Musar su Isaia 40:12

As we have said, the measurements of such physical phenomena gradually decrease until only a single cubit remains. This cubit which comprises 6 handsbreadths corresponds to the 6 wings with which each of the angels that we read about in Isaiah 6,2 were equipped. Those angels developed "downwards," to eventually form the 70 שרים representing the 70 Gentile nations in the Celestial Spheres which we have called the army of the Heavens. It is said of G–d (Isaiah 40,12) that He established the Heavens with a זרת, the span between the thumb and little finger. When Avital the scribe mentioned the אמה+זרת as the size of Pharaoh's male member, he alluded to the שר של מצרים and the fact that he had some influence in the Celestial Regions. We, the Jewish people, extend to the ראש העליון.

When the Tziyoni in his commentary on Parshat Noach deals with the generation of the Tower of Babel, he discusses the subject of שיעור הקומה at length. Kabbalists interpret Psalms 147,5: גדול אדוננו ורב כח לתבונתו אין מספר, "Great is our Lord and full of power; His wisdom is beyond reckoning." They see in the numerical value of the words ורב כח (236) an allusion to 236 times 10 million פרסאות as the distance spanned by the Celestial Regions. The פרסה equals מילין 4, the מיל equals 2000 cubits. The cubit consists of 6 handbreadths, which in turn consist of 4 זרתות each. The זרת of the Celestial Regions is the distance covered by a person in 500 years' walking, as we know from Isaiah 40,12: ושמים בזרת תכן, He gauged the Heavens with a span. From the above and other slightly divergent commentaries on the same subject it emerges that when we talk about שיעור הקומה we mean the dimension of certain manifestations in the spiritual world. There is general agreement amongst the Kabbalists that all these so-called measurements apply only to Mattatron. Any spiritual force in the Celestial Regions which is on a higher level than Mattatron is beyond the realm of measurement, even symbolically. Concerning more highly placed spiritual beings we apply Isaiah 40,18: "To whom do you want to compare Him (G–d)?" Any Celestial Region beyond the one in which Mattaron functions is "forbidden territory," beyond our right to investigate. This means that the שער, gateway is closed to us. שיעור is thus related to שער. The term שיעור הקומה is a reference to and more precise definition of the 7 emanations which between them executed the בנין, the actualisation of G–d's directives to bring this physical universe into existence. The mind-boggling measurements referred to are beyond man's ability to comprehend. They have been cited by Kabbalists to drive home this very point.[The people who built the Tower, or at least their leaders, possessed some knowledge of these matters and wanted to establish something on earth which would reflect what existed in heaven, albeit in miniature. Their endeavour was similar to that of the Israelites when they built the Tabernacle, except that they had not been bidden to do so and wanted to rival G–d rather than draw Him into their midst, (cf. Bereshit Rabbah 38,6) Ed.]