Pemikiran Yahudi Daniel 7:13: Ner Mitzvah

And these four winds beget these four animals from the sea, because each nation is considered next to Yisrael like the sea, for they are not from a settled domain, and Yisrael is compared to dry land [which is settled]. It says in the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah: 13,5) ' "And four might beasts different from each other emerged from the sea" - If you [the Jews] are meritorious, from the sea, and if not from the forest. The beasts from the sea, for when they rise from the sea they already begin to die, whereas if they rise from the forest they aren't weak from the outset.' This is the explanation, the sea is far from the dry land, and if Yisrael are meritorious, so the nations will lack true existence, like any entity within the sea which lacks true existence. It's for this reason that fish, which are from the sea, do not require Shechita [any ritual slaughtering], and this is because they lack existence, for existence is found within being settled. Therefore if Yisrael merit, the empires don't have strength, and they arise from the sea. As it is said, if from their beginning of their existence they lacked strength and power, so it must be that they arose from the sea. And if [Yisrael] do not merit, so they will arise from the forest, which is settled. Even if the forest is separate from settlement as well, for within a forest one doesn't find human beings, only wild animals, but still in any event it [forest] is not entirely separate from settlement. Therefore it says [in Daniel] "And four winds stirring upon the sea". And it is such that when Daniel sees the empires, he sees four beasts, for in this manner it is appropriate that that the four empires possess dominion. And this is, because Man has the power and dominion over beasts, as it is written in the Torah [Bereshit 1, 28, 2 19]. And therefore it is appropriate that the empires of the world should appear in image and depiction of man. It's just that the dominion of these four empires are lacking the virtue of G-dliness which is distinct to Man, and from this aspect that they are lacking the virtue of G-dliness, their power is without G-dliness. Therefore, they [the empires] appear in the depiction of animals, for beasts lack this power of transcendent G-dliness. But power without transcendent G-dliness is actually stronger [in terms of brute force], which is something we also see within these empires. Therefore Daniel sees these them in the image and depiction of beasts. And when [Daniel] sees the Kingship of the King the Messiah, he sees him in the image and depiction of a human. For after he sees the empires in the form of four beasts, he sees the Kingship of Yisrael in image and depiction of a human, as it is said (Daniel, 7,13) "One like a human being came" for the Kingship of the King the Messiah, will be entire G-dly, therefore it [Yisrael] is called "The Son of Man".

In truth, when one sees Nebuchadnezzar, the evil one, of the four empires, one sees him in the depiction and image of a person. As Daniel sees in another dream, [and is called directly in from of Nebuchadnezzar to share this dream. In it he shares a different vision of Nebuchadnezzar. This occurs several chapters before the dream we have been analyzing, which is Chapter 7, - in Chapter 2 of Daniel]. (2:32-33) "The head of that statue was of fine gold; its breast and arms were of silver; its belly and thighs, of bronze. its legs were of iron, and its feet part iron and part clay." For by Nebuchadnezzar there was not the same lack as by the other [three] empires, and therefore he [Daniel] sees him in the image and representation of a Man, just in the same way that [in our dream] Daniel saw the King the Messiah. This is a huge topic with a deep explanation, as we are about to explain. Actually, it was appropriate that all four of these empires should appear as one man. For a Man has four parts: the first - the שכלי capacity [intellectual/cerebral/spiritual]. Lower than the שכל - the נפשי [emotional] capacity. Lower than the נפש -- the גופני [bodily/physical] capacity - which is entirely intertwined in the body, and these are the three parts. And there is here one other capacity which is connected, this is the the one that encompasses all these three together, as we are about to explain right now. We have already explained this concept of these four aspects that make up a person in many place, for example in the Pirkei Avos (4, 23) in the Mishna that speaks about jealousy, lust, and honor. There is not space here to elaborate on this topic, but these ideas are known to anybody with wisdom. But each of these capacities are not an attribute essential to man in his essentially being Man, which is to say that he was created in the Image of G-d. For a man has a further attribute which is essential to him being Man, this is his G-dly Image, which encompasses everything about him, and this wasn't given to these four empires. This idea is known, for as the Rabbis of the Gemara say (Yvamos, 61a) "You [the Jewish people] are called Man, but the nations are not called Man". In truth this topic we explained in it's proper place, for the Image of G-d was not given only to Yisrael, yet neither was it given to the nations. For these four empires correspond to the capacities of Man, and therefore when Nebuchadnezzar sees the dream [first dream of Daniel] he sees these four empires in the depiction of Man. For the verse says (Yechezkiel 34:31) "Men you are" - which is to say you are called Man, but the nations are not called Man. For in many places [in Torah] are we [Yisrael] called Man. But rather the explanation is this, that by Yisrael the Image of G-d is essential/primary and everything else is ancillary/secondary with respect to the Image. For the this (G-dly) Image is distinct from the body, and therefore everything is negligible next to it. And Nebuchadnezzar did not see this Image without a body, rather he saw the Image standing in gold, and silver, and copper, and iron. For the nations of the world do indeed have an Image, which is intertwined with the physical. And therefore, he sees this Image, which has a head of gold, and of arms of silver. And gold and silver and copper and iron are the essential/primary, and the Image is negligible next to them, for the Image isn't distinct as is with Yisrael. But when Daniel sees the Kingship of Yisrael, he only sees the Image alone, no bodily component whatsoever, as it said "One like a human being Came with the clouds of heaven" and what came through here was nothing except the Image of G-d. But when Nebuchadnezzar the Evil sees the four empires, he sees them in the Image of gold, and of silver, and of copper, and of iron, because the Image is not the essential/primary, rather it [the Image] is almost painted upon the gold and silver, and the form isn't the essential/primary whatsoever. Here lies your explanation.