Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/736

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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Apocalyptic Literature

to liim tlif future world. There Miiirlat lia-Ralmmim (the Attribute of Slerey) came to him, Siiying: "I will announce j;'>otl tidings." Turning his eyes to

the throne of mercy. Moses saw God building the of precious stones and jiearls; he saw also the rays of the Godhead, and Messiali the son of David Willi the Torah in his arms: also his own brother Aaron in piiestlyrobes. Aaron imparted to Moses that liis death was near at hand, wlicreipou Moses asked God for permission to speak with Tlie latter tlien revealed to him that the Messiah. the sanctuary which God was then constructing was the Temple ami the. Jerusalem, which would l)e established for Israel in the future world to endure for all eternity, and that God had shown the same Jerusivlem to Jacob in his dream in licth-el. To Moses' question when the new Jerus;dem would descend to earth, God replied " I have not yet revealed the end to any one: should 1 reveal it to theeV" Thereupon Moses said, "Give me at least a hint from the events of liistory." and God answered: "After I havescattered Israel among all the nations, I will stretch out My hand to gather them in a second time from all the ends of the earth." Moses then joyfully departed from heaven, followed liy the angel of death, who demanded his soul. Jloses refused to yield it: but tiuallj'God appeared to him, and he surrendered his soul to God willingly and cheerfully. 5. The Revelation of R. Joshua b. Levi: It has already been noted that the Babylonian Talmud tells of revelations which K. Joshua b. Levi was supposed to have received from the iirojihet Elijah and from the Messiah. In this ajiocalypse R. Joshua himself figures as the author. The book first ajipearcd in the collection "Likkiitim 81ionim," published in 1519 at Constantinople, under the title

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p yL"in' 'ni_n:;'J?0 (The story of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi), and it has since been reprinted several times, under the same title: subsequently by Jellinek in "B. 11." ii. 48-51. Gaster published a translation of it (/.<•. pp. 591-596) with the correct title, " The Revelation of R. Joshua b. Levi " for the contents leave no doubt that it really is an apocalypse. An Aramaic version also existed, a fragment of which " is preserved in Moses b. Nahman's " Torat ha-Adani (it is to be found in different editions of the book and also in Jellinek's "B. H." v. 43 et scq.). Jellinek points out that this Aramaic version is a proof of the ancient origin of the apocalypse (I.e. ii. 18), of which the following is a sununary As the time of H. Joshua b. Levi's death was drawing near, God sent the angel of death to him, commissioning him to fulfil whatever R. Joshua might wish. The latter requested to be shown the place awaiting him in paradise, and desired the angel to give his sword to him. Upon arriving in paradise. Joshua, against the will of the angel, leaped over the wall: God allowed him to Contents of "Revela- remain there, but commanded him to return the sword. Elijah called out tion." " JIako way for the son of Levi " The angel of death thereupon related the incident to R. Gamaliel, who sent him back to R. Joshua with the request that he explore both paradise and hell and send liim a description of them. R. Joshua carried out this request. Here follows a description of the ^ib



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different compartments of paradise, .seven in number. In the tirst dwell the proselytes to Judaism;

in the second, repentant sinners with King JIauas.seh presiding over them: in the third, the Patriarchs and the Israelites who came out of Egypt, David and Solomon, and all the kings of their house; in the fourth, the perfectly righteous. In the fifth, which

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of special splendor and exquisite beauty, are the Messiah and Elijah, the latter cares.sing the Messiah and sayingtohim. "Be comforted, forTheeud drawelh nigh!" The Patriarchs also speak in the same stniin at certain times, as do Mosesand Aaron, David and Solomon, and all the kings of Israel and Judah, In the sixth, dwell those who died in |)iety and in is



the seventh, those w ho died for the sins of Israel. To his question, whether any of the heathen, or even any of his brother Esau's descendants, were in Jiaradisc, R. Joshua received the answer, that they obtained the reward for their good works in this world, and therefore in the other world must dwell in hell: in the ca.se of the sinners in Israel, however, just the op]iosite jirinciplc is followed. Hell could not be viewed inunedialely. for just at that momi-nt the news reached heaven of tlie execution of the Ten Martyrs. When l"{. Joshua entered hell some time later, he saw there ten heathen nations, over whom, as a punishment for his disobedience to his father, Absalom, the .son of David, is compelled to preside. Seven times a day these heathen are burned by angels in pits of lire, being brought out whole a,i:ain every time. Absalom alone is excepted from this punishment: he sits upon a throne, honored as a king. 6. The Alphabets of R. Akiba (sn'a ND^X "! N2'pV '311 ni'niSt ("Miprise a number of writings treating the same theme. The chief center of thought of all of them is the mystical signification, already mentioned in the Tahuud, of the letters of the alphabet and of their written forms, and the mysteries of the names of God made U]) of four, twelve, and forty-two letters. In the Jerusalem Talmud (Hag. ii. 77c) there is a dissertation on the letters by means of which the world was created; and there, as in these writings, it is stated that the present world was created with He (n) and the future with Yod (V), and eschatological theories are built up out of the forms of these letters. In the Babylonian Talnuid (Shab. 104'. also, all sorts of similar interpretations are given in regard to the names, forms, and combinations of the various letters, and are made to bear ujion eschatological Theme of questions in the Siime way as in these the apocalypses. In Kid. 71(, it is said Alphabets, that the mysteries of the three names of God were treated as esoteric doctrine, and that whoever became thoroughly initiated into ilie mystery of the name consisting of forty-two letters might be sure of inheriting both the jiresent and the future world. Similarly, R. Akiba. the reputed author of the "Alphabets," is esjiecially commended in the Talmud as interpreter of the strokes, dots, and tlourishes of the letters (compare, for example. jIen. 29/^: see also Akih.v iiKX Josi.pii). L'p to the jiresent time, the pseude])igrapha in question have been generally considered mystical writings treating ujKin some eschatological points, not as real apocalypses; but the different compositions, as faras they are known, show clearly that the real theme of all is the eschatological problem, and that the discussion of the other supernatural mysteries only .iroes hand in hand with this, as in the apocalypses liitherto noticed. So far. two of the alphabets have appeared in print, one of which is three times as long as the other: the longer was published first in Constantinople. 1519 (in the above-mentioned collection), and again in Venice, l.'>46. Both editions are incomplete but the gaps are filled in part by the Cracow edition, which was published in 1579, was reprinted in Amsterdam, 1708, and which contains also the shorter version. Jellinek published both in "B. H."iii. 12-