Before every human birth, an angel named Lailah (לילה) receives a direct order from God. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, God tells Lailah, "Tonight a child will be conceived. Take this seed and break it into 365 particles." The angel obeys, then returns to God and asks, "What shall become of it?" God decrees everything: strong or weak, male or female, rich or poor, tall or short.
God then summons a specific soul from the Garden of Eden. The soul protests. "I am holy and pure. I am satisfied with my world. Do not make me enter this impure vessel." God overrules the objection: "The world I am sending you into is better than the one you have known. I created you for exactly this purpose." The soul enters the embryo against its will.
A supernatural light shines above the unborn child's head, illuminating the entire world from end to end. Each morning the angel carries the soul into the Garden of Eden and shows it the righteous sitting in glory with crowns on their heads. Each evening the angel takes it to Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death) and shows it the wicked being beaten with fiery staves. "These had the same humble origins as you," the angel explains. "They went into the world and disobeyed."
When nine months pass, the angel returns and says, "Time to go." The soul refuses again: "Now I am comfortable here. Why move me?" The angel replies, "Against your will you were formed. Against your will you will be born." Then the angel strikes the child, extinguishes the miraculous light, and forces it out into the world. The baby cries because it has lost everything it knew.
Seven stages of life await. In the first year, the child is treated like a king. By forty, burdens weigh on it like a loaded donkey. In old age, everyone in the household wishes for its death. When the final hour arrives, the same angel returns and asks, "What is your name?" The dying person weeps. Only the rooster can hear the sound.
IX. (1) I will now proceed to explain the formation of the
foetus which God created when man approaches his wife.
God indicates it to the angel appointed over conception,
whose name is Lailah. God says, ' Know that this night a
woman will conceive. Take this sperm, place it in thy
hand, and break it on the threshing-floor into three
hundred and sixty-live particles.' He does so. He then
takes the sperm in his hand, brings it to God, and says,
' 0 Lord of the world, I have done as Thou hast com-
manded me, and now decree what is to become of it.' God
then decrees that it will be either strong or weak, male or
female, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, long or short,
wicked or righteous. (2) God then makes a sign to the
angel appointed over spirits, and says, ' Bring me a certain
spirit which is hidden in the Garden of Eden, whose name
is So-and-so, and whose form is So-and-so.' This applies
to all the spirits which are destined to be created, for from
the very moment when the world was created all (these
spirits) were prepared for men, as it is said, ' What has
2—2
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already been has been called by name.' The angel brmgs
the (said) spirit, which, when it comes before God, bows
down and prostrates itself before Him. (3) At that
moment God says to the spirit, ' Enter thou this sperm.'
The spirit then opens its mouth, and says, ' 0 Lord of the
universe, I am satisfied with the world in which I have
lived from the day on which Thou didst create me; if it
please Thee, do not suffer me to enter this impure being, for
I am holy and pure.' God replies, ' The world which I will
cause thee to enter is better than the world in which thou
hast lived; and when I created thee, I created thee only for
this purpose.' (4) God then causes it to enter this new
being against its will. The angel then returns and causes
it to enter the womb of its mother. Two angels are prepared
to watch the embryo (during pregnancy). A light shines
upon the head of the child, by which it sees from one end of
the world to the other. (5) In the morning the angel takes
it, carries it into the Garden of Eden and shows it the
righteous men who sit there in glory with crowns on their
heads. The angel then says to the soul, ' My child, dost
thou know who these are ?' ' No,' it replies. The angel then
says, * These people whom thou seest here were formed like
thee in the womb of their mother. They went forth into
the world and observed God's statutes, therefore they
became worthy of this bliss. Know also that thou wilt at
the end of thy days depart from the world, and if thou
wilt be thought worthy to hearken unto the Law and the
Commandments then thou wilt be likewise worthy of sitting
with these in the place where I showed thee.'
(6) In the evening he carries it into Gehinnom, and shows
it the sinners, whom the wicked angels beat with fiery
staves. They cry ' Woe, woe !' but no mercy is shown them.
The angel then says to the soul, ' Dost thou know, my child,
who these are that burn ?' ' No,' it replies. The angel
answers, ' These were of the same mean origin as thou art.
They went forth to the world and did not observe the
commandments and judgments of God. Therefore they
have come to this place of punishment. Know also, child,
that thou must ultimately quit this world.' (7) The angel
walks about with it from morning until evening, and shows
it every place which it is destined to tread, and the place
where it will be buried. After this he shows it the world
of the good and the world of the wicked, and in the
evening he places it back again in the womb of its mother.
God then encloses it within folded doors, as it is said, ' And
He shut in the sea with doors, until it burst forth from the
womb and became free.' It is further said, ' I will lay My
words in thy mouth, and I will protect thee in the shadow
of My hand.' God then said, ' Thus far shalt thou go, and
no further;' and He sustains the child in the womb of its
mother for nine months.
(8) At the end of that time the same angel comes and says
to it, ' Come forth, for the time has come for thee to go forth
into the world.' It replies, ' Have I not already told God
that I am satisfied to remain in the place where I was
accustomed to dwell? And He replied, "The place I will
cause thee to enter is better than that world from which thou
hast come." Now that it pleases me to remain here, why
dost thou wish to remove me hence ?' The angel replies,
' Thou must know that thou wast formed in the womb of
thy mother against thy will, and now know that against thy
will thou wilt be born, and wilt come forth into the world.'
He then immediately strikes it, extinguishes the light, and
brings it forth against its will. It then forgets whatever it
had seen. As soon as it comes forth unto the world, it cries.
(9) And why does it cry ? Because of the world it has left
behind. For at that moment seven new worlds are await-
ing it. In the first world it is like unto a king after whose
welfare all people ask; all desire to see it and embrace it,
and kiss it, because it is in the first year. In the second
world it is like unto a swine which wallows in mire; a
child does the same until it reaches two years. In the
third world it is like unto a kid that skips and gambols
about on the meadows. Thus, a child skips about here
and there until it is five years of age. In the fourth
world it is like unto a horse which strides along haughtily.
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In the same way does a child walk along proud of his
youth until he is eighteen years old. In the fifth world
he is like unto an ass upon whose shoulders burdens are
placed. In the same manner burdens are heaped upon
man's shoulders; he is given a wife by whom he begets
children. He must wander to and fro in order to obtain
food for them until he is about forty years old. In the
sixth stage he is like unto a dog, insolent and wandering
about in all places for food: stealing and robbing in one
place and enjoying it in another. In the seventh stage
he is like unto an ape, whose appearance is changed in
every respect. All the household curse him and desire
his death. Even the young children make fun of him,
and even the smallest bird wakes him from his sleep.
(10) Finally, the time arrives for him to quit this world.
When that time arrives the same angel comes beside him
and says to him. What is thy name ?' To which he replies
* So-and-so, and Why dost thou come to me to-day ?' ' To
take thee away from this world.' When he hears this he
weeps, and his voice reaches from one end of the world to
the other, but no creature hears his voice except the cock.
' Have I not already told thee,' he says, ' not to bring me
forth from the world in which I have lived ?' But the
angel replies, ' Have I not already told thee that against
thy will thou wast created, against thy will thou wast born,
against thy will thou livest, and against thy will thou shalt
die, also against thy will thou art bound to render account
and reckoning before Him who said, and the world was
made ?'
(11) Behold, these are the four Divine hosts which God
showed to Elijah the prophet, as it is said, ' And He said,
Go out and stand upon the mountain before God.' God
then said to Elijah, ' Behold, these are the four worlds
through which man must pass. The great and strong
wind is this world. After the wind comes the earthquake,
i.e., after this world comes death, which causes the whole
body of man to quake. After the earthquake comes the fire,
i.e., after death there follows the judgment of Gehinnom,
which is fire, and after the judgment of Gehinnom there
follows a voice, as it is said, ' A still, soft voice,' which is
the voice of the last judgment. After this follows the
judgment of the spirits that flit about in the air, and no
one is left except God, as it is said, ' God alone shall be
exalted on that day.' All this is included in the words of
holy tradition spoken by David, King of Israel, who said,
' I was made in secret, I was formed in the nethermost
parts of the earth.'
