פרשת לך לך תשכ"ב - הפטרת לך-לך

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, And ye men of Israel; I help thee, saith the LORD, And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I make thee a new threshing-sledge Having sharp teeth; Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, And shalt make the hills as chaff.

Behold, I make thee a new threshing-sledge Having sharp teeth; Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, And shalt make the hills as chaff.

Rabbi Shimeon Ben Yehotzadak asked Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachman: Since I heard that you are a master of agadot, tell me from where was the light created? He answered: [the text] teaches that the Holy One of Blessing enveloped Himself [in it] as [one does with] a cloak, and made the splendor of His glory shine from one end of the world to the other. He told him this agadah in a whisper: he said to him - there is even a full verse [about it] 'He wears light as a cloak' (Ps. 104:2). [Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachman said] And you are telling this to me in a whisper? This is surprising! He told him: Just as I heard it in a whisper, I'm telling you in a whisper. Said Rabbi Berachia in the name of Rabbi Itzchak: The light was created from the place of the Beit Hamikdash, since it is written 'And behold the glory of the God of Israel comes from the way of the East' (Ezekiel 43:2) and there is no His glory except the Beit Hamikdash, as you say: 'A throne of glory, on high from the beginning, the place of our sanctuary' (Jeremiah 17:12) etc.