Jirmejahu 17:10 Kabbala: Or Neerav

The Lord, the living God and eternal King, sits in judgment to clear the innocent and declare the culprit guilty. He apportions to man according to his ways (Jer. 17:10). The words of our sages, their memory be a blessing, cannot be denied. [They stated] in Midrash Mishlei:⁹Midrash Shoḥer Tov ‘al Mishlei (Jerusalem, 1968), p. 16. The relevant section of the midrash reads as follows: “One comes [to divine judgment] who has studied Talmud. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: My son, since you have occupied yourself in Talmud, have you gazed upon the Merkavah? Have you looked … upon My Throne of Glory?… What is the measurement of My palm? What is the measurement of the toes of My feet?” For Cordovero, the importance of this particular midrash is that it implies that Talmudic learning is not in itself sufficient. Cf. Burton Visotsky, Midrash Mishle (New York, 1990), p. 84. “They ask a man [on the Day of Judgment], ‘Have you gazed upon the Merkavah?¹⁰The divine vehicle described in Ezekiel 1. In rabbinic literature, the term came to refer to esoteric doctrine. See Mishnah, Ḥagigah 3:1. Have you beheld my Shi’ur Koma?”¹¹Literally “Measurement of the Body.” It refers to the fantastic measurements ascribed to the body of the divine “Glory” (kavod) in the literature of early Jewish mysticism. See Scholem, Kabbalah, pp. 16-18; M. S. Cohen, The Shiur Qomah (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1983); P. Schaefer, Synopse zur Hekhalot Literatur (Tuebingen, 1981); Yosef Dan, Ha-Mistikah ha-’Ivrit ha-Kedumah (Tel-Aviv: Misrad ha-Bittaḥon, 1989). Copying this [entire] passage would be too cumbersome. Rabbi Simeon bar Yoḥai, peace upon him, also dealt with this matter in the Zohar, same section, page 149.¹²Zohar III, 149: “He who says that this story of the Torah comes to indicate [the significance] of that story alone, let his spirit deflate! For if this were so, it would not be the lofty Torah, the Torah of truth.” Read it there.