The Pargod

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Michael: Michael! Your nation has sinned. He said before Him: Master of the Universe, let it suffice for the good ones among them! He said to him: I will burn them along with the good ones among them. Immediately: "And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said: Go in between the wheelwork, beneath the cherub, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in before my eyes" (Ezekiel 10:2). Immediately: "And the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out" (Ezekiel 10:7). Rav Chana bar Bizna said that Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: Had the coals not cooled from the hand of the cherub to the hand of Gabriel, there would not have been left of the enemies of Israel a remnant or a survivor. And it is written: "And behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, brought back word, saying: I have done as You commanded me" (Ezekiel 9:11). Rabbi Yochanan said: At that time they brought Gabriel out from behind the curtain and struck him with sixty fiery lashes. They said to him: If you had not done it, you had not done it; but since you did it, why did you not do it as you were commanded? And furthermore: now that you have done it, do you not hold that one does not bring back a report on a misdeed [that is, one does not bear tidings of harm]? They brought Dubiel, the ministering prince of the Persians, and stood him in Gabriel's place, and he served twenty-one days. This is what is written: "And the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood opposing me twenty-one days; but behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there beside the kings of Persia" (Daniel 10:13). They gave him twenty-one kings and a seaport of Mashhig. He said: Write Israel over to me for the head tax. They wrote it for him. Write the Rabbis over to me for the head tax. They wrote it for him. At the moment when they wished to seal the decree, Gabriel arose from behind the curtain and said: "It is vain for you who rise early, who sit up late, who eat the bread of toil; so He gives sleep to His beloved" (Psalms 127:2). What is "so He gives sleep to His beloved"? Rabbi Yitzchak said: These are the wives of Torah scholars who deprive themselves of sleep in this world and merit the World to Come. But they paid no heed to him. He said before Him: Master of the Universe! If all the sages of the nations of the world were on one pan of a balance, and Daniel, the man greatly beloved, on the second pan, would he not be found to outweigh them all?! The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Who is this that pleads merit for My children? They said before Him: Master of the Universe, it is Gabriel. He said to them: Let him come, as it is said: "And I have come because of your words" (Daniel 10:12). He said to them: Let him enter. They brought him in.