From the time when Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died the Divine Spirit departed from the Jewish people, as these three were considered to be the last prophets. And even after the Urim VeTummim ceased to exist, they would nevertheless still make use of a Divine Voice to receive instructions from Above, even after this time. For on one occasion the Sages were reclining in the upper story of the house of Gurya in Jericho. A Divine Voice from Heaven was issued to them, and it said: There is one person among you for whom it is fitting that the Divine Presence should rest upon him as a prophet, but his generation is not fit for it; they do not deserve to have a prophet among them. The Sages present directed their gaze to Hillel the Elder.

The Gemara recounts the event described in the verses: The verse states: And they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God (Nehemiah 9:4). What was said? Rav said, and some say it was Rabbi Yoḥanan who said: Woe, woe. It is this, i.e., the evil inclination for idol worship, that destroyed the Temple, and burned its Sanctuary, and murdered all the righteous ones, and caused the Jewish people to be exiled from their land. And it still dances among us, i.e., it still affects us. Didn’t You give it to us solely for the purpose of our receiving reward for overcoming it? We do not want it, and we do not want its reward. We are prepared to forgo the potential rewards for overcoming the evil inclination as long as it departs from us. In response to their prayer a note fell to them from the heavens upon which was written: Truth, indicating that God accepted their request. The Gemara makes a parenthetical observation. Rav Ḥanina said: Learn from this that the seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is truth. In response to the indication of divine acceptance, they observed a fast for three days and three nights, and He delivered the evil inclination to them. A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies. Zechariah the prophet said to the Jewish people: This is the evil inclination for idol worship, as it is stated in the verse that refers to this event: “And he said: This is the evil one” (Zechariah 5:8). The use of the word “this” indicates that the evil inclination was perceived in a physical form. When they caught hold of it one of its hairs fell, and it let out a shriek of pain that was heard for four hundred parasangs. They said: What should we do to kill it? Perhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven, since it cries out so much. The prophet said to them: Throw it into a container made of lead and seal the opening with lead, since lead absorbs sound. As it is stated: “And he said: This is the evil one. And he cast it down into the midst of the measure, and he cast a stone of lead upon its opening” (Zechariah 5:8). They followed this advice and were freed of the evil inclination for idol worship. When they saw that the evil inclination for idol worship was delivered into their hands as they requested, the Sages said: Since it is an auspicious time, let us pray also concerning the evil inclination for sin in the area of sexual relationships. They prayed, and it was also delivered into their hands. Zechariah the prophet said to them: See and understand that if you kill this evil inclination the world will be destroyed because as a result there will also no longer be any desire to procreate. They followed his warning, and instead of killing the evil inclination they imprisoned it for three days. At that time, people searched for a fresh egg throughout all of Eretz Yisrael and could not find one. Since the inclination to reproduce was quashed, the chickens stopped laying eggs. They said: What should we do? If we kill it, the world will be destroyed. If we pray for half, i.e., that only half its power be annulled, nothing will be achieved because Heaven does not grant half gifts, only whole gifts. What did they do? They gouged out its eyes, effectively limiting its power, and set it free. And this was effective to the extent that a person is no longer aroused to commit incest with his close relatives. The Gemara returns to its discussion of the verse in Nehemiah cited above: In the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael, they taught the debate concerning the verse “the Lord, the great God” as follows: Rav Giddel said: “Great” means that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name. And Rav Mattana said: They reinserted the following appellations of God into their prayers: “The great, the mighty, and the awesome God” (Nehemiah 9:32).

One day Rav Ashi ended his lecture just before reaching the matter of the three kings. He said to his students: Tomorrow we will begin the lecture with our colleagues the three kings, who, although they were sinners, were Torah scholars like us. Manasseh, king of Judea, came and appeared to him in his dream. Manasseh said to him angrily: You called us your colleague and the colleagues of your father? How dare you characterize yourself as our equal? Manasseh said to him: I will ask you, from where are you required to begin cutting a loaf of bread when reciting the blessing: Who brings forth bread from the earth? Rav Ashi said to him: I do not know. Manasseh said to him: Even this, from where you are required to begin cutting a loaf of bread when reciting the blessing: Who brings forth bread from the earth, you did not learn, and yet you call us your colleague? Rav Ashi said to Manasseh: Teach me this halakhaand tomorrow I will lecture and cite it in your name during my public lecture delivered on the Festival. Manasseh said to him: One cuts the loaf from where it crusts as a result of baking. Rav Ashi said to him: Since you were so wise, what is the reason you engaged in idol worship? Manasseh said to him: Had you been there at that time, you would have taken and lifted the hem of your cloak and run after me due to the fierce desire to engage in idol worship and due to the fact that it was a common faith. The next day Rav Ashi said to the Sages as a prelude to his lecture: We will begin with the treatment of our teachers, those kings who were greater than us in Torah knowledge but whose sins caused them to lose their share in the World-to-Come.

Many precepts in our Law are the result of a similar course adopted by the same Supreme Being. It is, namely, impossible to go suddenly from one extreme to the other: it is therefore according to the nature of man impossible for him suddenly to discontinue everything to which he has been accustomed. Now God sent Moses to make [the Israelites] a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:6) by means of the knowledge of God. Comp. “Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord is God (Deut. 4:35); “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord is God” (ibid. 5:39). The Israelites were commanded to devote themselves to His service; comp. “and to serve him with all your heart” (ibid. 11:13); “and you shall serve the Lord your God” (Exod. 23:25); “and ye shall serve him” (Deut. 13:5). But the custom which was in those days general among all men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up, consisted in sacrificing animals in those temples which contained certain images, to bow down to those images, and to burn incense before them; religious and ascetic persons were in those days the persons that were devoted to the service in the temples erected to the stars, as has been explained by us. It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God, as displayed in the whole Creation, that He did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service; for to obey such a commandment it would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that we should not pray to Him, not fast, not seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any action.

“But now, get me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him.

(5) …When you reach the city, you will encounter a band of prophets descending from the high place, before them a harp, drum, and flute, and they will prophesy.

(6) The spirit of G-d will rush over you, and you will prophesy with them, transforming into a different person.

Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, and Saul sent messengers to seize David. They saw a band of prophets speaking in ecstasy,^-b with Samuel standing by as their leader;^-c and the spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers and they too began to speak in ecstasy. When Saul was told about this, he sent other messengers; but they too spoke in ecstasy. Saul sent a third group of messengers; and they also spoke in ecstasy. So he himself went to Ramah. When he came to the great cistern at Secu,^-d he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” and was told that they were at Naioth in Ramah. He was on his way there, to Naioth in Ramah, when the spirit of God came upon him too; and he walked on, speaking in ecstasy, until he reached Naioth in Ramah. Then he too stripped off his clothes and he too spoke in ecstasy before Samuel; and he lay naked all that day and all night. That is why people say, “Is Saul too among the prophets?”

All the prophets do not prophesy whenever they desire. Instead, they must concentrate their attention [upon spiritual concepts] and seclude themselves, [waiting] in a happy, joyous mood, because prophecy cannot rest upon a person when he is sad or languid, but only when he is happy.Therefore, the prophets' disciples would always have a harp, drum, flute, and lyre [before them when] they were seeking prophecy. This is what is meant by the expression [I Samuel 10:5]: "They were prophesying" - i.e., following the path of prophecy until they would actually prophesy - as one might say, "So and so aspires to greatness."

An angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was then beating out wheat inside a winepress in order to keep it safe from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior!” Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this befallen us? Where are all His wondrous deeds about which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Truly the LORD brought us up from Egypt’? Now the LORD has abandoned us and delivered us into the hands of Midian!” The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and deliver Israel from the Midianites. I herewith make you My messenger.” He said to Him, “Please, my lord, how can I deliver Israel? Why, my clan is the humblest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s household.” The LORD replied, “I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian to a man.” And he said to Him, “If I have gained Your favor, give me a sign that it is You who are speaking to me: do not leave this place until I come back to You and bring out my offering and place it before You.” And He answered, “I will stay until you return.” So Gideon went in and prepared a kid, and [baked] unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth. As he presented them, the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, put them on yonder rock, and spill out the broth.” He did so. The angel of the LORD held out the staff that he carried, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread with its tip. A fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. Then Gideon realized that it was an angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.” But the LORD said to him, “All is well; have no fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built there an altar to the LORD and called it Adonai-shalom.^-c To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

(6) But there were some householders who were impure by reason of a corpse and could not offer the passover sacrifice on that day. Appearing that same day before Moses and Aaron, (7) those householders said to them, “Impure though we are by reason of a corpse, why must we be debarred from presenting ה׳’s offering at its set time with the rest of the Israelites?” (8) Moses said to them, “Stand by, and let me hear what instructions ה׳ gives about you.”

(1) The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. (2) They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and they said, (3) “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of the faction, Korah’s faction, which banded together against ה׳, but died for his own sin; and he has left no sons. (4) Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” (5) Moses brought their case before ה׳.

(32) Once, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, they came upon a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. (33) Those who found him as he was gathering wood brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the community leadership. (34) He was placed in custody, for it had not been specified what should be done to him. (35) Then ה׳ said to Moses, “The party in question shall be put to death: the community leadership shall pelt him with stones outside the camp.”

Now it was on the morrow that Moshe sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moshe from daybreak until sunset. Moshe’s father-in-law saw all that he had to do*all that he had to do: Compare vv.8 and 9, where the great “doing” of God is accomplished with ease. Perhaps a contrast is being drawn between divine and human deeds; Moshe cannot do the “all” that God can. for the people; he said: What kind of matter is this that you do for the people— why do you sit alone, while the entire people stations itself around you from daybreak until sunset? Moshe said to his father-in-law: When the people comes to me to inquire of God, —when it has some legal-matter, it comes to me— I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known God’s laws and his instructions.
Then Moshe’s father-in-law said to him: Not good is this matter, as you do it! You will become worn out, yes, worn out, so you, so this people that are with you, for this matter is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. So now, hearken to my voice: I will advise you, so that God may be with you: Be, yourself, for the people in relation to God. You yourself should have the matters come to God; You should make clear to them the laws and the instructions, you should make known to them the way they should go, and the deeds that they should do; but you—you are to have the vision [to select} from all the people men of caliber, holding God in awe, men of truth, hating gain; you should set [them] over them as chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens, so that they may render judgment for the people at all times. So shall it be: every great matter they shall bring before you, but every small matter they shall judge by themselves. Make [it] light upon you, and let them bear [it] with you. If you do this matter, [when] God commands you [further], you will be able to stand, and also this people will come to its place in peace. Moshe hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law; he did it all as he had said:

(1)One may not expound the topic of forbidden sexual relations before three or more individuals; nor may one expound the act of Creation and the secrets of the beginning of the world before two or more individuals; nor may one expound by oneself the Design of the Divine Chariot, a mystical teaching with regard to the ways God conducts the world, unless he is wise and understands most matters on his own. The mishna continues in the same vein: Whoever looks at four matters, it would have been better for him had he never entered the world: Anyone who reflects upon what is above the firmament and what is below the earth, what was before Creation, and what will be after the end of the world. And anyone who has no concern for the honor of his Maker, who inquires into and deals with matters not permitted to him, deserves to have never come to the world.

§ The Sages taught: Four entered the orchard [pardes], i.e., dealt with the loftiest secrets of Torah, and they are as follows: Ben Azzai; and ben Zoma; Aḥer, the other, a name for Elisha ben Avuya; and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva, the senior among them, said to them: When, upon your arrival in the upper worlds, you reach pure marble stones, do not say: Water, water, although they appear to be water, because it is stated: “He who speaks falsehood shall not be established before My eyes” (Psalms 101:7). The Gemara proceeds to relate what happened to each of them: Ben Azzai glimpsed at the Divine Presence and died. And with regard to him the verse states: “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His pious ones” (Psalms 116:15). Ben Zoma glimpsed at the Divine Presence and was harmed, i.e., he lost his mind. And with regard to him the verse states: “Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you become full from it and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:16). Aḥer chopped down the shoots of saplings. In other words, he became a heretic. Rabbi Akiva came out safely.

It is fitting for a person to investigate the laws of the holy Torah and to know their ultimate notions according to his ability. And about something which he cannot find a reason nor a rationale, let it not be light in his eyes. And he should 'not break [it] to go up to the Lord, lest He burst forth against him.' And his thought about it should not be like his thought about other common things. Come and see how much the Torah was stringent regarding trespass [of sanctified objects]. And if with wood and stones and dirt and ashes - once the name of the Master of the world is called upon them with mere words - become sanctified and anyone that treats them the way one treats common objects, and even if it was accidental, requires absolution; all the more so regarding the commandments that the Holy One, blessed be He, legislated for us, should one not rebel, if one does not know their reason. And he should not make things up that are not so about God, and he should not think about them his thought as with common things. Behold, it is stated in the Torah (Leviticus 19:37), "And you shall guard all of my statutes (chukim) and all of my judgments (mishpatim) and do them." The sages said, "[This is] to give guarding and doing on the statutes, like upon the judgments." And the doing is known, and that is that he do the statutes. And the guarding is that he be careful with them and not imagine that they are less than the judgments. And the judgments are the commandments the reasons for which are revealed and the benefit of doing them in this world is known - for example, the prohibition of theft, murder and honoring father and mother. And the statutes are the commandments the reasons for which are not known. The sages said, "Chukim have I legislated (chakoti) upon you, and you do not have permission to muse about them." And [these are the laws that] the inclination of a person troubles him about, and the nations of the world reply to - for example the prohibition of eating pig meat and milk in meat and the [laws of the] beheaded calf and the red heifer and the scapegoat. And how much did King David anguish from the sectarians and from the gentiles that persecuted him with lying replies that they set up according to the smallness of human knowledge, as it is stated (Psalms 119:69) "The evil ones have forged a lie against me; with my whole heart will I keep Your precepts." And it is stated there about the matter (Psalms 119:86), "All of your commandments are faithful; falsehood pursues me, help me." And all of the sacrifices are included in these statutes. The sages said that because of the service of the sacrifices does the world stand. For through the performance of the statutes and the judgments, the straight ones merit life in the world to come. And the Torah had the command for the statutes come first, as it is stated (Leviticus 18:5), "And you shall keep my statutes and my judgments, that a man should do them and live by them."