The Jewish tradition is full of incredible stories, but this one, about Moses' ascent, might just take the cake.
Imagine this: Moses, our leader, the one who spoke to God on Mount Sinai, is about to embark on a journey unlike any other. God Himself commands Metatron, the Angel of the Face – a powerful angel who stands in God's presence – to escort Moses to the celestial realms. Not only that, but God orders thirty thousand angels to serve as Moses' personal bodyguard! Fifteen thousand to his right, fifteen thousand to his left. Talk about making an entrance!
Naturally, Moses is terrified. I mean, wouldn’t you be? Overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what's happening, Moses cries out to Metatron, "Who art thou?" And the angel replies with a revelation: "I am Enoch, the son of Jared, thy ancestor, and God has charged me to accompany thee to His throne."
Enoch! As Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, Enoch, of course, is the biblical figure who "walked with God" and then, mysteriously, "was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). Jewish tradition holds that Enoch was transformed into the angel Metatron. What a family reunion this is turning out to be!
But Moses, understandably, still hesitates. "I am but flesh and blood," he protests, "and I cannot look upon the countenance of an angel." He knows his limitations. He remembers the awe-inspiring power he felt on Sinai. He knows the celestial realm is a whole other level.
This is where the story takes an even more incredible turn. To prepare Moses for this unprecedented encounter, Metatron transforms him. According to this legend, Metatron changes Moses' flesh into torches of fire, his eyes into Merkabah wheels – those mystical chariot wheels we read about in Ezekiel's vision – his strength into an angel's, and his tongue into a flame.
Wow.
Essentially, Moses is being upgraded, transformed into something beyond human, so he can withstand the intensity of the divine presence. Only then, with a retinue of thirty thousand angels flanking him, does Metatron lead Moses into heaven.
What does this story tell us? It speaks to the incredible potential within each of us, the ability to be transformed, to rise above our limitations, to connect with something greater than ourselves. And it reminds us that even the most righteous among us, like Moses, sometimes need help, guidance, and even a little celestial re-engineering, to reach their full potential.
It's a reminder that the journey towards holiness is rarely a solitary one. We are surrounded by a support system, seen and unseen – angels, ancestors, and perhaps even sparks of divine fire within ourselves – ready to help us ascend.