Greater Chariot (Merkavah rabbah)

This small miscellany of mystical texts contains one of the most famous traditions in Hekhalot literature, which features the Prince of the Torah (sar ha-torah): an angel who grants some initiates a magical secret to mastery of the Torah, in its widest rabbinic definition. The Hebrew text begins with this hymn, which praises God for granting Israel the secret through a chain of tradition. The opening recalls the famous opening of Pirke Avot (Chapters of the Fathers): “Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly” (m. Avot 1:1). This tradition, especially, suggests that rabbinic values and ideals were shared by the circles of Hekhalot initiates.