The sages of old grappled with this very question, and their answers… well, they’re mind-boggling.
Imagine this: according to some accounts, it takes five hundred years just to walk from the earth to the heavens. Not a quick elevator ride, but a five-century long trek! And that’s just to get to the first heaven. To cross from one end of a heaven to the other? Another five hundred years. And then, another five hundred years to get to the next heaven! It’s a scale that dwarfs our modern conceptions of space.
And what about our own world? Of all this vastness, only about a third is actually inhabited. The rest? Divided equally between water and desolate wilderness. Think about that: we’re just a tiny speck on a tiny speck, relatively speaking.
But the world doesn't end there. Beyond the inhabited lands to the east, there's Gan Eden, Paradise, with its seven sections. Each one is reserved for the pious, those who have lived righteous lives, and each level corresponds to a different degree of piety. The holiest get the penthouse, so to speak.
To the west lies the great ocean, dotted with countless islands inhabited by all sorts of different peoples. And beyond that? Endless steppes, barren and desolate, teeming with serpents and scorpions, devoid of any plant life. Not exactly a vacation destination.
But the real extremes lie to the north and south. To the north, we find the reserves of hellfire: snow, hail, smoke, ice, darkness, and raging storms. It’s a veritable freezer of fury! And it's where all sorts of devils, demons, and malign spirits make their home. Their territory is vast, so vast that it would take five hundred years to traverse it, before you even get to hell itself. Talk about a commute!
Then, to the south, is the opposite extreme: a chamber of intense heat, a cave of smoke, and the forge of blasts and hurricanes. According to this tradition, the wind blowing from the south brings heat and sultriness to the earth. And here's where it gets interesting: we’re told that without the angel Ben Nez, "the Winged," holding back the south wind with his powerful pinions, the entire world would be consumed by fire! Furthermore, the fury of the southern blasts is constantly tempered by the north wind, which acts as a moderator, no matter which other wind is blowing. A divine thermostat, if you will.
These ancient descriptions, filled with angels and demons, vast distances, and elemental forces, are more than just primitive cosmology. They're a way of understanding our place in the universe, of grappling with the immense power and mystery that surrounds us. They remind us that there are forces beyond our control, both benevolent and malevolent, and that the balance between them is delicate and precious.
So, the next time you feel overwhelmed by the vastness of the universe, or the challenges of daily life, remember the legends. Remember the angels holding back the winds, the journey to the heavens, and the delicate balance that keeps our world from being consumed. It’s a perspective that can both humble and empower us, reminding us of both our insignificance and our importance in the grand scheme of things.