6. Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion saying: "The word of Hashem was (Heb. hayoh hayah)..." (Yechezkel 1:1). HE ASKS, Why is the word hayah repeated twice? We should further ask why Ezekiel revealed all that he saw if he was a faithful prophet. Should one whom the King brought into His sanctuary reveal what he saw? HE ANSWERS, Certainly Ezekiel was a faithful prophet, and all that he saw was by Faith, and whatever he revealed was with the permission of the Holy One, blessed be He, and all was as it should have been.

7. Rabbi Shimon said, Even though pain comes to him temporarily, someone who is accustomed to suffer pain bears his yoke and does not worry. But when pain comes to one who has spent all his days in pleasures and luxuries and is not accustomed to pain, this is complete pain and deserves weeping.

8. Yisrael was accustomed to pain when descending into Egypt, for all the days of that righteous man, their father, were spent in pain. Therefore, they endured the exile properly AND DID NOT WORRY GREATLY. But the exile of Babylon was in complete pain; it was a pain for which both those above and below wept.

9. Those above wept, as it is written, "Behold, the mighty ones shall cry outside" (Yeshayah 33:7). Those below cried, as it is written, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down..." (Tehilim 137:1). They all wept over the exile of Babylon. Why? Because previously they had the luxuries of kings, as is written, "The precious sons of Zion..." (Eichah 4:2).

10. As we learned, Rabbi Yitzchak said, What is meant by the verse, "On the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing" (Yirmeyah 9:9)? The mountains that are referred to are the loftiest in the world. And who are these lofty mountains? They are "the precious sons of Zion comparable to fine gold." And now they are descending into exile with grindstones on their necks and their hands tied behind. And when they arrived in the exile of Babylon, they thought that they would never have support because the Holy One, blessed be He, had forsaken them and would no longer watch over them.

11. We learned that Rabbi Shimon said, At that moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, summoned all His company, all the Chariots and camps and His officers and all the hosts of heaven. And he said to them, 'What are you doing here? My beloved children are in the exile of Babylon and you are here! Arise, all of you descend to Babylon and I with you.' This is the meaning of, "Thus says Hashem, 'For your sake I have sent to Babylon'" (Yeshayah 43:14). This refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. "And will bring down all of them as fugitives..." (Ibid.). These are all the supernal Chariots and camps.

12. When they descended to Babylon, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit of prophecy rested on Ezekiel. And he saw whatever he saw and said to Yisrael: 'Behold your Master is here and all the hosts of heaven and the Chariots that have come to dwell with you.' They did not believe him until he was obliged to reveal all that he saw - 'I saw thus, I saw thus...' and if he revealed more, whatever he revealed was altogether necessary. As soon as Yisrael saw this, they rejoiced. And when they heard the words from Ezekiel's mouth, they no longer feared their exile at all because they knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not leave them. And everything that he revealed, he revealed with permission.

13. We learned that in each and every place to which Yisrael was exiled, the Shechinah was exiled with them. And here by the exile of Egypt, it is written, "And these are the names of the children of Israel..." (Shemot 1:1). AND HE ASKS, Since it is written, "the children of Yisrael," why does it conclude, "with Jacob?" It should have said, 'Who came with him.' AND HE ANSWERS, "These are the names of the children of Israel," refers to the supernal Chariots and camps that descended with Jacob together with the Shechinah into the exile of Egypt. THIS ALSO ANSWERS WHY "HAYOH- HAYAH" (YECHEZKEL 1:3) IS WRITTEN TWICE. THE FIRST HAYOH REFERS TO THE EXILE OF EGYPT, AND THE SECOND HAYAH REFERS TO THE EXILE OF BABYLON.