Legends of the Jews, Volume 1 — Chapter 1: Creation of the World, Part 1

I THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

THE FIRST THINGS CREATED

In the beginning, two thousand years before the heaven and the earth, seven things were created: the Torah written with black fire on white fire, and lying in the lap of God; the Divine Throne, erected in the heaven which later was over the heads of the Hayyot; Paradise on the right side of God, Hell on the left side; the Celestial Sanctuary directly in front of God, having a jewel on its altar graven with the Name of the Messiah, and a Voice that cries aloud, "Return, ye children of men."

[1] When God resolved upon the creation of the world, He took counsel with the Torah.

[2] Her advice was this: "O Lord, a king without an army and without courtiers and attendants hardly deserves the name of king, for none is nigh to express the homage due to him."

The answer pleased God exceedingly.

Thus did He teach all earthly kings, by His Divine example, to undertake naught without first consulting advisers.

[3] The advice of the Torah was given with some reservations.

She was skeptical about the value of an earthly world, on account of the sinfulness of men, who would be sure to disregard her precepts.

But God dispelled her doubts.

He told her, that repentance had been created long before, and sinners would have the opportunity of mending their ways.

Besides, the Temple service would be invested with atoning power, and Paradise and hell were intended to do duty as reward and punishment.

Finally, the Messiah was appointed to bring salvation, which would put an end to all sinfulness.

[4] Nor is this world inhabited by man the first of things earthly created by God.

He made several worlds before ours, but He destroyed them all, because He was pleased with none until He created ours.

[5] But even this last world would have had no permanence, if God had executed His original plan of ruling it according to the principle of strict justice.

It was only when He saw that justice by itself would undermine the world that He associated mercy with justice, and made them to rule jointly.

[6] Thus, from the beginning of all things prevailed Divine goodness, without which nothing could have continued to exist.

If not for it, the myriads of evil spirits had soon put an end to the generations of men.

But the goodness of God has ordained, that in every Nisan, at the time of the spring equinox, the seraphim shall approach the world of spirits, and intimidate them so that they fear to do harm to men.

Again, if God in His goodness had not given protection to the weak, the tame animals would have been extirpated long ago by the wild animals.

In Tammuz, at the time of the summer solstice, when the strength of behemot is at its height, he roars so loud that all the animals hear it, and for a whole year they are affrighted and timid, and their acts become less ferocious than their nature is.

Again, in Tishri, at the time of the autumnal equinox, the great bird ziz[7] flaps his wings and utters his cry, so that the birds of prey, the eagles and the vultures, blench, and they fear to swoop down upon the others and annihilate them in their greed.

And, again, were it not for the goodness of God, the vast number of big fish had quickly put an end to the little ones.

But at the time of the winter solstice, in the month of Tebet, the sea grows restless, for then leviathan spouts up water, and the big fish become uneasy.

They restrain their appetite, and the little ones escape their rapacity.

Finally, the goodness of God manifests itself in the preservation of His people Israel.

It could not have survived the enmity of the Gentiles, if God had not appointed protectors for it, the archangels Michael and Gabriel.

[8] Whenever Israel disobeys God, and is accused of misdemeanors by the angels of the other nations, he is defended by his designated guardians, with such good result that the other angels conceive fear of them.

Once the angels of the other nations are terrified, the nations themselves venture not to carry out their wicked designs against Israel.

That the goodness of God may rule on earth as in heaven, the Angels of Destruction are assigned a place at the far end of the heavens, from which they may never stir, while the Angels of Mercy encircle the Throne of God, at His behest.

[9] THE ALPHABET

When God was about to create the world by His word, the twenty-two letters of the alphabet[10] descended from the terrible and august crown of God whereon they were engraved with a pen of flaming fire.

They stood round about God, and one after the other spake and entreated, "Create the world through me!"

The first to step forward was the letter Taw.

It said: "O Lord of the world!

May it be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing that it is through me that Thou wilt give the Torah to Israel by the hand of Moses, as it is written, 'Moses commanded us the Torah.'

" The Holy One, blessed be He, made reply, and said, "No!"

Taw asked, "Why not?"

and God answered: "Because in days to come I shall place thee as a sign of death upon the foreheads of men."

As soon as Taw heard these words issue from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it retired from His presence disappointed.

The Shin then stepped forward, and pleaded: "O Lord of the world, create Thy world through me: seeing that Thine own name Shaddai begins with me."

Unfortunately, it is also the first letter of Shaw, lie, and of Sheker, falsehood, and that incapacitated it.

Resh had no better luck.

It was pointed out that it was the initial letter of Ra', wicked, and Rasha' evil, and after that the distinction it enjoys of being the first letter in the Name of God, Rahum, the Merciful, counted for naught.

The Kof was rejected, because Kelalah, curse, outweighs the advantage of being the first in Kadosh, the Holy One.

In vain did Zadde call attention to Zaddik, the Righteous One; there was Zarot, the misfortunes of Israel, to testify against it.

Pe had Podeh, redeemer, to its credit, but Pesha: transgression, reflected dishonor upon it.

'Ain was declared unfit, because, though it begins 'Anawah, humility, it performs the same service for 'Erwah, immorality.

Samek said: "O Lord, may it be Thy will to begin the creation with me, for Thou art called Samek, after me, the Upholder of all that fall."

But God said: "Thou art needed in the place in which thou art;[11] thou must continue to uphold all that fall."

Nun introduces Ner, "the lamp of the Lord," which is "the spirit of men," but it also introduces Ner, "the lamp of the wicked," which will be put out by God.

Mem starts Melek, king, one of the titles of God.

As it is the first letter of Mehumah, confusion, as well, it had no chance of accomplishing its desire.

The claim of Lamed bore its refutation within itself.

It advanced the argument that it was the first letter of Luhot, the celestial tables for the Ten Commandments; it forgot that the tables were shivered in pieces by Moses.

Kaf was sure of victory Kisseh, the throne of God, Kabod, His honor, and Keter, His crown, all begin with it.

God had to remind it that He would smite together His hands, Kaf, in despair over the misfortunes of Israel.

Yod at first sight seemed the appropriate letter for the beginning of creation, on account of its association with Yah, God, if only Yezer ha-Ra' the evil inclination, had not happened to begin with it, too.

Tet is identified with Tob, the good.

However, the truly good is not in this world; it belongs to the world to come.

Het is the first letter of Hanun, the Gracious One; but this advantage is offset by its place in the word for sin, Hattat.

Zain suggests Zakor, remembrance, but it is itself the word for weapon, the doer of mischief.

Waw and He compose the Ineffable Name of God; they are therefore too exalted to be pressed into the service of the mundane world.

If Dalet had stood only for Dabar, the Divine Word, it would have been used, but it stands also for Din, justice, and under the rule of law without love the world would have fallen to ruin.

Finally, in spite of reminding one of Gadol, great, Gimel would not do, because Gemul, retribution, starts with it.

After the claims of all these letters had been disposed of, Bet stepped before the Holy One, blessed be He, and pleaded before Him: "O Lord of the world!

May it be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing that all the dwellers in the world give praise daily unto Thee through me, as it is said, 'Blessed be the Lord forever.

Amen, and Amen.'

" The Holy One, blessed be He, at once granted the petition of Bet.

He said, "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

And He created His world through Bet, as it is said, "Bereshit God created the heaven and the earth."

The only letter that had refrained from urging its claims was the modest Alef, and God rewarded it later for its humility by giving it the first place in the Decalogue.

[12] THE FIRST DAY

On the first day of creation God produced ten things:[13] the heavens and the earth, Tohu and Bohu, light and darkness, wind and water, the duration of the day[14] and the duration of the night.

[15] Though the heavens and the earth consist of entirely different elements,[16] they were yet created as a unit, "like the pot and its cover."

[17] The heavens were fashioned from the light of God's garment, and the earth from the snow under the Divine Throne.

[18] Tohu is a green band which encompasses the whole world, and dispenses darkness, and Bohu consists of stones in the abyss, the producers of the waters.

The light created at the very beginning is not the same as the light emitted by the sun, the moon, and the stars, which appeared only on the fourth day.

The light of the first day was of a sort that would have enabled man to see the world at a glance from one end to the other.

Anticipating the wickedness of the sinful generations of the deluge and the Tower of Babel, who were unworthy to enjoy the blessing of such light, God concealed it, but in the world to come it will appear to the pious in all its pristine glory.

[19] Several heavens were created,[20] seven in fact,[21] each to serve a purpose of its own.

The first, the one visible to man, has no function except that of covering up the light during the night time; therefore it disappears every morning.

The planets are fastened to the second of the heavens; in the third the manna is made for the pious in the hereafter; the fourth contains the celestial Jerusalem together with the Temple, in which Michael ministers as high priest, and offers the souls of the pious as sacrifices.

In the fifth heaven, the angel hosts reside, and sing the praise of God, though only during the night, for by day it is the task of Israel on earth to give glory to God on high.

The sixth heaven is an uncanny spot; there originate most of the trials and visitations ordained for the earth and its inhabitants.

Snow lies heaped up there and hail; there are lofts full of noxious dew, magazines stocked with storms, and cellars holding reserves of smoke.

Doors of fire separate these celestial chambers, which are under the supervision of the archangel Metatron.

Their pernicious contents defiled the heavens until David's time.

The pious king prayed God to purge His exalted dwelling of whatever was pregnant with evil; it was not becoming that such things should exist near the Merciful One.

Only then they were removed to the earth.

The seventh heaven, on the other hand, contains naught but what is good and beautiful: right, justice, and mercy, the storehouses of life, peace, and blessing, the souls of the pious, the souls and spirits of unborn generations, the dew with which God will revive the dead on the resurrection day, and, above all, the Divine Throne, surrounded by the seraphim, the ofanim, the holy Hayyot, and the ministering angels.

[22] Corresponding to the seven heavens, God created seven earths, each separated from the next by five layers.

Over the lowest earth, the seventh, called Erez, lie in succession the abyss, the Tohu, the Bohu, a sea, and waters.

[23] Then the sixth[24] earth is reached, the Adamah, the scene of the magnificence of God.

In the same way the Adamah is separated from the fifth earth, the Arka, which contains Gehenna, and Sha'are Mawet, and Sha'are Zalmawet, and Beer Shahat, and Tit ha-Yawen, and Abaddon, and Sheol,[25] and there the souls of the wicked are guarded by the Angels of Destruction.

In the same way Arka is followed by Harabah, the dry, the place of brooks and streams in spite of its name, as the next, called Yabbashah, the mainland, contains the rivers and the springs.

Tebel, the second earth, is the first mainland inhabited by living creatures, three hundred and sixty-five species,[26] all essentially different from those of our own earth.

Some have human heads set on the body of a lion, or a serpent, or an ox; others have human bodies topped by the head of one of these animals.

Besides, Tebel is inhabited by human beings with two heads and four hands and feet, in fact with all their organs doubled excepting only the trunk.

[27] It happens sometimes that the parts of these double persons quarrel with each other, especially while eating and drinking, when each claims the best and largest portions for himself.

This species of mankind is distinguished for great piety, another difference between it and the inhabitants of our earth.

Our own earth is called Heled, and, like the others, it is separated from the Tebel by an abyss, the Tohu, the Bohu, a sea, and waters.

Thus one earth rises above the other, from the first to the seventh, and over the seventh earth the heavens are vaulted, from the first to the seventh, the last of them attached to the arm of God.

The seven heavens form a unity, the seven kinds of earth form a unity, and the heavens and the earth together also form a unity.

[28] When God made our present heavens and our present earth, "the new heavens and the new earth"[29] were also brought forth, yea, and the hundred and ninety-six thousand worlds which God created unto His Own glory.

[30] It takes five hundred years to walk from the earth to the heavens, and from one end of a heaven to the other, and also from one heaven to the next,[31] and it takes the same length of time to travel from the east to the west, or from the south to the north.

[32] Of all this vast world only one-third is inhabited, the other two-thirds being equally divided between water and waste desert land.

Beyond the inhabited parts to the east is Paradise[33] with its seven divisions, each assigned to the pious of a certain degree.

The ocean is situated to the west, and it is dotted with islands upon islands, inhabited by many different peoples.

Beyond it, in turn, are the boundless steppes full of serpents and scorpions, and destitute of every sort of vegetation, whether herbs or trees.

To the north are the supplies of hell-fire, of snow, hail, smoke, ice, darkness, and windstorms, and in that vicinity sojourn all sorts of devils, demons, and malign spirits.

Their dwelling-place is a great stretch of land, it would take five hundred years to traverse it.

Beyond lies hell.

To the south is the chamber containing reserves of fire, the cave of smoke, and the forge of blasts and hurricanes.

[34] Thus it comes that the wind blowing from the south brings heat and sultriness to the earth.

Were it not for the angel Ben Nez, the Winged, who keeps the south wind back with his pinions, the world would be consumed.

[35] Besides, the fury of its blast is tempered by the north wind, which always appears as moderator, whatever other wind may be blowing.

[36] In the east, the west, and the south, heaven and earth touch each other, but the north God left unfinished, that any man who announced himself as a god might be set the task of supplying the deficiency, and stand convicted as a pretender.

[37] The construction of the earth was begun at the centre, with the foundation stone of the Temple, the Eben Shetiyah,[38] for the Holy Land is at the central point of the surface of the earth, Jerusalem is at the central point of Palestine, and the Temple is situated at the centre of the Holy City.

In the sanctuary itself the Hekal is the centre, and the holy Ark occupies the centre of the Hekal, built on the foundation stone, which thus is at the centre of the earth.

[39] Thence issued the first ray of light, piercing to the Holy Land, and from there illuminating the whole earth.

[40] The creation of the world, however, could not take place until God had banished the ruler of the dark.

[41] "Retire," God said to him, "for I desire to create the world by means of light."

Only after the light had been fashioned, darkness arose, the light ruling in the sky, the darkness on the earth.

[42] The power of God displayed itself not only in the creation of the world of things, but equally in the limitations which He imposed upon each.

The heavens and the earth stretched themselves out in length and breadth as though they aspired to infinitude, and it required the word of God to call a halt to their encroachments.

[43]