Maaseh Merkabah (Working of the Chariot) is the modern name given to a hechalot text, discovered by scholar Gershom Scholem. Works of the Chariot dates from late Hellenistic period, after the end of the Second Temple period following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE when the physical cult ceased to function. The idea of making a journey to the heavenly hekhal seems to be a kind of spiritualization of the pilgrimages to the earthly hekhal that were now no longer possible. It is a form of pre-Kabbalah Jewish mysticism that teaches both of the possibility of making a sublime journey to God and of the ability of man to draw down divine powers to earth; it seems to have been an esoteric movement that grew out of the priestly mysticism already evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls and some apocalyptic writings (see the studies by Rachel Elior).
Several movements in Jewish mysticism and, later, students of the Kabbalah have focused on these passages from Ezekiel, seeking underlying meaning and the secrets of Creation in what they argued was the metaphoric language of the verses.
Due to the concern of some Torah scholars that misunderstanding these passages as literal descriptions of God's image might lead to blasphemy or idolatry, there was great opposition to studying this topic without the proper initiation. Jewish biblical commentaries emphasize that the imagery of the merkaba is not meant to be taken literally; rather the chariot and its accompanying angels are analogies for the various ways that God reveals himself in this world. Hasidic philosophy and kabbalah discuss at length what each aspect of this vision represents in this world, and how the vision does not imply that God is made up of these forms.
Jews customarily read the Biblical passages concerning the merkaba in their synagogues every year on the holiday of Shavuot, and the merkabah is also referenced in several places in traditional Jewish liturgy.
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