the Israelites must hearken to if they want to become recipients of all of G’d’s promises is this heavenly echo calling us to become penitents. The introductory word והיה in that verse, alludes to the joy which will result from listening of G’d’s instructions.
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