Ezekiel יחזקאל הנביא
prophet of the Babylonian exile, who saw the divine Chariot
Yechezkel son of Buzi was a priest taken to Babylon with the exile of Yehoyachin in 3327. Some years later, «by the river Kevar», he saw the vision of the Chariot — four faces, wheels within wheels, blinding brightness. The Mishnah forbids expounding this chapter publicly.
His ministry proved something far from obvious: prophecy is possible in exile, and God «was to them a small sanctuary in the lands where they came». From that phrase tradition derives the idea of the synagogue.
He spoke harshly and often through actions: lying on his side for hundreds of days, eating measured rations, shaving his head and dividing the hair in three — each gesture a sign of the city's fate. He also established personal responsibility against the proverb about fathers eating sour grapes: «The soul that sins, it shall die.»
After the destruction the tone turns to consolation. His most famous vision is a valley of dry bones that grow sinews and flesh and stand up: «These bones are the whole house of Israel.» His closing chapters describe a future Temple in exact measurements.