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The Weeping Prince of the Presence and David's Throne of Fire

An angel sets Rabbi Yishmael in his lap and weeps over Israel's decrees, then carries him to watch King David rise to a throne of fire.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Sit in My Lap, and I Will Tell You
  2. The Record-Books of Trouble
  3. The Amen That Holds the Decree
  4. The Treasuries of Consolation
  5. Seven Lightnings Running as One
  6. The Throne of Fire in the Highest House
The Weeping Prince of the Presence and David's Throne of Fire Click for full size

Sit in My Lap, and I Will Tell You

"My friend, sit in my lap," said Sasgi'el, Prince of the Presence, "and I will tell you what will become of Israel."

Rabbi Yishmael climbed into the angel's lap, and the angel began to weep. The tears ran down from his eyes and fell on the man he was holding, scalding where they landed. Yishmael looked up at the burning face above him. "Splendor of my radiance," he said, "why do you weep?"

The angel did not answer with words. He took Yishmael by the hand and carried him inward, past hall after hall, into the chambers of chambers and the treasuries of treasuries and the storehouses that stand behind them. There he reached down the record-books and opened them across his knees.

The Record-Books of Trouble

The pages were full of troubles, and no two were alike. Yishmael read down the columns. Every line was a different affliction, set out in order, waiting. "These," he said, "for whom are they?"

"For Israel."

"And can Israel withstand them?"

The angel closed the book. "Come tomorrow," he said, "and I will show you troubles worse than these."

On the next day he brought Yishmael back into the house of the treasuries of treasuries and opened the harder ledgers. Now the troubles had names Yishmael knew. Some were marked for death. Some for the sword. Some for famine, and some for captivity in a foreign land. He stood among the shelves with the weight of it pressing on his chest. "Splendor of my radiance," he said, "has Israel sinned so much as this?"

The Amen That Holds the Decree

"Every day," the angel said, "harsher decrees than these are issued anew. Every day the writing grows." He set his hand flat against the sealed door of the innermost chamber, where the freshest sentences waited to go out into the world. "But when Israel enters the synagogues and the houses of study, and answers with a full mouth, 'Amen, may His great Name be blessed,' we do not let them out. We hold them here. The decree is written, and the decree is caught, and it does not cross this threshold."

Yishmael looked at the hand pressed against the door, and at the tears still wet on the angel's face. "Splendor on high," he said, "is there perhaps no remedy for Israel? Nothing but a door held shut?"

The Treasuries of Consolation

Instead of answering, the angel turned and carried him the other way, deeper still, into the treasuries of consolations and the treasuries of salvations. The air changed. Here companies of ministering angels sat at their work. Some wove garments of salvation from threads of light. Some hammered crowns of life and pressed precious stones and pearls into the metal. Others perfumed vessels of spices and sweetened wine in great jars, all of it laid aside for the righteous who had not yet come.

One crown hung apart from the rest. Fixed into its band were the sun and the moon and the twelve constellations, turning slowly in the gold. "This one," Yishmael said, "different from all the others. For whom is it?"

"For David, king of Israel."

"Then show me the glory of David," Yishmael said.

"Wait three hours," said the angel, "until David comes up here, and you will see him in his greatness." And he took Yishmael and set him again in his lap.

Seven Lightnings Running as One

"What do you see?" the angel asked.

"I see seven lightnings," Yishmael said, "running together as one."

"Shut your eyes," the angel said quickly, "so that you do not tremble before the ones who have gone out to meet David." Yishmael pressed his eyes closed. Even so, he felt the heavens move. The ofanim and the serafim shook where they stood. The storehouses of snow and the storehouses of hail trembled, and the clouds of glory, and the constellations and the stars, and the flames of the firmament called Zevul, all of them shuddering at once and crying out together, "For the leader, a psalm of David." Then out of the garden of Eden came a rushing sound, and the sound was saying, "May the glory of the LORD endure for ever" (Psalms 104:31).

The Throne of Fire in the Highest House

And David came, at the head of the procession, and behind him came all the kings of the house of David, each with his own crown on his head. But the crown of David was brighter than all of them, and its light ran from one end of the world to the other. He climbed to the great house of the Omnipresent that stands in the highest firmament, and there a throne of fire had been made ready for him, six hundred parasangs in height, and twice that in length, and twice again in breadth.

David sat down on the throne of fire, facing the throne of his Maker. The kings of his house took their seats before him. The kings of Israel stood at his back. Then David rose and began to sing, and the songs that came out of his mouth were songs no ear had ever heard.

When David opened and said, "The LORD shall reign for ever" (Psalms 146:10), Metatron and all his household answered, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3). The living creatures answered, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place" (Ezekiel 3:12). The firmaments themselves took up the words, "The LORD shall reign for ever." And all the kings of the house of David answered from their places, "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9). The tears in the treasuries were still wet. The decrees were still sealed behind their door. And David sang on his throne of fire, and the fire did not consume him.

MerkavahRabbi YishmaelKing DavidAngelsHekhalotThrone Of Fire
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From the tradition

Sources

2 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.

Merkavah Rabbah, Merkavah Shelemah fols. 3a-3b, weeping Prince of the PresenceMerkavah Rabbah

Translation of the source text.Merkavah Shelemah, Shlomo Musajoff (ed.), Jerusalem 1921, Salomon Press (public domain print; HebrewBooks scan 7391) · Public Domain

Rabbi Yishmael said: Sasgi'a [angel name as printed], the Prince of the Presence, told me: My friend, sit in my lap, and I will tell you what will become of Israel. I sat in his lap, and he was weeping, and the tears ran down from his eyes and fell upon me. I said to him: Splendor of my radiance, why do you weep? He said to me: My friend, come, I will bring you in and show you what is stored away for Israel, the holy people. He took hold of me with his hand and brought me into the chambers of chambers and the treasuries of treasuries and the storehouses, and he took the record-books and opened them, and showed me troubles written down, each different from the next. I said to him: These, for whom are they? He said to me: For Israel. I said to him: Can Israel withstand them? He said to me: Come tomorrow and I will make known to you troubles different from these.

On the morrow he brought me into the house of the treasuries of treasuries and the chambers of chambers, and showed me troubles different from the first ones, and harsh: those for death, and those for the sword, and those for famine, and those for captivity. I said to him: Splendor of my radiance, has Israel sinned so much? He said to me: Every day harsher decrees than these are issued anew, but when they enter the synagogues and the houses of study and answer, "Amen, may His great Name be blessed," we do not let them [the decrees] go out from the innermost chambers.

Full source
Merkavah Rabbah, Merkavah Shelemah fols. 3b-4a, David visionMerkavah Rabbah

Translation of the source text.Merkavah Shelemah, Shlomo Musajoff (ed.), Jerusalem 1921, Salomon Press (public domain print; HebrewBooks scan 7391) · Public Domain

I said to him: Splendor on high, is there perhaps no remedy for Israel? He said to me: Come, and I will bring you into the treasuries of consolations and the treasuries of salvations. And I saw companies of ministering angels sitting and weaving garments of salvation and making crowns of life, and setting precious stones and pearls in them, and perfuming vessels of spices, and sweetening wines for the righteous. And I saw one crown, different from all the crowns, with the sun and the moon and the twelve constellations fixed in it. I said to him: Splendor on high, these crowns, for whom are they? He said to me: For Israel. And this praiseworthy crown, for whom? He said to me: For David, king of Israel.

I said to him: Splendor of my radiance, show me the glory of David. He said to me: My friend, wait three hours until David comes here, and you will see him in his greatness. He took hold of me and seated me in his lap. He said to me: What do you see? I said to him: I see seven lightnings running as one. He said to me: Shut your eyes, so that you do not tremble before these that have gone out to meet David. At once all the ofanim and serafim, and the storehouses of snow and the storehouses of hail, and the clouds of glory, and the constellations and the stars and the ministering angels and the flames of Zevul trembled together, and they said, "For the leader, a psalm of David," and I heard the sound of a rushing that came from Eden, saying, "May the glory of the LORD endure for ever" (Psalms 104:31).

And behold, David, king of Israel, came at the head, and all the kings of the house of David after him, and each one had his crown on his head, and the crown of David was brightest, different from all the crowns, and its radiance traveled from one end of the world to the other. And when David went up to the great house of the Omnipresent that is in the firmament, a throne of fire was made ready for him, six hundred parasangs its height, and twice that its length, and twice that its breadth. And when David came and sat on the throne made ready for him, facing the throne of his Maker, with all the kings of the house of David sitting before him and all the kings of Israel standing behind him, at once David rose and uttered songs and praises that no ear had ever heard. And when David opened and said, "The LORD shall reign for ever" (Psalms 146:10), Metatron and all his household opened and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3), and the living creatures, giving praise, say, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place" (Ezekiel 3:12), and the firmaments say, "The LORD shall reign for ever," and all the kings of the house of David say, "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9).

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