Parshat Vezot Haberakhah6 min read

God Spread a Bed of Purple and Kissed the Soul From Moses

God sent Gabriel, then Michael, then the sword-bearing Samael to take Moses, but none could touch the man worth six hundred thousand.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Four Angels Who Would Not Descend
  2. Samael Came With Drawn Sword and Trembled
  3. Moses Numbered His Deeds and Drove Death Back
  4. God Came Down With Three Angels and a Bed of Purple
  5. The Soul That Did Not Want to Leave
God Spread a Bed of Purple and Kissed the Soul From Moses Click for full size

The Four Angels Who Would Not Descend

When the hour came for Moses to die, God did not go down Himself. He summoned Gabriel and said, "Go out and bring Me the soul of Moses."

Gabriel would not move. "He is equal in weight to six hundred thousand," the angel said. "How can I take his soul and be insolent before him?"

God turned to Michael, and Michael only wept. He spoke to Zagzagel, who had once been Moses' teacher in the heights. "I was his teacher and he was my disciple," Zagzagel said. "How can I take his soul?"

Three angels stood before the Throne, and not one would raise a hand against the man who had led Israel out of Egypt.

Samael Came With Drawn Sword and Trembled

There was a fourth. Samael, into whose hand every soul had been given since the world was made, went out from before God with great joy. He girded on his sword, wrapped himself in cruelty, and came down to Moses in fury.

Moses was writing. The Explicit Name stood on the parchment before him, sparks of fire went out from his mouth, and the light of his face shone like the sun, so that he looked like an angel of the Lord of hosts. Samael looked, and his own eyes went dark. He fell on his face, and a shaking took him like a woman in labor, and he could not open his mouth.

Moses spoke first. "Samael, Samael," he said. "'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked.' Why do you stand against me?"

"Your time has come to leave the world," Samael answered. "Give me your soul."

"Who sent you?"

"He who created the world and the souls. Into my hand every soul has been delivered since creation."

Moses Numbered His Deeds and Drove Death Back

Moses did not give him the soul. He gave him a reckoning.

"I came out of my mother already circumcised," he said. "On the day I was born I spoke to my father and mother. I lifted the crown from Pharaoh's head, and at eighty I brought six hundred thousand out of Egypt. I spoke with the Master of the world face to face and carried down six hundred thirteen commandments written from His mouth. I made war on Sihon and Og, and I stopped the sun and the moon in the height of the sky. Is there a warrior like me? Wicked one, flee from before me."

Samael fled.

He came back empty-handed. "Where is the soul of Moses?" God said. "What have you brought?"

"Master of the Universe," Samael said, "command me to overturn Gehinnom, and I will overturn it. But against the son of Amram I have no strength. The light of his face is like the seraphim of the Chariot, and its radiance is like Your own Presence. I beg You, do not send me back."

"From the fire of Gehinnom (the realm of judgment after death) you were made, and to it you return," God said. "You went out rejoicing and came back in shame. Go, and bring his soul."

Samael drew the sword a second time and stood over Moses to kill him. But Moses took up the staff of God, on which the Explicit Name was cut, and struck him, and rebuked him, and chased him down, and blinded his eyes with the rays of his own glory. A voice came out of heaven. "Do not put your hand on him further," it said. "The world still has need of him."

God Came Down With Three Angels and a Bed of Purple

Only half a moment of life was left. Moses stopped fighting and prayed. "Remember that You showed Yourself to me in the bush, and lifted me into the firmament. Do not hand me into the hand of Samael."

"I have accepted your prayer," God said. "I Myself will attend to you, and I Myself will bury you."

Then God came down from the highest heavens, and three angels came with Him: Michael, Gabriel, and Zagzagel, the same three who had refused to come alone. Gabriel arranged the bed. Michael spread a cloth of purple beneath his head, and Zagzagel set a pillow of fine wool at his feet. "Fold your hands upon your chest," God told him. "Close your eyes." Moses folded his hands and closed his eyes.

The Soul That Did Not Want to Leave

God called down into the body, to the soul. "My daughter," He said, "for one hundred and twenty years I set your years inside this righteous man. Go out now, and do not delay."

The soul would not go. "You placed me in this body," she answered. "Is there a body in the world so clean and so pure, on which a fly was never seen, whose eye was never narrow with envy? It is good for me here."

"Do not delay, My daughter. I will seat you beside My own Throne of Glory, among the seraphim and the cherubim."

Still she pleaded. "The angels Uzza and Azael came down from heaven and corrupted their way. This man was flesh and blood, and from the day You showed Yourself to him in the bush he kept apart even from his wife. Leave me where I am."

God argued no longer. He bent to Moses and took the soul with a kiss of the mouth, and Moses the servant of the Lord died there by the mouth of the Lord. Then God wept over him. "Who will rise up for Me against the wicked?" The ministering angels wept and said, "But where shall wisdom be found?" Joshua went to look for his teacher and could not find him, and no creature has found the grave from that day to this.

MosesAngel Of DeathSamaelDeath Of MosesGabrielMichaelKiss Of DeathDeathTorahAngelsSoulSinaiKings
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From the tradition

Sources

4 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Moses Our Master, The Death of Moses (Version 1) 10-11Otzar Midrashim, Petirat Moshe

Translation of the source text.Otzar Midrashim, New York, 1915 + JewishMythology.com faithful English Beta translation · Public Domain

When he had resolved his soul to die, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Michael and Gabriel, "Go out and bring Me the soul of Moses." Gabriel said, "He who is equal to sixty myriads -- how can I take his soul and be insolent before him?" Afterward He said to Michael likewise, and Michael wept. And He said to Zagzagel likewise; he said before Him, "Master of the universe, I was his teacher and he was my student; how can I take his soul?" Afterward He said to Samael to take his soul. Immediately he went out with great joy from before the Holy One, blessed be He, and girded on his sword and wrapped himself in cruelty, and went before Moses in great fury. When he looked at him -- and he was writing the Ineffable Name, and sparks of fire were going forth from his mouth, and the radiance of his face and his speech shone like the sun, and he resembled an angel of the Lord of hosts -- Samael was afraid and trembled before him. And when Moses lifted his eyes and saw Samael, and Moses knew that he had come to him, immediately the eyes of Samael grew dark from the radiance of Moses, and he fell upon his face, and trembling seized him like a woman in labor, and he could not speak with his mouth until Moses opened his mouth first, saying, "Samael, Samael! 'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked.' Why do you stand against me?" He said to him, "Your time has come to depart from the world; give me your soul." He said to him, "Who sent you to me?" He said to him, "He who created the world and the souls, and into my hand all the souls have been given since the world was created." Moses said to him, "I have in me strength greater than all who come into the world, for I came forth circumcised from my mother's womb, and on the day I was born I spoke to my father and to my mother; even from my mother's breasts I did not nurse except for a reward; and at three years I prophesied that I was destined to receive the Torah; and I took the crown of Pharaoh from upon his head; and at eighty years I performed signs and wonders and brought out sixty myriads from Egypt; and I split for them twelve paths in the sea; and I turned the waters of Marah to sweetness; and I hewed the tablets of stone and ascended to the firmament; and I waged battle and received their arrows in a cloud; and I spoke face to face with the Master of the world; and I overcame the heavenly household and received the Torah and wrote from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, six hundred thirteen commandments and taught them to the children of Israel; and I waged war with two kings, offspring of the giant (Sihon and Og), to whose ankles the waters did not reach at the time of the flood; and I caused the sun and the moon to stand still in the height of the world. Is there in the world a mighty one like me? Wicked one, flee from before me!" When Samael saw the soul of Moses, he was astonished, and he fled. A heavenly voice went forth and said, "Do not grieve yourself; you have no more than a moment of life in the world." Samael returned before the Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Where is the soul of Moses? What have you brought?" Samael said, "Master of the universe, if You tell me to overturn Gehinnom from its upper level to its lowest, I am able to overturn it, but the son of Amram I cannot overcome; even to stand before him I cannot, for the light of his face resembles the seraphim of the Chariot, and sparks of fire go forth from his mouth. And not only that, but the radiance of his face resembles the Shekhinah. I beg of You, do not send me to him, for I cannot stand before him." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Wicked one, from the fire of Gehinnom you were created, and to the fire of Gehinnom you return. At first you went out from before Me with great joy, and when you saw his greatness you returned in your shame. Go and bring his soul." What did Samael do at that moment? He drew his sword from its sheath and came before Moses, peace be upon him, in fury and wrath. Moses took the staff of God in his hand, on which the Ineffable Name was engraved, and struck Samael and rebuked him with a rebuke until he ran and fled from before him; and Moses ran after him with the Ineffable Name and seized him and struck him with the staff and blinded his eyes from the rays of his splendor. There still remained to him half a moment. A heavenly voice went forth and said to him, "Moses, why do you grieve yourself? The end of the hour has come." Moses stood in prayer and said, "Master of the universe, remember that You revealed Yourself to me in the bush; remember that You brought me up to the firmament, and I neither ate nor drank forty days and forty nights. Merciful and gracious One, do not hand me over into the hand of Samael." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I have accepted your prayer; I Myself will attend to you and bury you." Immediately he sanctified himself like the seraphim of splendor, and the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself from the highest heavens of the height to receive the soul of Moses our master. When Moses saw the Holy One, blessed be He, he fell upon his face and said, "Master of the universe, with the attribute of lovingkindness and with the attribute of mercy You created Your world, and with the attribute of mercy You will conduct Yourself with me." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "I will go before you," and three angels came with the Holy One, blessed be He, and they are Michael, Zagzagel, and Gabriel. Gabriel arranged the couch of Moses, Michael spread out a woolen cloth at his head, and Zagzagel placed a woolen garment at his feet. Michael at his right and Gabriel at his left. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Fold your two hands and place them upon your breast; close your two eyes"; and he did so. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, called to his soul. He said to her, "My daughter, one hundred and twenty years I fixed your years to be in the body of this righteous one; go out and do not delay, My daughter." The soul answered, "You are the One who knows, and God of the spirits, and in Your hand is the soul of every living thing. You created me and gave me to be in the body of this righteous one; and is there a body so clean and pure and holy in the world as this one, upon which flies were never seen, and who was never grudging of eye? It is good for me to dwell here." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her, "Do not delay, My daughter; your end has come, and I will seat you with Me upon My Throne of Glory beside seraphim and ophanim and angels and cherubim." She said before Him, "Master of the universe, it is good to dwell in this righteous one, for the angels Uzza and Azael came down from heaven and corrupted their way, but this Moses, who was flesh and blood, from the day You revealed Yourself to him in the bush separated from his wife; leave me." When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw this, He took his soul with a kiss of the mouth, as it is said, "And Moses the servant of the Lord died there by the mouth of the Lord." And the Holy One, blessed be He, wept over him, and began to lament over him, as it is said, "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" And the ministering angels wept and said, "And wisdom, from where is it found?" And the heavens said, "The pious one has perished from the earth," and the earth says, "And there is no upright one among men," and the stars and constellations and sun and moon and the holy spirit say, "And no prophet arose again in Israel like Moses." Joshua sought Moses and did not find him. Metatron came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, "Master of the universe, Moses in his life was Yours and in his death is Yours." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Metatron, "I am consoling Myself not over Moses alone, but over him and over all Israel, for many times they angered Me, and he prayed for them and appeased Me," as it is said, "The righteousness of the Lord he did, and His judgments with Israel," and he said before Me, "For the Lord, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth below." I too testify of him, "And no prophet arose again like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," etc., "for all the signs and wonders and the mighty hand that Moses did before the eyes of all Israel."

Finished and completed is the Departure of our master, our lord Moses, peace be upon him.

Full source
Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Moses Our Master, The Death of Moses (Version 1), §6Otzar Midrashim, Petirat Moshe

Translation of the source text.Otzar Midrashim, New York, 1915 (Eisenstein; via Sefaria) · PD-US-pre-1929

When he had resigned his soul to die, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Michael and Gabriel: "Go out and bring Me the soul of Moses." Gabriel said: "One who is equal in weight to six hundred thousand, how can I take his soul and act insolently before him?" Afterward He said likewise to Michael, and Michael wept, and He said likewise to Zagzagel. He said before Him: "Master of the Universe, I was his teacher and he is my disciple, how shall I take his soul?" Afterward He said to Samael to take his soul. Immediately he went out from before the Holy One, blessed be He, with great joy, and he girded his sword and belted on cruelty, and he went before Moses in great fury.

When he looked at him, and he was writing the Explicit Name, and sparks of fire were going forth from his mouth, and the radiance of his face and his speech shone like the sun, and he resembled an angel of the Lord of hosts, Samael was afraid and trembled before him. And when Moses lifted his eyes and saw Samael, and Moses knew that he had come to him, immediately Samael's eyes grew dark from the radiance of Moses, and he fell upon his face, and travail seized him like a woman in childbirth, and he could not speak with his mouth until Moses opened his mouth first, saying: "Samael, Samael! 'There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked' (Isaiah 48:22). Why do you stand opposite me?" He said to him: "Your time has arrived to depart from the world; give me your soul." He said to him: "Who sent you to me?" He said to him: "He who created the world and the souls, and into my hand all the souls have been delivered since the world was created."

Moses said to him: "There is in me power greater than all who come into the world: for I came forth circumcised from my mother's womb, and on the day I was born I spoke to my father and my mother; even from my mother's breast I did not nurse except for pay; and at three years I prophesied that I was destined to receive the Torah; and I took Pharaoh's crown from upon his head; and at eighty years I performed signs and wonders and brought six hundred thousand out of Egypt; and I split for them twelve paths in the sea; and I turned the waters of Marah sweet; and I hewed tablets of stone and ascended to the firmament; and I was catching in war and received their arrows in a cloud; and I spoke face to face with the Master of the world; and I prevailed over the heavenly household and received the Torah and wrote from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, six hundred thirteen commandments and taught them to the children of Israel; and I made war with two kings, offspring of the giant (Sihon and Og), at the time of the Flood the waters did not reach their ankles; and I stood the sun and the moon still in the height of the world, and is there in the world a warrior like me? Wicked one, flee from before me!"

When Samael saw the soul of Moses [thus], he was astonished and fled clean away. A heavenly voice went forth and said: "Do not distress yourself; you have no life in the world but a moment." Samael returned before the Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Where is the soul of Moses? What have you brought?" Samael said to Him: "Master of the Universe, if You tell me to overturn Gehinnom from the upper level to the lower, I can overturn it, but against the son of Amram I cannot prevail; I cannot even stand before him, for the light of his face resembles the seraphim of the Chariot, and sparks of fire go forth from his mouth; and not only that, but the radiance of his face resembles the Shekhinah. I beseech You, do not send me to him, for I cannot stand before him." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Wicked one, from the fire of Gehinnom you were created, and to the fire of Gehinnom you return. At first you went out from before Me with great joy, and when you saw his greatness you returned in your shame. Go and bring his soul."

What did Samael do at that hour? He drew his sword from its sheath and came before Moses, peace be upon him, in fury and wrath. Moses took the staff of God in his hand, on which the Explicit Name was engraved, and struck Samael and rebuked him with a rebuke until he ran and fled from before him. And Moses ran after him by the Explicit Name and seized him and struck him with the staff and blinded his eyes with the rays of his glory.

Still half a moment remained for him. A heavenly voice went forth and said to him: "Moses, why do you distress yourself? The end of the hour has arrived." Moses stood in prayer and said: "Master of the Universe, remember that You revealed Yourself to me at the bush; remember that You brought me up to the firmament and I neither ate nor drank forty days and forty nights. Merciful and gracious One, do not deliver me into the hand of Samael." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "I have accepted your prayer; I Myself will attend to you and bury you." Immediately he sanctified himself like the seraphim of glory, and the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed from the highest heavens on high to receive the soul of Moses our master, peace be upon him.

When Moses saw the Holy One, blessed be He, he fell upon his face and said: "Master of the Universe, by the attribute of lovingkindness and by the attribute of mercy You created Your world, and by the attribute of mercy You shall deal with me." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "I will go before you." And three angels came with the Holy One, blessed be He, and they are Michael and Zagzagel and Gabriel. Gabriel arranged the bed of Moses; Michael spread fine wool at his head; and Zagzagel set a vessel of fine wool at his feet. Michael was at his right and Gabriel at his left. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: "Fold your two hands and place them upon the chest"; He closed his two eyes, and he did so. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, called to his soul and said to her: "My daughter, one hundred and twenty years I allotted your years to be in the body of the righteous one. Go out, and do not delay, my daughter."

The soul answered: "You are the One who knows, and the God of the spirits, and in Your hand is the soul of every living thing. You created me and placed me to be in the body of this righteous one, and is there a body clean and pure and holy in the world like this one, upon whom flies were never seen, and who was never narrow-eyed [envious] from of old? It is better for me to dwell here." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: "Do not delay, my daughter; your end has arrived, and I will seat you with Me by the Throne of My Glory among seraphim and Ofanim and angels and cherubim." She said before Him: "Master of the Universe, it is better to dwell in this righteous one, for the angels Uza and Azael descended from the heavens and corrupted their way, and this Moses, who was flesh and blood, from the day You revealed Yourself to him at the bush, separated from his wife. Leave me."

When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw this, He took his soul with a kiss of the mouth, as it is said, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there… by the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 34:5). And the Holy One, blessed be He, wept over him and began to lament over him, as it is said, "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" (Psalm 94:16). And the ministering angels weep and say, "But where shall wisdom be found?" (Job 28:12). And the heavens said, "The godly man is perished out of the earth" (Micah 7:2). And the earth says, "And there is none upright among men" (Micah 7:2). And stars and constellations and sun and moon and the holy spirit say, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses" (Deuteronomy 34:10).

Joshua sought Moses and did not find him. Metatron came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said: "Master of the Universe, Moses in his life is Yours and in his death is Yours." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Metatron: "I am not comforted over Moses alone, but over him and over all Israel, for many times they angered Me, and he prayed for them and appeased Me, as it is said, 'He executed the justice of the Lord, and His judgments with Israel' (Deuteronomy 33:21). And he said before Me, 'that the Lord He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath' (Deuteronomy 4:39). I also testify concerning him: 'And there arose not a prophet since like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face' (Deuteronomy 34:10) and so on, 'for all the signs and the wonders… and the strong hand which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel' (Deuteronomy 34:11–12)."

Full source
Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Moses Our Master, The Death of Moses (Version 2), §9Otzar Midrashim, Petirat Moshe

Translation of the source text.Otzar Midrashim, New York, 1915 (Eisenstein; via Sefaria) · PD-US-pre-1929

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Gabriel: "Go out and bring Me the soul of Moses." Gabriel said: "Master of the Universe, one who is equal in weight to six hundred thousand, how can I bring his soul and look upon his death?" He said to Michael: "Go," and he answered Him likewise. He said to Zagzagel, the prince of the world: "Go and bring Me the soul of Moses." Zagzagel said: "Master of the Universe, I was a teacher to him by Your authority, and he is my disciple, how can I look upon his death?" He said to Samael: "Go and bring Me the soul of Moses." Immediately the wicked one rejoiced with great joy, and he put on the garments of his anger and his fury, and girded his sword, and wrapped himself in cruelty, and went to Moses.

And when he saw Moses writing the Explicit Name, and the radiance of his appearance resembling the sun, and he resembling an angel of the Lord of hosts, he said in his heart: Surely what the first angels said is true, that they cannot take the soul of Moses. And when Samael saw Moses, Samael's eyes grew dark from the radiance of Moses' eyes. And when Moses saw Samael standing opposite him, Moses said to him: "Samael, Samael! There is no peace upon you from my God, nor upon all the wicked like you. Why do you stand opposite me? Go out from before me, and if not, I will strike off your head." And immediately trembling and terror seized Samael like a woman in childbirth, and he said to Moses gently: "Why are you angry, my master? Give me your soul." Moses said to him: "By whose authority?" Samael said: "By the authority of Him who sent me, and He is the King of the kings of kings, who created you and created the creatures." Moses said to him: "Heaven forbid that you are among the creatures of the Holy One, blessed be He, and I should give you my soul!" Samael said: "Behold, the souls of all who come into the world have been delivered into my hand from the six days of Creation." Moses said to him: "And am I not greater than the people of the world, and have I not a portion in the truth of the Holy One, blessed be He, more than you and more than all who come into the world?" Samael said: "And what is your power?"

Moses said: "And do you not know that I am the son of Amram, who came forth circumcised from my mother's womb, and the sword of the commandment was not needed upon me, and my father did not need to circumcise me? And I am he who decreed upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt ten plagues and brought the children of Israel out from among them; and I am he who split the sea and drowned Egypt in it, and where were you, that you did not take their souls? And I am he who turned the waters of Marah sweet; and I am he who ascended to the firmament and spoke with the Lord face to face; and I am he who received the Torah from the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He; and how many signs and wonders I performed; and I am he who made war with Sihon and Og, two mighty ones of the world who were born at the time of the Flood, and the waters of the Flood did not reach their ankles because of their height; and in their war I stood the sun and the moon still in the height of the world, and I struck them with the staff in my hand and killed them. And in my childhood I walked on my feet at three days old and found speech and spoke with my father and my mother; and even milk I did not nurse from my mother except for pay; and at three months understanding was placed in me, and I said: I am destined to receive Torah from the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He; and at six months I entered Pharaoh's palace and took his crown from upon his head, as a hint of what I was destined to do to him; and I brought out from under his hand six hundred thousand before the eyes of all Egypt; and I struck the prince of Egypt with the staff; and I decreed twelve paths in the Sea of Reeds; and I hewed two tablets of stone with my hands, and the Holy One, blessed be He, wrote upon them the Ten Commandments; and I ascended on high and dwelt under the Throne of Glory forty days and forty nights three times, one hundred twenty days and one hundred twenty nights, bread I did not eat and water I did not drink, like the ministering angels; and the wings of the Shekhinah covered me, and I revealed secrets to human beings, and I received the Torah from before the Holy One, blessed be He, and wrote from His mouth six hundred thirteen commandments, and you, wicked one, how have you power to take my pure soul that was placed within me from the Master of all souls in holiness and purity? Go from me! You have no permission to sit in the place where I sit, and you have no permission to stand in the place where I stand, and you have no permission to speak in my place. Flee from before me, for I will not give you my soul."

When the Angel of Death (he is Samael) heard this matter from the mouth of Moses, he was greatly astonished and confounded, and Samael returned to report the matters before the Power. And immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with him and said to him: "Go out and bring Me the soul of Moses, and if not, I will rebuke you and cancel you from your office and deliver it to others." Samael said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Awesome in counsel, the authority is Yours. If You tell me, 'Go to Gehinnom and overturn its upper to its lower, and bring down what is below to above and what is above to below,' in one moment I will go down and not delay Your word, but before the son of Amram I have no power to stand." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Why?" Samael said: "Because he resembles the princes of Your great Chariot, and sparks and lightnings and fire go forth from his mouth when he speaks with me, as they go forth from the mouths of the seraphim who stand to thank and praise and glorify and exalt and forever magnify the Name of Your glory; and the radiance of the appearance of his face is like the radiance of Your Shekhinah. I beseech You, do not send me to him, for I cannot stand before him." And immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with him and said to him: "Go out and bring the soul of Moses." And when he went out, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Wicked one, from within Gehinnom you were created and into Gehinnom you return. At first you went out from before Me with great joy to take the soul of Moses; when you saw his praise and his greatness, you say, 'I have no power to stand before him.' It is revealed and known before Me that if you do not bring the soul of Moses, you will return from before Me in shame and disgrace."

Immediately Samael drew his sword from its sheath and stood in anger against Moses and said in his heart: I will kill him, or he will kill me. And when Moses saw him, he stood over him in fury, and in his hand was the staff of God on which the Explicit Name was engraved, and he rebuked him, and he ran from before him. And Moses ran after him and seized him and struck him and took the horn of his glory and blinded his eyes and sent him off in shame and disgrace, and almost Moses would have killed him. And at that hour a heavenly voice went forth and said to Moses: "Do not put forth your hand against him, for human beings need him."

And immediately Moses found speech and said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the Universe, remember for me that day when You said to me, 'Come, and I will send you to Pharaoh' (Exodus 3:10); remember that day on which I ascended Mount Sinai and stood before You forty days and forty nights; bread I did not eat and water I did not drink until I received the Torah from Your hands and gave it to Your people Israel. I beseech You: do not deliver me into the hand of the Angel of Death; rather, here I am in Your hand, as is good in Your eyes, do with Your servant." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "Do not fear; I Myself will attend to you and bury you." Immediately Moses stood in prayer and fell upon his face and said in supplications: "Master of the Universe, by the attribute of mercy You created Your world, and by the attribute of mercy You conduct Your world, deal with me by the attribute of mercy." And immediately a heavenly voice went forth and said: "Moses, Moses, do not fear, for your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall gather you in" (cf. Isaiah 58:8).

At that hour the Shekhinah descended, and three angels, Gabriel and Michael and Zagzagel. Michael arranged the bed of Moses, and Gabriel spread a sheet of purple under his head; Zagzagel did likewise at his feet. And the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed and said to Moses: "Lower your two eyes, one upon the other," and he lowered them. He said to him: "Place your hands, one upon the other," and he did so; and he folded his two feet, one upon the other. And in a moment the Holy One, blessed be He, kissed Moses upon his mouth and took his soul with a kiss, as it is said, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there" (Deuteronomy 34:5). And the angels were weeping over him and eulogizing and saying, "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?" (Job 28:12). And the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?" (Psalm 94:16). The heavens strike upon him and eulogize and say, "The godly man is perished out of the earth" (Micah 7:2). Earth weeps and eulogizes over him and says, "A godly and upright man has perished from me." Sun and moon weep and eulogize and say, "Understand, you brutish among the people" (Psalm 94:8). Stars and constellations weep and eulogize and say, "And you fools, when will you be wise?" (Psalm 94:8). The orders of creation were weeping and eulogizing over him and saying, "The righteous perishes" (Isaiah 57:1). The holy spirit wails and says, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses" (Deuteronomy 34:10). And when Joshua sought Moses his master and did not find him, he was weeping and saying, "Save now, I beseech You, O Lord; save now, I beseech You, O Lord" (Psalm 118:25). Israel were weeping and eulogizing and saying, "And the chiefs of the people" [eulogized] (cf. Deuteronomy 33:21). Angels of the firmament eulogize and say, "He executed the justice of the Lord, and His judgments with Israel" (Deuteronomy 33:21).

Until here the Angel of Death did not know that Moses had died, and he feared the decree of the Holy One, blessed be He, and went to his place and sought him and did not find him. He went to the earth and said: "Where is Moses son of Amram?" The earth said to him: "I do not know where he has gone." He went to the sea and said to it: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" The sea said to him: "From the day he decreed twelve decrees in me and he and the children of Israel passed through me, I have not seen him again." He went to Gehinnom; Gehinnom said to him: "With my ear I heard him, but I have not seen him." He went to Sheol and Abaddon and the miry clay and said to them: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" They said to him: "His name we know, for we heard his renown from Pharaoh king of Egypt, but him we have not seen," as it is said, "The deep says, It is not in me; and the sea says, It is not with me. Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears" (Job 28:14, 22). He went to the depths; they said to him: "We have not seen him, but we have heard his renown." And he came to the sons of Korah who stand in the deep and said to them: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" They said: "We have not found him from the day the earth opened her mouth and swallowed us up by his hand." He went to the heavens and said to them: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" They said: "We have not seen him from the day he ascended to us by the word of the Lord to receive the Torah." He went to the Garden of Eden, and when the angels appointed over the Garden of Eden saw him, they were thrusting him away and saying to him: "Do not enter into the Garden of Eden," as it is said, "This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it" (Psalm 118:20). What did he do? He flew on his wings over the doors of the Garden of Eden a distance of four thousand parasangs and fell into the Garden of Eden. He said to her: "Moses, is he fit for you?" She said to him: "From the day he came to me with Gabriel to see the reward of the righteous, I have not seen him again." He went to the Tree of Life, and when it saw him at a distance of three hundred parasangs it spoke and said to him: "Tree of Life, do not come near me." The Angel of Death said to the Tree of Life: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" It said: "From the day he came to me and took the staff, I have not seen him again." He went to the Tree of Knowledge and said to it: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" It said: "From the day he took from me a quill to write the Torah with it, I have not seen him again." He went to the mountains; they said to him: "From the day he hewed from us the two tablets, we have not seen him again." He went to the wildernesses; they said to him: "From the day he led the children of Israel like a flock, we have not seen him again." He went to Mount Sinai; it said to him: "From the day he received upon me Torah from the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, I have not seen him again." He went to beasts and living creatures and said to them: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" They said: "We have not seen him from the day he distinguished for us between the unclean and the clean." He went to the angel whose name is Dumah, who is appointed over the souls, and said to him: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" He said to him: "I heard that they eulogized him on high." He went to the angels and said to them: "Have you seen the son of Amram?" They said to him: "He has gone to human beings." He went to human beings and said to them: "Where is Moses?" They said: "And is Moses of human beings? Moses is only of the ministering angels, for he ascended on high and dwelt on high like the ministering angels, and gathered the wind in his fists like the ministering angels" (one line is missing here). And the Holy One, blessed be He, gathered him to the place of His holiness, and what is it to you concerning the son of Amram? And Scripture says of him, "Gather My godly ones together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice" (Psalm 50:5). And no creature in the world knows the place of the son of Amram, as it is said, "And no man knows of his sepulchre unto this day" (Deuteronomy 34:6). "Behold, you are about to sleep", the Sages of blessed memory said: the Shekhinah was put to shame, and so on (see Sotah 13b, and Deuteronomy Rabbah on VeZot HaBerakhah, and Yalkut on Vayelech).

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Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Moses Our Master, Drash on Petirat Moshe, §14Otzar Midrashim, Petirat Moshe

Translation of the source text.Otzar Midrashim, New York, 1915 (Eisenstein; via Sefaria) · PD-US-pre-1929

Three angels descended with the Holy One, blessed be He, at that hour: Michael, Gabriel, and Zagzagel. Gabriel arranged the bed of Moses; Michael spread upon it a garment of purple; Zagzagel placed a pillow of fine wool at his head. On this side the Holy One, blessed be He, stood at his head, and Zagzagel at his feet, and Gabriel and Michael on the other side. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Fold your two feet, one to the other," and he folded them. Again He said to him: "Place your two hands upon the chest," and he placed them. Again He said to him: "Sink your eyelids, one upon the other," and he sank them.

At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, called to the soul of Moses and said to her: "My daughter, one hundred and twenty years I gathered you in the body of Moses. Go out and do not delay, for your end has arrived to go out." Immediately she answered the Holy One, blessed be He: "I know that You are the God of the spirits and the souls, and in Your hand is the soul of the living and the dead, and You created me, and You formed me and placed me in the body of Moses one hundred twenty years, who is there who has a body as pure as Moses? I do not want to go out from him." Again He said to her: "Do not delay, for your end has arrived; behold, I will bring you up to the highest heavens on high and seat you in glory under the Throne of Glory."

When Moses saw that his soul was hard pressed to go out from him, he said to her: "Would you say that the Angel of Death will rule over you?" She said to him: "The Holy One, blessed be He, will not do this, for 'You have delivered my soul from death' (Psalm 116:8)." "Would you say that you will be thrust into Gehinnom?" She said to him: "And 'my feet from stumbling' (Psalm 116:8)." He said to her: "And where are you destined to go?" She said to him: "I will walk before the Lord in the lands of the living" (Psalm 116:9). When he heard this from her, he gave her permission and said to her: "Return, O my soul, unto your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you" (Psalm 116:7).

When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw this, He kissed him and took his soul with a kiss of the mouth, as it is said, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab by the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 34:5). At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, wept and said: "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" (Psalm 94:16), when My children sin, who will ask mercy for them? And the ministering angels weep and say, "But where shall wisdom be found?" (Job 28:12). And the heavens weep and say, "The godly man is perished out of the earth" (Micah 7:2). And the earth weeps and says, "And there is none upright among men" (Micah 7:2). And all the orders of creation weep and say, "The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart" (Isaiah 57:1). And Joshua was seeking Moses and crying out and weeping and saying, "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceases" (Psalm 12:2). And all Israel weep and say, "He executed the justice of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 33:21) and so on. And the Holy One, blessed be He, praises him and says, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses" (Deuteronomy 34:10). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "You said of Me, 'there is none else,' as it is written, 'Unto you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord He is God; there is none else beside Him' (Deuteronomy 4:35), so too I have written in My Torah, 'And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses' (Deuteronomy 34:10)." The death of Moses is an altar of atonement for all Israel, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said: Rabbi Yitzhak said, and so on (see Ketubot 103b).

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