The Jew that has no wife is not a man; for it is written (Gen. v. 2), "Male and female created He them and called their name man." To which Rabbi Eleazar adds, "So every one who has no landed property is no man; for it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth (the land, that is), hath He given to the children of man.'"
Yevamoth, fol. 63, col. 1.
Three things did Moses ask of God:—1. He asked that the Shechinah might rest upon Israel; 2. That the Shechinah might rest upon none but Israel; and 3. That God's ways might be made known unto him; and all these requests were granted.
Berachoth, fol. 7, col. 1.
What was the Shechinah? Was it the presence of a Divine person or only of a Divine power? The following quotations will show what is the teaching of the Talmud on the matter, and will be read with interest by the theologian, whether Jew or Christian.
Where do we learn that when ten persons pray together the Shechinah is with them? In Ps. lxxxii. 1, where it is written, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty." And where do we learn that when two sit together and study the law the Shechinah is with them? In Mal. iii. 16, where it is written, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it." (Berachoth, fol. 6, col. 1.)
Where do we learn that the Shechinah does strengthen the sick? In Ps. xli. 3, where it is written, "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing." (Shabbath, fol. 12, col. 2.)
He who goes from the Synagogue to the lecture-room, and from the lecture-room back to the Synagogue, will become worthy to receive the presence of the Shechinah; as it is written (Ps. lxxxiv. 1), "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." (Moed Katan, fol. 29, col. 1.)
Rabbi Yossi says, "The Shechinah never came down here below, nor did Moses and Elijah ever ascend on high, because it is written (Ps. cxv. 16), 'The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men.'" (Succah, fol. 5, col. 1.)
Esther "stood in the inner court of the King's house" (Esth. v, 1). Rabbi Levi says, "When she reached the house of the images the Shechinah departed from her. Then she exclaimed, 'My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?'" (Meggillah, fol. 15, col. 2.)