[Karo] and I.... agreed to stay up all night... on Shavuot... No sooner had we studied two tractates of the Mishnah than our Creator smote us so that we heard a voice soeaking out of the mouth of the saint [Karo]... It was a loud voice with letters clearly enunciated. [We all] heard the voice but were unable to understand what was said... The voice began to address us, saying, "...Behold, I am the Mishnah, the mother who chastises her children and I have come to converse with you... If you could only imagine one millionth of the anguish which i endure no joy would ever enter your hearts and no mirth your mouths, for it is because of you that I am cast to the ground... We all broke into tears at the great joy we had experienced and when we heard of the anguish of the Shekhinah because of our sins, Her voice like that of an invalid in her entreaties."-Letter from Solomon Alkabetz, in Jewish Mystical Testimonies by Louis Jacobs.
Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with having trippy guilt-ridden personnified Mishnah visions, of course. Though I do have to say, I'm glad that the whole "Shekhinah as suffering
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