Moses Climbs Past the Fire-Angels to Receive the Torah

The Holy Spirit said through Solomon king of Israel: "His cheeks are like a bed of spices, towers of perfumes; his lips are lilies dropping flowing myrrh" (Song of Songs 5:13). Against what did Solomon say this verse? Only against that hour when the Torah was given to Israel. The whole world trembled and gathered before Balaam the wicked and said: perhaps He brings a flood upon the world, or the world is being judged as at first. Balaam opened and answered: do not fear, kings of the earth, and do not be alarmed, rulers of the land; the One who dwells in the heavens reveals Himself to His children in mercy and shines forth to give His people Torah and wisdom and instruction to His beloved. And why was the Torah given in Sivan and not in another month? A parable: to a king who made a wedding canopy for his daughter. One said, it is fitting to mount the king's daughter on an elephant while she sits in a litter; another said, the elephant is tall but has no splendor and no beauty - it is fitting to mount her on a horse; another said, the elephant is tall and the horse is beautiful, but they have no mouth to speak, no hands to clap, no feet to dance - it is fitting to set her on shoulders to show her beauty. So the Holy One did not give the Torah in Nisan or Iyar, for the sign of Nisan is the Ram and the sign of Iyar is the Ox, who have no mouth to praise; therefore He gave the Torah in Sivan, whose sign is the Twins, and a Twin is a human, and a human has a mouth to speak, hands to clap, and feet to dance. And when the Holy One gave the Torah, the earth rejoiced and the heavens wept. Why? A parable: to a king who made a wedding for his daughter; the townspeople did not come in or give praise, but the villagers came in and praised the king with lyres and harps and every kind of song. So when the Holy One gave Torah to Israel, the earth gave praise and the heavens did not. The Holy One said to the heavens: you who dwell above, it is more fitting for you than the earth to praise My glory and My daughter. They said before Him: Master of the worlds, shall the earth give praise, to whom the Torah was given, while we, from whom it departs, give praise and not grieve? As it is said, "LORD, when You went forth from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens also dropped" (Judges 5:4). And when the Holy One gave the Torah to Israel, the angels rejoiced and the Holy One was, as it were, grieved, as it is said, "when you heard the voice out of the darkness" (Deuteronomy 5:20). Can it be said that the Holy One dwelt in darkness? Is it not already said, "and the light dwells with Him" (Daniel 2:22)? A parable: to a king of flesh and blood who gave his daughter to one of the king's nobles and made a condition with him, saying, you know I am a king and my daughter is a king's daughter, and you know my daughter is tender and delicate; do not take her out at night, lest something happen, and do not engage in matters of transgression, which she hates. He accepted all these conditions, and gave his daughter to her attendants; but when they brought the king's daughter and set her in the outer court, the king's son-in-law was seen, that a harlot sat in his lap. They said: what shall we do? If we lead her back, she will tell her father and he will kill us; let us snatch her away. At once they snatched her away. So when the Holy One gave Torah to Israel, all the host on high rejoiced and the Holy One was grieved. They said before Him: Master of the world, is not the joy You created in Your world Yours? He said: you do not know how this matter ends - that the Torah was given on the first tablets, "You shall have no other gods" (Exodus 20:3), and when Moses and Joshua brought them down and saw the calf and them bowing to it, they said, what shall we do? At once they broke them, as it is said, "and he broke them beneath the mountain" (Exodus 32:19). Therefore it says, "his lips are lilies dropping flowing myrrh." The Rabbis taught: "I am the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:2). When Moses ascended on high, at that hour a cloud came and crouched before him; Moses did not know whether to ride on it or hold to it. At once it opened and he entered it, as it is said, "and Moses entered into the midst of the cloud" (Exodus 24:18), "and the cloud covered" (Exodus 24:15). The cloud bore him and he walked in the firmament, and the angel Kemuel, who is appointed over twelve thousand angels of destruction sitting at the gate of the firmament, met him and rebuked Moses, saying: what business have you among the holy ones of the Most High? You come from a place of filth and walk in a place of purity; one born of woman walks in a place of fire! Moses said: I am Moses son of Amram, who has come to receive the Torah for Israel. Since the angel would not let him pass, Moses struck him one blow and destroyed him from the world. And Moses walked in the firmament as a man walks on earth, until he reached the place of the angel Hadarniel, who is taller than his fellow by sixty myriad parasangs, and every single word that goes out of his mouth issues with two lightning bolts of fire. He met Moses and said: what business have you in the place of the holy ones of the Most High? When Moses heard his voice he was terrified, his eyes streamed tears, and he sought to fall from the cloud. At that hour the mercy of the Holy One was stirred, and a heavenly voice came forth and said to Hadarniel: you have been quarrelsome ones from your earliest days. When I sought to create the first man, you became accusers before Me and said, "What is man that You should remember him?" (Psalms 8:5), and you did not leave Me until I burned companies of you with fire; and now you stand in strife and will not let him give Torah to Israel - for if Israel do not receive the Torah, there is no dwelling for Me nor for you. When Hadarniel heard this, he said before Him: it is revealed and known before You that I did not know he came by Your permission; now I will be a messenger for him and walk before him as a disciple before his master. And he walked before him until they reached the fire of Sandalphon. Hadarniel said to Moses: until here I had permission to walk; from here on I have no permission, because of the fire of Sandalphon, lest he burn me. When Moses saw Sandalphon he was terrified, his eyes streamed tears, he sought to fall from the cloud, and he begged for mercy before the Holy One, who answered him. Come and see how beloved Israel are before the Holy One: at that hour the Holy One Himself descended from His throne and stood before Sandalphon until Moses passed; and of that hour it says, "and the LORD passed by before him" (Exodus 34:6). They said of Sandalphon that he is taller than his fellows by a journey of five hundred years, stands behind the chariot, and binds crowns for his Maker. Could it enter your mind that the ministering angels know where He is? Is it not already said, "Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place" (Ezekiel 3:12) - yet His place they did not see? Rather, Sandalphon adjures the crown and it rises and rests on the head of his Master; and when the crown arrives, all the hosts above tremble and the living creatures fall silent and roar like a lion, and at that hour all answer and say, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3). When Moses passed by, the river of fire Rigion met him, whose coals burn the angels and burn human beings; the Holy One took him and brought him across it. The angel Glitzur met him, of whom it is written, "From the mouth of the Most High does not the evil and the good come forth?" (Lamentations 3:38); he reveals the reasons of the Rock, and his wings spread to receive the breath of the living creatures, for without this the ministering angels would be burned by the breath of the creatures. Then a band of angels of destruction that surround the throne of glory met Moses; when he reached them they sought to burn him with the breath of their mouths. What did the Holy One do? He spread over him some of His radiance and set him before His throne, and said: Moses, give an answer to the ministering angels. He said before Him: Master of the world, I fear they will burn me with the breath of their mouths. He said to him: take hold of the throne of My glory and return them an answer. At once Moses grew strong and answered the ministering angels, saying to them: it is written in the Torah, "I am the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:2) - do you have a god? It is written, "You shall have no other gods" - do you dwell among other peoples? It is written, "Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12) - do you have a father and mother? It is written, "You shall not covet" - is there coveting among you? They opened and said, "O LORD our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth" (Psalms 8:10). As soon as Moses ascended on high, the Holy One opened the seven firmaments and showed him the Temple above, and showed him the four colors from which the Tabernacle was made, as it is said, "and you shall raise up the Tabernacle as its design that was shown you on the mountain" (Exodus 26:30). He said before Him: Master of the world, I do not know the form of the four colors. He said: turn to your right. He turned and saw a band of angels wearing a garment resembling the sea; He said, this is the blue. Turn to your left: he saw men wearing red garments; He said, this is the purple. He turned back and saw a band wearing garments neither red nor green; He said, this is the scarlet. He turned forward and saw bands wearing white garments; this is the fine twined linen. At once the Holy One opened the seven firmaments and revealed Himself to them eye to eye in His beauty, His glory, His form, His crown, and His throne of glory. When they heard "I am the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:2), at once the souls of the righteous departed, and He revived them, as it is said, "You shed a bountiful rain, O God; You restored Your weary inheritance" (Psalms 68:10). What did the Holy One do? He brought down to them on earth one hundred twenty myriad ministering angels; two angels took hold of each one of Israel, one placing his hand on his heart and one lifting his neck so he would see the Holy One face to face. And why did He reveal Himself to them face to face? He said to them: see that I have revealed Myself to you in My glory and My splendor, so that if a generation arises that leads you astray and says, let us go and worship other gods, you may say, we have a God whom we worship.