That Moses never died is deduced from the biblical verse that asserts that No one knows his burial place to this day (Deut. 34:6). As evidence that Moses is sleeping and not dead, Sifre on Deuteronomy reinterprets the verse Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated (Deut. 34:7). Here the final phrase reads literally “his moisture had not dried up,” and apparently implies that even at the advanced age when he died, Moses was still sexually potent. In the Sifre, Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: “Do not read ‘his moisture had not dried up,’ but rather read ‘his moisture is not dried up’—even until now anyone who touches the flesh of Moses, moisture ascends here and there.” In the Talmud, the verse And he was there with Yahweh (Exod. 34:28) is offered as evidence that Moses did not die, but is still “standing” (i.e., living) and ministering to God (B. Sota 13b). In Zohar 1:28a, one reason given for Moses avoiding death is that because he perfected himself during his lifetime, he rectified the sin of Adam that brought death into the world. Therefore he did not die.
There are many myths about key biblical figures who never died. See “Abraham Never Died,” p. 348 and “Jacob Never Died,” p. 370. See also “King David is Alive,” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 139-141. For a folktale about Moses being alive, see “The Princess and the Slave” in Elijah’s Violin, pp. 36-43.
Sources:
B. Sota 13b; Sifre on Deuteronomy 357; Zohar 1:28a, 1:37b.
Studies:
Legends, by Ginzberg, 6:164.
508. KING DAVID IS CROWNED IN HEAVEN
There are two thrones in heaven, one belonging to God and the other to King David, for King David was not only crowned on earth, but he was also crowned in heaven. The coronation took place in a great House of Study in the seventh heaven, where a fiery throne awaited him. Groups of angels wove garments of salvation and made crowns of life, fixing precious stones and pearls in them, and anointing them with all kinds of spices and delight. All of these were destined for David, King of Israel. Every kind of angel came forth, as well as all of the heavenly creatures. So too were all of the heavenly treasuries present, along with the clouds of glory, the stars, and all the constellations. Suddenly all of them trembled and cried out, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1) and lo! King David stood before his throne, facing the throne of God, with all the kings of the House of David before him, and all the kings of Israel behind him. Then God took His crown and put it on David’s head.
King David’s heavenly crown had the sun, moon, and the twelve constellations fixed on it, its radiance radiating from one end of the world to the other. When the crown was placed on his head, King David began to recite psalms of unimaginable beauty that had never been heard before. All the angels and heavenly creatures joined in, along with the firmaments, so that the song echoed everywhere, “God is one and His name is one.”
Then a loud voice came forth from Eden, crying, “The Lord shall reign forever and ever!” and King David ascended to the heavenly Temple, where a throne of fire was set for him forty parasangs in height. And when David came and sat down upon his throne, which was opposite the throne of his Creator, he uttered songs and prayers such as had not been heard since the creation of the world.
In B. Sanhedrin 38a, Rabbi Akiba states that there are two thrones in heaven, one for God and one for King David. This angers Rabbi Jose, who says, “Akiba, how long will you profane the Shekhinah! Rather, one throne is for justice and the other for mercy.” This follows the interpretation that God has two heavenly thrones. When He sits on the Throne of Mercy, He is merciful, and when He sits on the Throne of Justice, He is harsh in His judgment.
Later, in Midrashei Geulah and Masekhet Atzilut and other texts, this undeveloped myth about King David sharing the role of ruling the world with God is elaborated, with a detailed description of King David’s heavenly coronation. God takes His crown and puts it on David’s head. This is a very radical myth. It elevates King David to the celestial realm, where he undergoes a heavenly coronation that is much like those described as being the coronation of God. Thus David can be seen not only as God’s representative on earth, but one who participates fully in the ritual of divine kingship. The myth strongly implies that David’s role is parallel to that of God, whose throne he faces, making him a “lesser Yahweh.” In this way the myth resembles those about other saintly figures who became the focus of Jewish cults, such as Enoch/Metatron and Jacob. See the Introduction, pp. l, lvii-lviii. Hekhalot Rabbati reaffirms David’s role as co-ruler of heaven. Together, these three texts demonstrate the development of the myth of King David ruling with God in heaven, which starts off as a very brief statement by Rabbi Akiba in the Talmud.
The most extensive divinization tradition among the patriarchs and kings is that associated with Jacob. See “Jacob the Divine,” p. 366. One statement in the Talmud hints at such a tradition associated with King Solomon: “Solomon ruled over both the worlds above and the worlds below.” This seems to go far beyond a mere statement about Solomon’s remarkable powers to hint at his divine elevation. There are also enthronement myths about Adam and Moses. See “The Enthronement of Adam,” p. 131 and “The Enthronement of Moses,” p. 388.
Sources:
B. Sanhedrin 38a; Hekhalot Rabbati 6; Midrashei Geulah; Masekhet Atzilut 54a-b; Siddur Amram 12b-13a; Sefer Eliyahu in Beit ha-Midrash 3:68-78; Likutei Moharan 1:8.
Studies:
Keter: The Crown of God in Early Jewish Mysticism by Arthur Green.
509. KING DAVID’S HARP
A harp hung above King David’s bed, and precisely at midnight a north wind arrived and blew on the harp and it would play by itself. Then King David would arise and study Torah until the break of dawn.
This is a famous talmudic legend about King David’s harp. This brief legend transforms that harp into an enchanted one. This legend echoes Genesis 1:2: The spirit of God hovered over the waters. Here God’s spirit hovers over the waters the way the wind blows on the strings of the harp.
Later in Jewish folklore, this same harp became the object of fairytale quests. See, for example, “King David’s Harp” in Miriam’s Tambourine, pp. 163-167.
In Likutei Moharan Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav offers an allegorical reading: the five strings of the harp represent the Five Books of Moses. The wind represents the hidden spirit (ruah—which also means “wind”) in each Jew. When that spirit comes in contact with the five strings of the harp (the Five Books of Moses), the music of new revelations is produced. For Rabbi Nachman, waking up refers to everyone’s need to wake up spiritually.
Sources:
B. Berakhot 3b; Likutei Moharan 1:8.
510. THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to wreak destruction, the Lord saw and renounced further punishment and said to the destroying angel, “Enough! Stay your hand!” The angel of the Lord was then standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand directed against Jerusalem. David and the elders, covered in sackcloth, threw themselves on their faces.
King David’s vision of a giant angel standing between heaven and earth with a drawn sword in his hand is certainly terrifying and memorable. The meaning of this myth is that Jerusalem was on the verge of total destruction when God intervened, just as He had done with the sacrifice of Isaac, and prevented it at the last minute.
Note the parallel of God’s words here to those spoken by the angel to stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac (Gen. 22:12).
Sources:
1 Chronicles 21:15-16.
511. THE MOUNTAIN OF FIRE
Once, when King David was walking in a very thick forest, he became tired, so he lay down and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, the angel Michael came to him and whispered in his ear, “Wake up! Now is not the time to be asleep.” When David opened his eyes, he saw a mountain in the distance that was bur
ning in fire. He raised his eyes to the mountain, and he saw the letters YHVH flashing before him. All at once the fire surrounding the mountain vanished, but letters of fire remained, carved into the mountain, spelling God’s Name.
This is a little-known tradition about King David, which links David to Moses by evoking Mount Sinai at the time of the Giving of the Torah. In addition, it reaffirms that the God of King David is the same God of Moses, known by the Name YHVH. This myth also echoes the midrashic tradition about Abraham and Isaac seeing a holy light—the light of the Shekhinah—surrounding Mount Moriah. Thus one brief myth manages to create a line of continuity between Abraham, Moses, and David, while emphasizing that they all worshipped the same God.
Sources:
IFA 763.
512. THE THIRTY-SIX JUST MEN
In each generation there are thirty-six just men, known as the Lamed-vav Tzaddikim, the thirty-six righteous ones. They are hidden saints who are blessed to be able to see the Shekhinah. The world exists because of their merit. When one of them dies, another is born to take his place. Because of these thirty-six just men, God permits the world to exist. Thus they are the pillars of existence.
Few are those who escape the punishments of Gehenna. But when these saints take leave of this world, their souls immediately ascend on high, to the heavenly rewards awaiting them.
The myth of the 36 hidden saints—known as the Lamed-vav Tzaddikim— first appears in the Talmud and later becomes a staple of folk, kabbalistic, and Hasidic tales. B. Sanhedrin 97b suggests that each of these righteous men must be approved by the Shekhinah. The number of hidden saints varies at first, with some texts listing the number as 30 (Genesis Rabbah 35:2), and some as 45 (B. Hullin 45a). However, the number 36 became the standard, perhaps because it is twice 18—heh in Hebrew—which also means “life.” It was believed that any stranger could turn out to be one of the Lamed-vav Tzaddikim, and therefore respect should be shown to everyone. Many of the tales about the just men describe them as living in remote places, such as forests, where they engage in mystical study.
André Schwarz-Bart wrote a famous novel, The Last of the Just, based on this myth, although he revised it in substantial ways. In the novel, the hidden saints descend from a single family line.
Yisroel Yakov Klapholtz published a two-volume collection of tales about the 36 just men, entitled Lamed-Vav Tzaddikim Nistarim.
Sources:
B. Sanhedrin 97b; B. Sukkah 45b; Genesis Rabbah 35:2; B. Hullin 45a; Zohar Exodus 2:151a.
BOOK EIGHT
MYTHS OF THE HOLY LAND
The land you are about to cross into and possess, a land of hills and valleys, soaks up its water from the rains of heaven. It is a land which the Lord your God looks after, on which the Lord your God always keeps His eye, from year’s beginning to year’s end.
Deuteronomy 11:11-12
513. THE GARDEN OF EDEN
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed. And from the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. (The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli.) The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”
The Garden of Eden serves as the primary archetype of the lost Paradise where our ancestors, Adam and Eve, failed a divine test and were cast out. As a wandering desert people, much like the Bedouins of today, the ancient Hebrews would naturally look forward to finding the next oasis. Such an oasis, with many kinds of fruit trees, was probably the original model for the Garden of Eden, the ultimate oasis. Not only do Adam and Eve have everything they need while living in the Garden, but God sometimes walks there in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). They only have one rule to obey: Don’t eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Of course, Eve and then Adam cannot resist tasting the forbidden fruit. Like Pandora, they unleash the unknown and find themselves exiled from the Garden of Eden.
From a psychological perspective, the Garden of Eden might be seen as childhood, the kind of childhood where a child lives in a protected world and all of his or her needs are met. It is the discovery of sex that causes them to be expelled from the Garden, from childhood, and the world outside the garden requires great effort on their part to survive. From this perspective the Fall might be viewed as the tasting of the forbidden fruit—sex.
Sources:
Genesis 2:8-17
Studies:
“The Garden of Eden: From Creation to Covenant” by Bernard Och.
“Gardens: From Eden to Jerusalem” by Sandra R. Shimoff
514. THE CREATION OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN
Some say that the Garden of Eden was planted by God’s right hand before the earth was created. Indeed, it was one of seven things created before the creation of the world.
Michael Stone distinguishes three kinds of Paradise that are described in 4 Ezra. One is the pre-existent Paradise, as described here. Another is an eschatological Paradise, as found in 4 Ezra 7:38 and 8:52. The third is a Paradise of mystical association, such as the traditions associated with the term Pardes, which is identified both as a mystical orchard and as Paradise in B. Hagigah 14b. See “The Four Who Entered Paradise,” p. 173.
Sources:
B. Pesahim 54a; 4 Ezra 3:4-6, 6:4.
Studies:
“Features of the Eschatology of IV Ezra” by Michael E. Stone, pp. 77-79.
Portraits of Adam in Early Judaism by John R. Levison, pp. 116-17.
515. THE HIDDEN GARDEN
The Garden of Eden is well hidden. It is closed on every side, and guarded in a number of ways so that none can see it, not even the angels or the eye of a prophet or seer, as it is said, No eye has seen it, Lord, but You (Isa. 64:3). Indeed, just as a nut is enclosed within a shell, so Eden is a world within. For the Garden of Eden was planted by God Himself, as it is said, The Lord God planted a garden in Eden (Gen. 2:8), and He planted it with His complete Name.
The Garden of Eden is the dwelling place of holy souls, both those who have already descended to this world and those who will descend in the future. These souls are said to be entirely preoccupied with Torah. In this way they are unified with God and absorbed into the light of God.
Since no one knows where the Garden of Eden can be found, this myth offers one explanation of its fate. For once Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, it largely vanishes from the Bible. However, it often reappears in every phase of subsequent Jewish literature. This myth explains that it is hidden, which is why it is not encountered more often. A different explanation is found in 3 Baruch 4:10, where the Garden is said to have been lost in the Flood: “When God brought the Flood, the water entered Paradise and killed every flower.”
This myth also serves as a commentary on Genesis 2:8, The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, and on the verse from the Song of Songs 6:11, I went down to the nut grove. The latter verse is often interpreted mystically, with the nut grove understood to refer to the Garden of Eden. In kabbalah, on the other hand, the Garden of Eden was not an actual, physical location, but a mystical one, very possibly an internal state, which one reaches by mystical means.
In Torat Moshe on Genesis 2:9, Rabbi Moshe Alshekh describes the Garden of Eden as essentially supernatural. But when a branch or leaf is taken out of the gar
den, it becomes a regular earthly branch or leaf. Thus the olive branch that Noah’s dove brought from the Garden of Eden turned into a real one.
For folktales about such a journey to the Garden of Eden, see “The Prince of Coucy” in Miriam’s Tambourine, pp. 173-185, and “The Waters of Eternal Life,” pp. 122-134, and “The Gates of Eden” in Gabriel’s Palace, p. 62.
Note that the term Gan Eden, literally, the “Garden of Eden,” has two meanings—it refers to the earthly garden, but it also refers to Paradise, and in Jewish lore the two meanings often blur into one. These two meanings also gave birth to the notion that there are two gardens—the earthly garden where Adam and Eve once made their home and the heavenly Eden, which is Paradise. A discussion of the upper and lower Gan Eden is found in Zohar 3:182b.
Sources:
Midrash ha-Ne’elam, Zohar Hadash 18a; Zohar 2:150a.
516. THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE
The Tree of Life is in the midst of the earthly garden, and nearby is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God enters the garden with the righteous, as it is said, They heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of day (Gen. 3:8). Then the Tree of Life gives forth a fragrance that permeates the whole garden, and that fragrance sustains all the righteous who live there. As it spreads out, the leaves shout for joy.
Some say that every New Moon and festival the righteous sit down and eat the delicacies of the Tree of Life. Its fruit is life and rest. Others say that every night the souls of the righteous rise up to the Garden of Eden and at midnight God comes to the garden to delight in them. Then God stands near that tree, and the righteous come and prostrate themselves before the cloud of glory. And a fountain of blessings in the garden cascades upon the head of every one of the righteous, and God rejoices with them.
Tree of Souls Page 87