Opening materialChapter 28, Section 3 (פֶּרֶק כ״ח אוֹת ג׳)

Chapter 28, Section 3 (פֶּרֶק כ״ח אוֹת ג׳)

5. Rabbi Yishma’el said: Thus said Rabbi Akiva in the name of Rabbi Eliezer the Great (ה. אָמַר רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל: כָּךְ אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר הַגָּדוֹל): from the day that the Torah was given until the Second Temple was built (מִיּוֹם שֶׁנִּתְּנָה תּוֹרָה עַד שֶׁנִּבְנָה הַבַּיִת הָאַחֲרוֹן), the Torah was given-its splendor, its preciousness, its greatness, its glory, and its beauty (תּוֹרָה נִתְּנָה: הֲדָרָה וִיקָרָה גְּדוּלָּתָה וּכְבוֹדָהּ וּתִפְאֶרֶתָהּ), its dread, its fear, and its awe (אֵימָתָהּ פַּחְדָּהּ וְיִרְאָתָהּ), its exaltation, its majesty (גַּאֲוָתָהּ וּגְאוֹנָהּ), its might and its power (עוּזָּהּ וַעֲזוּזָהּ), and its honor (וּכְבוֹדָהּ)-were not given until the Second Temple was built (לֹא נִתְּנוּ עַד שֶׁנִּבְנָה בַּיִת אַחֲרוֹן). The Shekhinah did not dwell within it (לֹא שָׁרְתָה בָּהּ שְׁכִינָה).