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Rabbi Ishmael Crossed the Firmament to Appeal a Death Sentence

The news reached them on a Thursday. Rome had four of the great sages and wanted eight thousand students of Jerusalem as the price of their release.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Fifth Day of the Week
  2. Down to the Chariot
  3. What Surya Told Him
  4. Bringing the Teacher Back Down
  5. The Feast
Rabbi Ishmael Crossed the Firmament to Appeal a Death Sentence Click for full size

The Fifth Day of the Week

The news came out of Rome on a Thursday, and Rabbi Ishmael remembered which day it was for the rest of his life.

Four men had been seized. Rabbi Simon ben Gamaliel, the head of the court. Rabbi Elazar ben Dama. Rabbi Judah ben Baba. And Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, which was to say himself.

The price on the four of them was eight thousand students out of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakkanah saw the decree and did not go to a magistrate or a patron or anyone in the city. He turned to his student and sent him down.

Down to the Chariot

They called it going down, though it went up past every firmament there is. A man who wanted to look at the chariot learned which songs to sing to go down in peace and come back up in peace, and if he had the names of the gatekeepers wrong he did not come back at all.

Ishmael had been the obvious candidate since before he was born. His parents had gone childless for years. His father told his mother that after she came out of the ritual bath she was to watch the road, and if anything unclean crossed in front of her she was to turn around and immerse again. A black dog crossed her path. She went back. It crossed again. She went back again, eight times over, and God, watching a woman walk that road eight times in one night, sent Gabriel down in her husband's shape to meet her at the bathhouse door and take her home. The child born of it was so beautiful that people said he looked like an angel, and they were closer than they knew.

What a man got, if he made it, was worth the risk. He would be stood in front of the throne of glory and told what was coming in the world: who they would raise and who they would push down, who they would make poor and who rich, who they would kill and who they would keep alive, who would lose an inheritance and who would be handed one, who would be given Torah and who would be given wisdom. He would look at any human being and know what that person had done, whether he had committed adultery, whether he had killed. He would recognize every kind of sorcery on sight. Anyone who raised a hand against him would come away wearing leprosy. Anyone who slandered him broke out in sores.

And afterward he was never fully a citizen again. A man who had been down there was not allowed to stand up for anybody: not for a general, not for a rich man, not for a crowd. Only for a king, for a high priest, or for the Sanhedrin with the Patriarch sitting in it. If he rose for anyone else, his blood was on his own head, because standing shortened his days.

What Surya Told Him

Ishmael put the question to Surya, the Prince of the Presence, and Surya answered it as an official reading out a docket.

The court above had written down ten men. It had handed the list to Samael the wicked, the prince who runs Rome, with an order attached: go out and destroy from among the great of Israel every good limb, thigh and shoulder, until the decree is satisfied.

The decree was old. Whoever steals a man and sells him shall be put to death. The sons of Jacob had stolen their brother Joseph and sold him, and nobody had ever paid for it. Ten brothers, ten men.

Then Surya gave him the rest of it, which was not a reprieve. A vengeance is being stored up against Samael himself. When the time comes, the Lord will punish the host of the high ones on high, and Samael will be cut down and thrown to the earth, he and every prince of every kingdom up there with him, like the goats driven out on the Day of Atonement.

Bringing the Teacher Back Down

Nehunya was still up there, seated in front of the throne of glory, watching the thing that happens there three times a day and has happened every day since the world was made.

They needed him back, and there is no shouting into that place. So they took a cloth, and Ishmael lifted it on a bough of myrrh soaked in oil of spikenard that had been kept in clean balsam, and they laid it across Nehunya's knees. It was barely unclean. It was just unclean enough. The throne let go of him and he came back into the room.

The Feast

Ishmael came back and testified to what he had been given in front of the throne, and his colleagues did not sit in silence over it. They made that day a day of eating and drinking.

The Patriarch himself called for the instruments. "Bring in every kind of music, and we will drink wine to it, because Zoharariel, the Lord God of Israel, is going to take his revenge on the wicked city of Rome and do wonders there, and wonders of wonders, and we will be glad with the harp and the flute."

The four men were still under sentence. The eight thousand students of Jerusalem were still the asking price. Nothing in Rome had changed by so much as a line.

They played anyway, because a man had gone up and asked the highest court in existence, and the answer that came down was yes, the decree stands, and the one carrying it out will be thrown off the roof of heaven like a goat driven into the desert.

IshmaelHeavenCreationMysticismMartyrdomAngels
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From the tradition

Sources

5 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.

Heikhalot Rabbati 5:5Heikhalot Rabbati

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

Heikhalot Rabbati turns to Rabbi Ishmael's Day of Dread When Rome Seized Four Sages.

Rabbi Ishmael, a central figure in this tradition, recounts a day of utter dread. "That day was the fifth day of the week," he says, a seemingly ordinary beginning that quickly shatters. News arrives from Rome, and it's devastating. "Four men from among the mighty of Israel have been seized…" Four pillars of the community, including Rabbi Simon ben Gamaliel and Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, are now in Roman hands. And the ransom demanded is staggering: eight thousand students from Jerusalem. Can you imagine the weight of that decision? Who gets saved?

The text doesn't dwell on the political machinations or the human drama for long. Instead, it plunges us into the mystical realm. Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakkanah, sensing the gravity of the situation, takes immediate action. He initiates a descent to the Merkabah – the divine chariot, a vehicle for mystical ascent. He seeks answers not from earthly authorities, but from the heavens.

Through this ascent, Rabbi Nehunya questions Surya, the Prince of the Presence – a powerful angelic being. And the answer he receives is chilling. It seems a decree has been issued in the heavenly court, targeting ten of Israel's most righteous individuals.

The decree itself is linked to a verse from Exodus (21:16): "And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, he shall surely be put to death." But what does this have to do with the Roman imprisonment of these Rabbis? Surya explains that the heavenly court sees a parallel in the biblical story of Joseph. "The sons of Jacob stole Joseph their brother and sold him," Surya points out. "What shall be done concerning them?"

This is where it gets truly intense. According to this mystical understanding, the sin of Joseph's brothers opened a door, granting authority to Sammael – the "wicked," the genius of Rome, often identified with the Angel of Death. Sammael is given permission to "destroy ten of the mighty" in atonement for the actions of Jacob's sons.

Think about the implications. A seemingly ancient sin, a transgression from generations past, ripples through time, manifesting in the present suffering of these great Rabbis. It's a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of actions and consequences, and the enduring power of the past.

But the text doesn't end on a note of despair. It also offers a glimmer of hope, a promise of future retribution. "A vengeance to be avenged upon him is laid up against him," Surya reveals, "until the time shall come when 'The Lord shall punish the host of the high ones on high.'" This echoes the words of Isaiah (24:21), promising a future reckoning when even the celestial powers will face judgment. Sammael, and all the "princes of the kingdoms in the height," will ultimately be brought down, like "the goats and sheep of the day of atonement."

What are we to make of such a powerful, and frankly, unsettling story? It’s a reminder that even in the face of tragedy, the Jewish mystical tradition seeks deeper meaning, finding connections between the earthly and the divine, the present and the past. It suggests that even seemingly random acts of injustice are part of a larger cosmic drama, a drama that ultimately promises redemption and justice, even if that justice is delayed. It's a challenging perspective, demanding that we confront the complexities of faith and the enduring questions of good and evil, even when faced with the most difficult of circumstances. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, these stories aren't just about the past; they are meant to illuminate our present, and guide us towards a more just future. And as the Zohar tells us, even in the darkest moments, the light of the divine can still be found, if we only know where to look.

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Heikhalot Rabbati 20:3Heikhalot Rabbati

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

That feeling, that jolt, might just echo a tale from the mystical heart of Jewish tradition.

Specifically, It involves Rabbi Ishmael, a myrrh-infused cloth, and another prominent sage named Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakkanah.

So, what happened? The verse reads, "They went and did so, and placed the cloth before Rabbi Ishmael." Okay, who are "they"? And what did they do? The "they" are likely fellow mystics, initiates into the secrets of the Heikhalot, and what they did was carry out some kind of ritual action, placing a cloth before Rabbi Ishmael.

This isn't just any cloth. It's been imbued with powerful, fragrant elements: "a bough of myrrh full of oil of spikenard which was laid up in clean balsam." Myrrh, spikenard, balsam… these were precious, potent ingredients in the ancient world, often associated with sacred rituals and healing.

Here's where it gets really wild. This fragrant cloth, saturated with these oils, is then placed "upon the knees of Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakkanah." And the effect? Immediate. He is "therewith caused to be dismissed from before the throne of glory."

Let that sink in. Rabbi Nehunya, a respected figure, was apparently in the presence of the divine, beholding "wonderful loftiness and strange lordship, loftiness of exaltation and lordship of splendor." He was witnessing the awe-inspiring majesty that occurs before God's throne "three times each day, on high, from the time when the world was created and until now, for praise." And then, bam! He's out.

Why? What's going on here? The text doesn't explicitly say, leaving us to wonder. Was Rabbi Nehunya's presence somehow inappropriate? Was he not meant to witness these celestial events? Or was the ritual with the cloth a way to bring him back from that ecstatic state?

Perhaps he had ascended too far in his mystical journey, and the fragrant cloth acted as an anchor, a way to ground him back in the earthly realm. The intense aromas and ritualistic act might have served as a kind of spiritual smelling salt, gently pulling him away from the overwhelming experience before the Throne.

The Heikhalot texts are full of such enigmatic passages. They offer glimpses into a world where the boundaries between the earthly and the divine are blurred, where rituals have tangible effects, and where even the most learned sages can be subject to the mysteries of the cosmos. This short passage from Heikhalot Rabbati reminds us that sometimes, even when we think we’re in the right place, a fragrant cloth can change everything. What might your fragrant cloth be? What pulls you back when you're lost in thought, in prayer, or in a dream?

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Heikhalot Rabbati 7:3Heikhalot Rabbati

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

The story centers on Rabbi Ishmael. He wasn't just any rabbi; he was a key figure in these mystical circles. He recounts a powerful experience of standing "before the throne of glory" itself. He received some kind of divine revelation there.

What was this revelation?

Unfortunately, the text doesn't spell it out directly. But whatever Rabbi Ishmael saw and heard was so profound that when he shared it with his colleagues, they were ecstatic. scene for a moment. Rabbi Ishmael returns, bearing witness to something incredible from the very heart of the Divine. His fellow scholars, including Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakkanah, a renowned mystic in his own right, are overcome with joy. They declare it a day of feasting and rejoicing!

It gets even better. The Patriarch himself – a leader of the Jewish community – gets in on the celebration. Overjoyed, he calls for musical instruments. “Bring in before us all manner of musical instruments, and we shall drink wine to their accompaniment!” Can you picture it? Harps and flutes filling the air with music, wine flowing freely, all in response to this divine vision.

And what fuels this intense celebration?

The Patriarch declares that Zoharariel, the "Lord God of Israel," will "surely wreak vengeance and do wonders and wonders of wonders upon the wicked city Rome." This is a bold statement, filled with hope for divine justice and redemption. They believe this vision is a promise of future deliverance.

The name Zoharariel itself is fascinating. It combines Zohar, meaning "splendor" or "radiance," with the suffix "-el," commonly used in angelic names. So, we're talking about a divine power associated with radiant glory.

Now, why Rome? In this period, Rome represented the oppressive empire that held sway over the Jewish people. So, this promise of divine vengeance would have been incredibly powerful and deeply resonant.

The rejoicing isn't just about revenge, though. It’s about the hope for a better future, a future where justice prevails and the Jewish people can live in peace. "We shall exult with joy of harp and flute," the Patriarch proclaims, painting a vivid picture of future celebration.

This short passage from Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati gives us a glimpse into the passionate world of early Jewish mysticism. It shows us a community confronting profound spiritual experiences, finding solace in divine promises, and expressing their faith through joyous celebration, even in the face of oppression. What visions and prophecies would inspire us to break out the musical instruments today?

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Midrash Eleh EzkerahMidrash Eleh Ezkerah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

They say he was so strikingly handsome, he resembled an angel. And his story, well, it begins a bit like a fairy tale.

His parents, had longed for a child for many, many years. His father, desperate to break this barren spell, gave his wife specific instructions. After she visited the mikveh – the ritual bath, a place of purification – she was to be vigilant. If anything unpleasant crossed her path, she had to return and immerse herself again. Only then, perhaps, would she be blessed with a child.

So, she followed his instructions. But each time she emerged from the mikveh, a black dog crossed her path. She returned, she re-immersed, and still, that dog appeared. According to the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Eleh Ezkerah, this happened not once, not twice, but eight times!

The story takes a turn, a truly wondrous one. God, seeing her dedication and righteousness, was deeply moved. So much so, that He sent the angel Gabriel down to earth.

Gabriel, in this telling, took the form of her husband. He met her at the door of the bathhouse, looking exactly like the man she loved. He led her home, and that night, Rabbi Ishmael was conceived.

And that, my friends, is why they say he was as handsome as an angel – because, in a way, he was. The story suggests that Rabbi Ishmael was the child of a human woman and an angel, with Gabriel taking on the appearance of her husband and conceiving a child with her.

Now, the union of humans and angels is rare in Jewish lore. Very rare. But it's not unheard of. We find echoes of it in the rabbinic interpretations of Genesis 6, that mysterious passage about the "Sons of God" and the "daughters of men." Many understand those "Sons of God" to be angels. As Tree of Souls (Schwartz) points out, there's an extensive tradition linked to this idea, with numerous stories exploring the implications.

What does it all mean? Perhaps it's a reminder that extraordinary individuals can come from unexpected places, from unions that defy the ordinary. Or maybe, it's evidence of the power of devotion and the boundless compassion of the Divine. Whatever your interpretation, the story of Rabbi Ishmael

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Heikhalot Rabbati 1-2Heikhalot Rabbati

Translation of the source text.Wertheimer edition · Public Domain

Rabbi Ishmael said: What is the distinction of the praises that one would recite who sought to gaze upon the vision of the Chariot, to descend in peace and to ascend in peace?

Greater than all of them is to enter, and to bring oneself in, and to be brought into the chambers of the palace of the firmament, to be set before the throne of His glory, and to know all that is destined to be in the world: whom they bring low and whom they raise up; whom they weaken and whom they strengthen; whom they impoverish and whom they enrich; whom they put to death and whom they keep alive; from whom they take away an inheritance and to whom they give an inheritance; to whom they grant Torah as a possession and to whom they give wisdom.

Greater than all of them is that he gazes upon every deed of the children of men: he knows and recognizes the man who has committed adultery; he knows and recognizes the man who has murdered a soul; he knows and recognizes the man who is suspected of these things. Greater than all of them is that he recognizes every kind of sorcery.

Greater than all of them is that whoever raises his hand against him and strikes him, they clothe him in leprosy and crown him with a bright spot. Greater than all of them is that whoever speaks slander against him, they cast and fling upon him plagues of boils, bruises, and wounds, from which moist sores break out.

Rabbi Ishmael said: Thus they would teach concerning the vision of the Chariot: One who is engaged with the Chariot has no permission to rise to his feet except on account of these three distinctions: before a king, before a high priest, and before a Sanhedrin at a time when there is a Nasi among them; but if there is no Nasi among them, then not even before the Sanhedrin should he rise; and if he did rise, his blood is upon his own head, for he shortens his days and diminishes his years.

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