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The New Jerusalem Was Built From Impossible Gems

A student laughed at the Talmud's vision of Jerusalem gates cut from gems thirty cubits wide. At sea he watched angels sawing the stones.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Student Who Laughed
  2. Angels at Sea With Enormous Stones
  3. A City That Grows Beyond Its Walls
  4. A Tabernacle From the Leviathan
  5. Jerusalem Ascending

The Student Who Laughed

The sage taught what the tradition had preserved: in the future Jerusalem, God would take precious gems thirty cubits by thirty cubits and carve openings ten cubits by twenty cubits for gates. The student heard the dimensions and laughed. "Gems that size do not exist," he said. "We cannot find a jewel the size of a dove's egg. Stones thirty cubits wide are impossible. The teaching is fantasy."

He was wrong, but he needed a sea voyage to find that out.

Angels at Sea With Enormous Stones

Traveling later on the water, the student saw them: ministering angels sitting and sawing precious stones. He looked at the dimensions. Thirty by thirty cubits. Openings of ten by twenty cut into them. The exact measurements the sage had described. He asked the angels who they were for.

The answer was simple: "the Holy One will set them in the gates of Jerusalem."

He went back to his teacher. His report was a confession: "teach on. It is fitting for you to teach. I have seen it with my own eyes. The stones exist. The gates are being prepared."

The teacher's response was not warm. "If you had not seen it, you would not have believed it?" The rebuke landed harder than the confirmation. The student had been shown something true. But the path there had been through mockery and sea voyage, not through trust in the tradition he had been taught. He had needed proof before faith. That was the failure the teacher named.

A City That Grows Beyond Its Walls

The future Jerusalem is not only made of larger stones. It is made of different space. The Talmud takes the verse from Isaiah, all flesh shall come to worship before me from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, and asks the obvious question: how? The city as it exists cannot hold the world's population week after week. The walls would have to stretch beyond anything architecture permits.

The answer is that in the time of redemption, Jerusalem will expand. Not metaphorically. The physical borders of the city will spread outward beyond anything possible in ordinary geography. Isaiah's vision of every living person arriving for Shabbat becomes the promise that the city will accommodate them. The stone gates thirty cubits wide are proportionate to a Jerusalem that has grown beyond its present measurement.

A Tabernacle From the Leviathan

The future city shelters the righteous in remarkable ways. The Talmud imagines God taking the skin of the Leviathan, the great creature of the depths, and fashioning from it a dwelling place. Not everyone receives the same shelter. The most righteous receive the full tabernacle of Leviathan skin. Those less so receive simpler coverings made from lesser portions of the same creature. The remainder of the Leviathan's hide is stretched over the walls of Jerusalem itself, and its light shines out across the world. The city becomes a lantern visible from everywhere.

The Third Temple itself, in some traditions, is not a building humans will need to construct. God is already building it now, beneath the earth, and when the moment arrives it will rise from below, fully made, prepared in advance.

Jerusalem Ascending

The apocalyptic tradition in Fourth Ezra adds a vertical dimension to the future city. Jerusalem does not only expand outward. It rises. The earthly Jerusalem ascends until it reaches the Throne of Glory itself. The city on a hill becomes the city at the highest point of creation, the meeting place not only of peoples from every direction but of heaven and earth themselves.

Other traditions imagine the opposite motion: a heavenly Jerusalem descends to earth, the perfect divine blueprint taking form below, replacing the earthly city with its celestial original. Both movements aim at the same destination. A Jerusalem that is no longer only one place on one side of a border between the human and the divine.

JerusalemTempleMessiahGemsWorld To Come
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From the tradition

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Bava Batra 75aTalmud Bavli, Bava Batra

a hunt of the leviathan, as it is stated: “Can you draw out leviathan with a fish hook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?” (Job 40:25). And were the Holy One, Blessed be He, not assisting Gabriel, he would not be able to hunt it, as it is stated: “Only He Who made him can use His sword to approach him” (Job 40:19). When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: When the leviathan is hungry, he produces breath from his mouth and thereby boils all of the waters in the depths of the sea.

As it is stated: “He makes the deep boil like a pot” (Job 41:23). And if the leviathan did not place its head in the Garden of Eden, no creature could withstand his foul smell, as it is stated: “He makes the sea like a seething mixture [merkaḥa]” (Job 41:23), and the term merkaḥa is also used to describe something with a smell (see Exodus 30:25). And when he is thirsty, he makes many furrows in the sea, as it is stated: “He makes a path to shine after him” (Job 41:24).

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov says: After the leviathan drinks from the sea, the depth of the sea does not return to its normal condition until seventy years have passed, as it is stated: “One would think the deep to be hoary” (Job 41:24), and hoary indicates a person who is no less than seventy years old. Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will make a feast for the righteous from the flesh of the leviathan, as it is stated: “The ḥabbarim will make a feast [yikhru] of him” (Job 40:30).

And kera means nothing other than a feast, as it is stated: “And he prepared [va’yikhreh] for them a great feast [kera]; and they ate and drank” (II Kings 6:23). And ḥabbarim means nothing other than Torah scholars, as it is stated: “You that dwell in the gardens, the companions [ḥaverim] hearken for your voice: Cause me to hear it” (Song of Songs 8:13). This verse is interpreted as referring to Torah scholars, who listen to God’s voice.

And with regard to the remainder of the leviathan, they will divide it and use it for commerce in the markets of Jerusalem, as it is stated: “They will part him among the kena’anim” (Job 40:30). And kena’anim means nothing other than merchants, as it is stated: “As for the merchant [kena’an], the balances of deceit are in his hand. He loves to oppress” (Hosea 12:8). And if you wish, say that the proof is from here: “Whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers [kinaneha] are the honorable of the earth” (Isaiah 23:8).

And Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will prepare a sukka for the righteous from the skin of the leviathan, as it is stated: “Can you fill his skin with barbed irons [besukkot]” (Job 40:31). If one is deserving of being called righteous, an entire sukka is prepared for him from the skin of the leviathan; if one is not deserving of this honor, a covering is prepared for his head, as it is stated: “Or his head with fish-spears” (Job 40:31).

If one is deserving at least of this reward, a covering is prepared for him, and if one is not deserving, a necklace is prepared for him, as it is stated: “And necklaces about your neck” (Proverbs 1:9). If one is somewhat deserving, a necklace is prepared for him, and if one is not deserving even of this, only an amulet is prepared for him from the skin of the leviathan, as it is stated: “Or will you bind him for your maidens” (Job 40:29), i.e., a small amulet is prepared for him, like the amulets tied on children’s necks.

And with regard to the remaining part of the skin of the leviathan, the Holy One, Blessed be He, spreads it on the walls of Jerusalem, and its glory radiates from one end of the world until the other end. As it is stated: “And nations shall walk in your light, and kings at the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). § With regard to the future glory of Jerusalem, the Gemara interprets the verse: “And I will make your pinnacles of kadkhod” (Isaiah 54:12).

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Two angels in heaven, Gabriel and Michael, disagree with regard to the material that will be used to form the walls of Jerusalem. And some say that this dispute is between two amora’im in the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael. And who are they? They are Yehuda and Ḥizkiyya, the sons of Rabbi Ḥiyya.

One said they will be made of onyx, and one said of jasper. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: Let it be like this [kedein] and like that [ukhedein], i.e., let them be formed from both together. This compromise is indicated by the word kadkhod, a combination of this [kedein] and that [ukhedein]. The Gemara analyzes the rest of that verse: “And your gates of precious stones” (Isaiah 54:12).

This should be understood in light of that incident where Rabbi Yoḥanan sat and taught: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring precious stones and pearls that are thirty by thirty cubits, and He will hollow out in them a hole of ten by twenty cubits and set them in the gates of Jerusalem. A certain unnamed student sneered at him, saying: Now we do not find precious stones even of the size of an egg of a dove, and yet all of this we will find?

After a period of time that student’s ship went to sea, where he saw ministering angels sitting and sawing precious stones and pearls that were thirty by thirty cubits, and hollowed out in them were holes of ten by twenty cubits. He said to the angels: For whom are these? They said to him that in the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will place them in the gates of Jerusalem. Later, the student came before Rabbi Yoḥanan and said to him: Continue to interpret, my teacher, it is fitting for you to interpret, as I saw just as you said.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Worthless man, if you had not seen, you would not have believed; clearly, you are mocking the statement of the Sages. Rabbi Yoḥanan set his eyes upon him, and the student was instantly killed and turned into a pile of bones. The Gemara raises an objection against Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statement, based on a baraita. The verse states: “And I will make you go upright [komemiyyut]” (Leviticus 26:13).

Rabbi Meir says: In the future, the Jewish people will have the stature of two hundred cubits, equivalent to two times the height [komot] of Adam the first man, whose height was one hundred cubits. Rabbi Meir interprets the word komemiyyut as two komot. Rabbi Yehuda says: They will have the stature of one hundred cubits, corresponding to the Sanctuary and its walls, as it is stated: “We whose sons are as plants grown up in their youth; whose daughters are as corner-pillars carved after the fashion of the Sanctuary” (Psalms 144:12).

But if they are each one hundred cubits tall, how could the Jews enter the gates of Jerusalem, whose entrance gate will be ten by twenty cubits, as claimed by Rabbi Yoḥanan? The Gemara answers: When Rabbi Yoḥanan stated that idea, he was not referring to the gates themselves but to the windows that allow wind to enter. § And Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will fashion seven canopies for each and every righteous individual, as it is stated: “And the Lord will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over those who are invited to it, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a canopy” (Isaiah 4:5).

This teaches that for each and every righteous individual, the Holy One, Blessed be He, fashions for him a canopy seven times over, in accordance with his honor, i.e., greater individuals receive grander and larger canopies. The Gemara asks a question with regard to the above verse: Why should there be smoke in a canopy? Rabbi Ḥanina said: It is because anyone whose eyes are narrow, i.e., is stingy, toward Torah scholars in this world, his eyes fill with smoke in the World-to-Come.

And why should there be fire in a canopy? Rabbi Ḥanina said: This teaches that each and every one is burned from embarrassment at the size of the canopy of the other, and says: Woe for this embarrassment, woe for this disgrace, that I did not merit a canopy as large as his. In a similar manner, you can say that God said to Moses about Joshua: “And you shall put of your honor upon him” (Numbers 27:20), which indicates that you should put some of your honor, but not all of your honor.

The elders of that generation said: The face of Moses was as bright as the face of the sun; the face of Joshua was like the face of the moon. Woe for this embarrassment, woe for this disgrace, that we did not merit another leader of the stature of Moses. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, fashioned ten canopies for Adam the first man, in the Garden of Eden; as it is stated to Hiram, king of Tyre: “You were in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the carnelian, the topaz, and the emerald, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle, and the smaragd, and gold; the workmanship of your drums and of your holes was in you; they were prepared on the day that you were created” (Ezekiel 28:13).

This verse mentions ten items, from carnelian to gold. Mar Zutra said: There were eleven canopies, as it states: “Every precious stone,” which is also part of the tally. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: And the worst of all of them was gold, as it is counted last, which indicates that the other items are more valuable. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: “The workmanship of your drums and of your holes [nekavekha]” (Ezekiel 28:13)?

Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Hiram, king of Tyre: Were you in the Garden of Eden when I created all of this for you? I looked at you, saw that you would one day claim divinity for yourself, and created many orifices [nekavim] in man, i.e., the excretory system, so that you would know that you are human and not a god. And there are those who say that this is what God said to Hiram: I looked at you

Full source
Bava Batra 75bTalmud Bavli, Bava Batra

And I decreed death upon Adam the first man.

What is the meaning of "and concerning the reading of it"? Rabbah said that Rabbi Yochanan said: The Jerusalem of the World to Come is not like the Jerusalem of this world. In the Jerusalem of this world, anyone who wishes to ascend ascends; in the Jerusalem of the World to Come, only those invited to it ascend.

And Rabbah said that Rabbi Yochanan said: In the future the righteous will be called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: "Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I created for My glory, I formed him, indeed I made him" (Isaiah 43:7). And Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said that Rabbi Yochanan said: Three are called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and these are they: the righteous, the Messiah, and Jerusalem.

The righteous, this is as we have said. The Messiah, as it is written: "And this is the name by which he shall be called: the LORD is our righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6). Jerusalem, as it is written: "It shall be eighteen thousand round about, and the name of the city from that day shall be: the LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35); do not read "there" (shamah) but rather "her name" (shemah) [the plain sense being that the LORD dwells there]. Rabbi Elazar said: In the future they will say "Holy" before the righteous just as it is said before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: "And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and he who remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy" (Isaiah 4:3).

And Rabbah said that Rabbi Yochanan said: In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will raise Jerusalem three parasangs upward, as it is said: "And she shall be lifted up and shall dwell in her place" (Zechariah 14:10); what is "in her place" (tachteha)? It means: as her present height (ke-tachteha) [that is, lifted as high as her own dimensions]. And from where do we know that this "in her place" is three parasangs? Rabbah said: That certain elder said to me: I myself saw the first Jerusalem, and it was three parasangs.

And lest you say there is hardship in ascending, Scripture teaches: "Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows?" (Isaiah 60:8). Rav Pappa said: Learn from this that this cloud rises three parasangs.

Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa said: The Holy One, blessed be He, sought to set Jerusalem within a measure, as it is said: "And I said: Where are you going? And he said to me: To measure Jerusalem, to see how broad it is and how long it is" (Zechariah 2:6).

The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, You have created many cities in Your world belonging to the nations of the world, and You did not give the measure of their length or the measure of their breadth; yet Jerusalem, in whose midst is Your name, in whose midst is Your Temple, and in whose midst are the righteous, You set within a measure?! Immediately: "And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited as open towns, because of the multitude of people and cattle in it" (Zechariah 2:8).

Resh Lakish said: In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will add to Jerusalem one thousand tef of gardens, one thousand kefel of towers, one thousand litzoy of fortresses, one thousand and two shiloh of palaces; and each and every one of them will be as large as Sepphoris in its tranquility.

It was taught: Rabbi Yose said: I myself saw Sepphoris in its tranquility, and there were in it one hundred and eighty thousand markets of sellers of cooked dishes.

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Bava Batra 75 aTalmud Bavli, Bava

Rabbah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future make a feast for the righteous from the flesh of Leviathan, as it is said: "The companions will make a banquet over it" (Job 40:30). And "banquet" means only a feast, as it is said: "And he made for them a great feast, and they ate and drank" (2 Kings 6:23). And "companions" means only Torah scholars, as it is said: "You who dwell in the gardens, companions hearken to your voice; let me hear it" (Song of Songs 8:13).

And as for the rest, they will divide it and make merchandise of it in the markets of Jerusalem, as it is said: "They will divide it among the merchants" (Job 40:30). And "merchants" means only traders, as it is said: "As for the trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand; he loves to oppress" (Hosea 12:8) [the verse reads "Canaan" in the sense of "trader"].

And Rabbah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future make a tabernacle for the righteous from the skin of Leviathan, as it is said: "Can you fill its skin with sukkot-coverings?" (Job 40:31). If a person is worthy, they make for him a tabernacle; if he is not worthy, they make for him a covering, as it is said: "and its head with a fish-covering" (Job 40:31).

And as for the rest, the Holy One, blessed be He, spreads it over the walls of Jerusalem, and its splendor shines from one end of the world to the other, as it is said: "And nations shall walk by your light, and kings by the brightness of your dawn" (Isaiah 60:3).

And Rabbah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future make seven canopies for each and every righteous person, as it is said: "And the LORD will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there shall be a canopy" (Isaiah 4:5). This teaches that for each and every one the Holy One, blessed be He, makes a canopy according to his honor.

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Sukkah 41a; Rashi on Sukkah 41aTalmud Bavli, Sukkah

Mishnah: At first the lulav was taken in the Temple for seven days, and in the rest of the country one day. After the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai instituted that the lulav should be taken throughout the country for seven days, as a remembrance of the Temple. And he instituted that the entire day of the waving should be forbidden.

Gemara: From where do we derive that we make a remembrance of the Temple? Rabbi Yohanan said: As the verse states: "For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the LORD; because they called you an outcast, saying, This is Zion, there is none that seeks her" (Jeremiah 30:17). "There is none that seeks her" implies that she requires seeking.

"And that the entire day of the waving should be forbidden." What is the reason? It is a concern that the Temple will speedily be rebuilt, and people will say: Last year, did we not eat the new grain as soon as the eastern horizon grew light? Now too let us eat. And they would not know that last year, when there was no Temple, the lighting of the eastern horizon permitted the new grain, whereas now that there is a Temple, the omer offering is what permits it.

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4 Ezra 7:26-274 Ezra

Jerusalem is not only a city on a hill in this vision. It becomes the hill itself, lifted until it reaches the Throne of Glory.

This idea of Jerusalem ascending is only one side of the coin. There's another, almost opposite, myth about "The Descent of the Heavenly Jerusalem." Instead of the earthly city rising, the perfect, celestial Jerusalem comes down to earth. Which is it? A rising Jerusalem or a descending one?

Perhaps both are true in their own way. They both point to the same core truth: that Jerusalem possesses supernatural qualities. The earthly city is special, but it's also a reflection of something even greater, a divine blueprint.

The idea of two Jerusalems, one earthly and one heavenly, isn't new. It's hinted at in the apocalyptic text of 4 Ezra, which says, "In the days to come.. the city that is now invisible will appear, and the land which is now concealed be seen" (4 (Ezra 7:26-2)7). This idea blossoms in the Talmud. Rabbi Yohanan, in Bava Batra 75b, states this beautifully when he says, "Jerusalem of this world is not like Jerusalem of the World to Come. Anyone who wants to visit Jerusalem in this world can do so, but only those who are invited can ascend to Jerusalem of the World to Come." It's the ultimate VIP list!

But wait! In that very same source, there's an alternative perspective. Instead of the heavenly Jerusalem descending at the time of redemption, God would elevate the earthly Jerusalem. So, which version reigns supreme?

Well, over time, the idea of the heavenly Jerusalem descending became the more dominant one. The understanding shifted to the notion that this perfect city would ultimately grace our world at the time of the Redemption.: This interplay between the earthly and heavenly reflects our own spiritual journeys, doesn't it? We strive to elevate ourselves, to reach for something higher, but we also yearn for divine grace to descend upon us, to meet us where we are. The myth of Jerusalem, whether rising or descending, speaks to that fundamental human desire for connection, for wholeness, for a taste of the divine here on earth. And who knows, maybe both Jerusalems – the one rising and the one descending – will ultimately meet, creating a reality beyond our wildest dreams. Maybe, just maybe, the future is a fusion of the earthly and the heavenly. A thousand gardens, towers, fortresses and passages await! (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 20:7).

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Exempla of the Rabbis, No. 204Exempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)

A pious man was walking along the sea-shore near Haifa when doubt crept into his mind. He had heard the sages' teaching that the gates of the future Jerusalem would be made from single pearls, each pearl carved into a gate thirty cubits high and thirty cubits wide. And he could not believe it.

"How is this possible?" he muttered to himself. "A pearl the size of a dove's egg is a rarity. A pearl large enough to make a gate? The sages must be speaking in metaphor. Surely they cannot mean this literally."

As the words formed in his mind, a voice descended from heaven, a bat kol, a divine echo. "You dare to doubt the words of the sages?" the voice thundered. The pious man fell to his knees, terrified. He had questioned a teaching that carried the authority of tradition, and heaven had heard him.

"I repent!" the man cried out. "I should not have doubted. I accept the teaching of the sages as truth." His repentance was immediate and sincere, not the gradual turning of a lukewarm heart, but the instant, wholehearted teshuvah (repentance) of a man who realizes he has crossed a line.

And because he repented so swiftly, God granted him a vision. The sea before him parted, not as it had parted for Moses, but just enough to reveal what lay beneath. At the bottom of the sea, the pious man saw angels laboring, sawing, cutting, polishing enormous pearls into the exact dimensions the sages had described. Thirty cubits by thirty cubits. Real pearls. Real gates. Being prepared right now, at the bottom of the ocean.

The man rose from his knees, trembling but transformed. He never doubted the sages again. What the eye cannot see, the heart must trust. And sometimes, for those who repent quickly enough, the eye is granted a glimpse of what was always there.

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Bava Batra 75a (via Hebraic Literature, 1901)Hebraic Literature (1901)

Rabbi Yochanan was teaching his students on the verse, “I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles” (Isaiah 54:12). He said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, will bring precious stones and pearls — each one thirty cubits by thirty — and will polish them down to twenty by ten, and set them in the gates of the future Jerusalem.”

A student in the back rolled his eyes. “No one has ever seen a pearl larger than a small bird’s egg,” he muttered. “Are we to believe such giants exist?”

Some weeks later, the student sailed on a trading voyage. Far out at sea, his ship passed a strange place where he saw figures beneath the waves — angels, as it seemed to him, quarrying stones of unearthly size and polishing them with tools of light. He called down to ask what they were for. “For the gates of Jerusalem,” a voice answered.

When the student came home, he went straight to Rabbi Yochanan’s house and fell at his feet. “Master, you were right. I saw them with my own eyes.”

Yochanan looked at him for a long moment and said, “Scoundrel. If you had not seen, would you not have believed? You have insulted the words of the sages.” And he fixed his eyes on him, and the student turned to a heap of bones.

The rabbis told the story to warn against contempt: the future is larger than the doubter’s imagination, and the measure of a disciple is whether he can trust what his teacher has not yet proved.

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