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Adapted from Talmud Bavli, Berakhot (Berakhot 64a)
Edition William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic Translation English translation by Maggid , since no free public English translation of this passage exists.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC-BY-NC) And Rabbi Avin the Levite said: Whoever derives benefit from a meal in which a Torah scholar is present, it is as though he derives benefit from the radiance of the Divine Presence, as it is said, "And Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God" (Exodus 18:12). But did they eat before God? Did they not eat before Moses? Rather, this comes to tell you that whoever derives benefit from a meal in which a Torah scholar is present, it is as though he derives benefit from the radiance of the Divine Presence. Rabbi Levi bar Hiyya said: One who goes out from the synagogue and enters the study house and occupies himself with Torah merits to receive the face of the Divine Presence, as it is said, "They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion" (Psalms 84:8). Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Hanina: Torah scholars increase peace in the world, as it is said, "And all your children shall be taught of the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children" (Isaiah 54:13). Do not read it "your children" (banayikh) but "your builders" (bonayikh) [reread to mean that Torah scholars are the builders of the world, rather than the plain sense "your children"].
וְאָמַר רַבִּי אָבִין הַלֵּוִי: כׇּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִסְּעוּדָה שֶׁתַּלְמִיד חָכָם שָׁרוּי בְּתוֹכָהּ, כְּאִילּוּ נֶהֱנֶה מִזִּיו שְׁכִינָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיָּבֹא אַהֲרֹן וְכֹל זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֶאֱכׇל לֶחֶם עִם חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים״, וְכִי לִפְנֵי אֱלֹהִים אָכְלוּ? וַהֲלֹא לִפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה אָכְלוּ!
אֶלָּא לוֹמַר לָךְ כׇּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִסְּעוּדָה שֶׁתַּלְמִיד חָכָם שָׁרוּי בְּתוֹכָהּ — כְּאִילּוּ נֶהֱנֶה מִזִּיו שְׁכִינָה.
אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי בַּר חִיָּיא: הַיּוֹצֵא מִבֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת וְנִכְנָס לְבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ וְעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה — זוֹכֶה וּמְקַבֵּל פְּנֵי שְׁכִינָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״יֵלְכוּ מֵחַיִל אֶל חָיִל יֵרָאֶה אֶל אֱלֹהִים בְּצִיּוֹן״.
אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא: תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים מַרְבִּים שָׁלוֹם בָּעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְכׇל בָּנַיִךְ לִמּוּדֵי ה׳ וְרַב שְׁלוֹם בָּנָיִךְ״. אַל תִּקְרֵי ״בָּנָיִךְ״ אֶלָּא ״בּוֹנָיִךְ״.
Commentary Some say that to see the righteous and saintly sages of one's generation is to see the very face of the Shekhinah. Why are these called the face of the Shekhinah? Because the Shekhinah is hidden in them, and they reveal Her. This much is certain: Before they died and gained entrance to the celestial palace, all the righteous ones who had descended from Adam came face to face with the Shekhinah. Of them it is said, "A cord of the Divine wilf has been grasped here on earth." The meaning of the phrase "the face of the Shekhinah" can also be understood as the presence or immanence of the Divine. In the Kabbalistic era, the figure of the Shekhinah shifted from being identified as God's presence in this world to the role of God's Bride. However, some scholars, such as Ephraim Urbach in The Sages and Max Kiddushin in The Rabbinic Mind, have argued that the term Shekhinah should be regarded as one more name of God, like Adonai (the Lord), ha-Shem (the Name), or ha-Makom (the Place), etc. Of course, the Name of Names is YHVH, the Tetragrammaton. Beginning with the Bible, a living person was forbidden to see God face to face, as stated in the verse. No man shall see my face and live (Exod. 33:20) Moses is the sole exception. Yet, somehow, it is far more common to see the face of the Shekhinah. This suggests that the term Shekhinah was not a simple synonym for God, but a term with special meanings, referring to the perception of the presence of God. The use of the term face does bring with it suggestions of personification, an important fact in light of the later evolution of the term "Shekhinah" to refer to the Bride of God. For these descriptions of those who somehow experience the face of the Shekhinah have the quality of personal encounters. We note that the Divine appearance was far more common in the earliest biblical times than later, since even Ezekiel was denied the right of seeing the face of God. Yet it could also be argued that his detailed account of his vision in the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, known as a vision of the Merkavah, God's Divine Chariot, is actually another kind of vision of the face of the Shekhinah, since both involve visions of God. But the best explanation is that the term Shekhinah had one meaning in the rabbinic era and another in the kabbalistic and Hasidic ones. Yet even in the rabbinic period the precise meaning of Shekhinah" is far from certain, and varies considerably among its many sources. See The Immanence of God by J. Abelson for a thorough overview of these sources. The tale of Rabbi Hiyya's striking glimpse of the face of the Shekhinah is found in the Zohar, one of a cycle of tales about Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and his disciples. In all of these tales. Bar Yohai is portrayed as a consummate mystical master, guiding his disciples to experience the divine mysteries. Mystical union is the most essential aspect of any mystical tradition. Yet it is rarely portrayed as openly as it is here, where Rabbi Hiyya sees the face of the Shekhinah inside Shimon bar Yohai's house. He perceives that Shimon bar Yohai is studying the Torah with a divine being, with a curtain of fire separating them. Note that what Rabbi Hiyya sees is not presented as a vision, but it affects him as a visionary experience. Indeed, he is so caught up in the moment of mystical union that Rabbi Shimon sends his son Eleazar to cover Rabbi Hiyya's mouth, which brings him back to this world. One of the fascinating mysteries of this tale is why Bar Yohai chooses to have Rabbi Hiyya's mouth covered, and not his eyes, which had witnessed the vision. One possible answer is that he does not want to cut off the vision, but rather to prevent Rabbi Hiyya's soul from leaving his body during the instant of mystical union. Another possibility is that since Rabbi Hiyya has been struck dumb, the gesture of the hand restores his speech. The curtain of fire that separates Bar Yohai from the Shekhinah suggests both the Pargod, the heavenly curtain that separates God from the rest of Paradise, and the curtain in the Holy of Holies in the Temple beyond which only the High Priest was permitted to go. The fact that a curtain remains separating Rabbi Hiyya and the heavenly being suggests that even in the grip of powerful mystical experiences, there was not a complete loss of self-identity for Jewish mystics, as is so often associated with mystical union in other religions. There is also the suggestion that just as God remains apart from the angels, so humans must remain separated from divine beings.
