The Ways of Metatron A Book of Enoch By Eleazar of Worms Edited by Jonathan M. Stein, Esq. First English Edition Translated from the Original Hebrew Text With Editors Note
Copyright © 2011 by Jonathan M. Stein, Esq. Translation Copyright © 2011 by Jonathan M. Stein Esq. PLLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit written permission from the above Copyright holders. If you would like to license any part of these materials for reproduction of exposition, please email:
[email protected]
Contents Title Page Copyright Page Editor’s Note The Ways of Metatron (Hilchot Metatron) End Notes
Editors Note “And although the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not seen, we must believe that He is.”Eleazar of Worms,Sod Ha-Yichud. The material you are holding in your hands contains the first published English translation of “The Ways of Metatron,” (Hilchot Metatron in Hebrew), by Eleazar of Worms (Eleazar Rokeach [1176-1238 C.E.]). On the surface, this selection recounts the circumstances of the Biblical Patriarch Enoch ben Jared’s ascent to Heaven and “translation” into the Angel Metatron, along with other biographical anecdotes “dictated” by Metatron himself. Like an iceberg, however, most of the substance is below the surface. Thus, I have endeavored to provide my readers with a translation that is less idiomatic and more a rendering of the biblical Hebrew source material (as much as that is possible). Come and see… The canonized TaNaKh (Jewish Bible) has very little to say about Enoch: And Jared lived a hundred and sixty two years, and he begot Enoch. And Jared lived after he had begotten Enoch eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty two years, and he died. And Enoch lived sixty five years, and he begot Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methuselah, three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer,for God had taken him (emphasis added). Bereishit (Genesis), 5:18-24. What happened to Enoch? Of Jared, and the other Patriarchs mentioned in this genealogy, it is stated that they died. But Enoch “was no longer,for God had taken him.” It does not speak of his death, per se. This linguistic quirk lead to much speculation. “Books of Enoch,” treatises on Enoch, his fate, and his secrets, were rumored to be existent – such books were referenced in and by sources such as the Zohar, the writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital (1543-1620 C.E.), and Epistles from the Christian Bible. Dr. John Dee (1527-1608 C.E.), special advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, was so infatuated with Enoch and Enoch’s fabled secrets that he spent the greater part of the 1580’s attempting to uncover them by… “other “means. In 1773, James Bruce, a famous Scottish traveler, returned to Europe, from Ethiopia, with three copies of what later became known as I Enoch (written in the Ge’ez [Ethiopic] language), one of which is currently preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The antiquity of I Enoch (Second Temple Period) was confirmed by the discovery of Aramaic fragments at Qumran in 1948. However, the Qumran fragments represent but a small fragment of the greater Ethiopic work, and are largely damaged and unreadable. Thus, the bulk of the content of the original remains a mystery. A Second Book of Enoch (2 Enoch or “The Secrets of Enoch”), was discovered in various Slavonic manuscripts dating from 1300 to 1700. Although earlier Coptic fragments were identified in 2009, no existent Aramaic fragments have been discovered. It should be noted that Aramaic manuscripts are an important gauge of Second Temple Jewish Antiquity, because Aramaic was the “lay” language of the period (as opposed to the formal Biblical Hebrew of scripture), and the most likely language to be employed by Jewish sources of that period. 3 Enoch is most salient for the purposes of the instant work. 3 Enoch appears to be
originally written in Hebrew and exists in MS Oxford Oppenheimer 556 (the basis for Hugo Odeberg’s 1928 English translation). However, Gershom Scholem – well known for his academic scholarship on the Kabbalah – in Orientalistische Literaturzeiung 33 (1930), showed that that MS 556 is unreliable. Portions of this manuscript appear in the Vatican’s collection, V228, and New York EMC 255. Note that I cite Scholem for his scholarship only – he was empathically not a “mystic,” nor does he claim to have ever practiced any of the material he critiqued. Rabbi Eleazar’s materials, translated herein, appear in British Museum Margoliouth MS 737, and are written in Biblical Hebrew, clearly re-copied from earlier source material. It can thereby be deduced that this material is of the greatest antiquity available to us today (for these Enochian materials). The authenticity and usefulness (for the Kabbalist or mystic) of this work is implicit due to the mere fact that it was selected by Rabbi Eleazar for use and dissemination in his closed, esoteric circle of Kabbalists – the Hassidei Ashkenaz. This material has not been available in English – until now. The material - The Ways of Metatron – is a small selection that tracks the core portions of 3 Enoch and includes additional materials in the form of Baraitas (external Mishnayot). Scholars will certainly be intrigued by the use of language – in comparison to the other manuscripts and Odeberg’s English work – and the supplemental materials supplied by Rabbi Eleazar. The same applies to contemporary self-styled mystics of the “Western Tradition.” I suggest reading the material several times and meditating on the deeper meanings therein. It should also be noted that this selection is representative of materials existent in the pre-Zoharic “Kabbalah.” For the novice, this translation – due to its length and content – provides an excellent introduction to the Jewish esoteric schools of antiquity, in contrast to the contemporary Zohar based (and I use this attribution loosely) teachings, calling itself “THE Kabbalah,” prevalent in pop culture (think “Madonna” ). So, without further ado, I present you with the first published English translation of “The Ways of Metatron.” __________________________ Jonathan M. Stein, Esq. – Editor July 21, 2011 NB: Bracketed text and text in parens are not part of the text and have been added for explanation and ease of reading.
The Ways of Metatron
Said RabbiIshmael: I asked the minister Metatron, to write down everything that was written about the head of angels (‘sar hapnim’: lit. in modern Hebrew: ‘minister of interior’). I said to him, what is your name? [Metatron] said: I have seventy names against seventy nations in the world, like the name of my King, but my King calls me youngster”1”. Said RabbiIshmael: I asked Metatron, sinceyou are being called byGodin seventy names, and you are greater than all ministers, and higher than all angels, and wiser than all servants, and [more] honored than all hosts, and dearer than all soldiers, in kingship and in honor and in greatness, why do they call you youngster in Heaven? Said [Metatron]: because I am Enoch ben (son of) Jared, that when the generation of the Flood sinned andtransgressed in deeds and said to God, leave us and knowing your path we do not wish [to follow], God raised us (lit., probably speaking of himself in the plural) from among those [victims of the Flood] on Earth to be a witness in Heaven of [the deeds] for every living soul in the world, so that none will say: ‘mercifulandcruelHe”2”is, what sin have these people [of the flood generation] done? And if they have sinned, their sons anddaughters, their horses and mules and their livestock and property and everyanimalthat has been in the world, what sin have they done so that they were killed with them and God has vanished them from the world’? Therefore,the Holy One, Blessed be He,raised me to Heaven in front of their eyes to be a witness about them in theworld to come; and God placed me as a minister and arulerof theministering angels. At the time He raised me to Heaven, three angels from those of Aza and Azael”3”came and were there [viciously] denouncing me, saying to theHoly One, Blessed be He: ‘Master of the Universe,were not those prior [Angels who came to] to you ([sic] literally) right in saying not to create a human being? God answered, saying to them: I did [create Man] and will suffer and escape. Once they [the angels] saw me [Enoch] they asked Him: what is the nature of this [being] who came up to the sky? Is he not from the sons of the sons of these who were punished in the Flood? His place is here in Heaven? God answered [to the angels]:what is your place that you interrupt my words? I want him more than you all to be a head of the angels in Heaven. [Upon this] all promptly stood and welcomed me, bowed to me and said blessed are you and blessed are your parents that God wanted”4”you, and because I am small among them and young in years they call me “youngster.” Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me [that] on the day God expelled Adam from Paradise, [the] Divine spirit”5”was present on a cherub”6”under the Tree of Life, and the ministering angels were gathering, coming and going down, groups and groups from Heaven, bands and bands, droves and droves, to do God’s will throughout the whole world, and Adam and Eve, [were] sitting [outside the Gates of the Garden], there to look upon the brightness of the Divine spirit, since the brightness of the Divine spirit traverses the entire world from end to end, and [is] even 365 thousand times brighter in the sun, [because for] anyone who embraces”7”the brightness of the Divine spirit there are no flies and no mosquitoes on him and he is not sick and feels no sorrow and no harm[ful thing] can damage him, and no longer [can] even the angels rule him. And when the Holy One, Blessed be He, got out of Eden to the [lower] garden (lit.) and from the [lower] garden to Heaven and from Heaven to the [higher] garden, all were looking at the brightness of the Divine spirit and were not damaged, until the arriv[al of] the generation of Enoshe, head of all idol worshipers in the world. What the generation of Enoshe was doing was walking from the end of the world to its end, each and everyone collecting silver, gold and gemstones and pearls in the mountains and in the hills”8”, and [they] were idol-worshiping with the Four World-Winds (winds of the world), and were positioning him (Enoshe?) within the Four World-Winds, of paganism, measured as 1000 parasangs, and were bringing down the sun and
moon, stars and zodiac-signs, and putting all in front of them, to their right and to their left, to serve them in the same way that they served God in the past”9”, as it written (Kings A 22, 19): “…and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” And how did they have the power to get them down? Because Aza and Azael were teaching them witchcraft [that enabled them to do these things]; if it was not so, they would not be able to get them down. And at the same timethe ministering angels colluded [together] to put a prosecutor in front of God, telling him: “Master of the Universe, what [business] do you have with human beings, as it is written (Psalm 8, 4): ‘…what is man (in Hebrew: Enoshe) that thou art mindful to him?’ And it is not written what is Adam (Hebrew: a man, a human being), but what is Enoshe (Hebrew: a man, a human being), since he (Enoshe) was the head of paganism. Why did you leave the holy heavens, which are full with your honor, that high and glorified they are, and the raised chair that is at the height of heaven’s plains and you came and went with human-beings, idol-worshipers that compared you with paganism, [and] now you are on earth, what is your place with earthwalkers and idol-worshipers?” God immediately removed the Divine spirit from earth; then the serving angels and hosts battalions and plains’ soldiers, 1000 droves and hosts, came and took the trumpets and grabbed the shofars in their hands and circled the Divine spirit in songs and singing to heaven, as written (Psalm 47, 5):”God is gone up with a shout”. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: at first, when God wanted to raise me up to heaven, He sent a ministering angel, Anfiel, who took me from among them (people on Earth) before their eyes and put me on a big cherub and in a fire-vehicle and fire-horses and honor-servants, and raised me with the Divine spirit to heaven, and when I arrived to heaven there were animals”10”and cherubs and ministering angels and wheels and fire-servants”11”up there, and they smelled my smell from far away, 5000 and 3,600,000 (lit. 360 ten-thousand) parasangs, and they all said: ‘what is the smell of this mortal-drop and what is the reason for this whiteness-drop (sic) coming up to heaven to serve among those carved from sparks of fire (lit.: spark-carved)? God answers and tells them: servants of my host, my cherubs and my ministering angels, do not oppose this, since all human-beings left me and my great kingdom, and turned and worshiped idols, I removed my Divine spirit from among them and raised it back to heaven, and this [Enoch] is the only thing I took from my world under the whole sky. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: when God took me from among the Flood generation [he] raised me in the wings of the Divine spirit to the supreme heaven and entered me into great palaces at the height of heaven, where there [is] the honor of the Divine spirit, large carriages of fury and soldiers of rage, and angels of fire and cherubs of torch and angels of ember, and servants of flame and flashes of lightning and angels of sparkle—and placed me [there] to serve everyday in front of His-honor’s chair. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: before God placed me [in Heaven] to serve the honored chair, [He] opened for me, the Holy One, Blessed be He, 600 thousands gates of wisdom and 300 thousand [gates] of sense, and 300 thousand of life, and 300 thousand ofcunning, and 300 thousand of Divine spirit, and 300 thousand of bravery and strength and 300 thousand of grace and kindness, and 300 thousand of love, 300 thousand of Torah, and 300 thousand of livelihood, and 300 thousand of humility, and 300 thousand of fear-of-sin. From that moment on, God added to me wisdom upon wisdom, sense upon sense, cunning upon cunning, knowledge upon knowledge, mercy upon mercy, and Torah upon Torah, and love upon love, kindness upon kindness, and delight upon delight, and humility upon humility, and bravery upon bravery, and power upon power, and strength upon strength, and brightness upon brightness, and beauty upon beauty, and appearance upon appearance, I was honored and glorified in all these fine and remarkable virtues more than any one in heaven. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: all of this God did for me, [he made me] a chair like the chair-of-honor, and prize upon prize of the chair-of-honor, that all kinds of
brightness and glory of the world are fixed in it, and put the chair at the entrance of the seventh hall, and sat me on it, and the announcement about me [and my elevation] went out into heavens, saying: Metatron, my [God’s] servant, I made him a minister and a ruler over all my kingdom’s ministers, and [over] all heaven’s members, except for eight ministers and honored angels, the greats and the awe-inspiring who were called Y”H (as the Hebrew letters ) as the name of their king, and every angel and every minister who has a thing to say, will go to him [Metatron], and to him will speak, and everything he will tell you in My name you will observe (maintain, respect) and do, because [as you are now] a minster of wisdom and minister of sense, I [God] gave you to learn the wisdom of heaven and of earth and the life of this world, and this of the world to come, and I [God] also nominated him [Metatron] on all the hoards of the plain’s halls and of all life-treasures I have in heaven. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: God revealed to me the spring of all Torah mysteries and all wisdom secrets and all depths of the upright Torah, and all the laws of nature are known to me, as they are known to their Creator, and I watched to look at deepenigmas and at wonder-secrets; before a man thinks – I know, and before he does something clandestinely – I see, and there is nothing either in the height or in the depth that is hidden to me. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: out of [the] love that God loved me [with] more than any [other] angel in heaven, he made me pride-clothing (sic) in which all kinds of glories are fixed, and dressed me and made me a coat in which all kinds of brightness and splendor are fixed, and raised me and made me a kingdom-crown in which 49 gemstones are fixed and their light is like the sun, and their brightness spreads in four heaven-plain’s winds and in seven heavens and in four winds, and tied it to my head and called me ‘little God’”12”in front of all the entourage-of-heaven, as it says (Exodus, 23,21):” … for my name is in him.” Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: splendor in all heaven, since God took me to serve the honor-chair and the carriage’s (Merkava) wheels and all of the Divine spirit’s guarantors, [and] promptly my flesh turned into a fire-flame and my tendons [turned] into burning hot fire, and my bones into broom-ember, and my eyelids into sparkles, and my eyewheels into fire-torches, and my head-hair into flame-blazes, and all my organs into burning firewings, and all my body-height into a blazing fire, to my right, hewers of fire-flames, and to my left, torches-burners, and my surroundings are floating in a tempest-wind and a storm and a voice of noise in noise in front of and behind me. Up to herewe wrote a few Braitas (Aramaic, external Mishna) ofMerkavah. Knowthat Metatron is called asmitetor, which is a leader, as inBereshit Rabba (see, Albeck,section 5, starting “let the water under heaven gather together onto one place”), let the water gather, God became a mitetor to the water, meaning a leader, hence the name Metatron means leader of the world and singing song (Hebrew:ron) everyday, and of him it was said (Exodus, 23, 21): “Beware of him and obey his voice, provoke him not…for my name is in him”. Shad’’ai(literally, guard of Israel’s doors) in Metatron (equal in gematria), and more my name is in him, replace the [Letter]Kofof in him ( the Hebrew word Blessed is His name, and it will be
) in – do not say –
and take from my [God] name[the letter]Yod,and it
will be , and Shad”ai is his [Metatron’s] Rabbi’s [God] name. And why is Metatron as (like) Shad’ai? Because he is [the one who]testifies [to] God [as to] that (or whom) is worth[y]
to worship and glorify as it is in (before the) Merkabah. The youngster Metatronbows down to God and goes under (to the foot of) the chair-of-honor andpraisesand says Blessed is He (all are Hebrew letters representing permutations of the Divine name) each and every day, and the youngster praises (God) three times a day”13”. Hisstatureis the entire world, [the] crown on his head 500 thousand upon 500 thousandparasangs, Israel his name, and the crown, the gemstonebetween itsbeamslights as far as 300 thousand upon 300 thousand, and his body looks like anarcsurrounded by home-fire (lit.), and the name of the Great (the Great name of God) is engravedin his heart for my (God’s) name is in him. And the voice hits and exhausting his power, in the place where the name isengravedand from there hear the ministering angels, and from there it explodes, “Is not my word like as fire?...and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah, 23, 29) to that it was said (Exodus,23, 21):“Beware of him and obey his voice, provoke him not…for my name is in him.” That is (Ibid. 22) “But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak” and it is written (Ezekiel, 1, 28) “… and I heard a voice of one that spoke.” In Rabbi Akiva’salphabet, 70 names has he, Metatron, and [also] the name “little God,” as he that will walk among us, and it did not say you will walk [among us], but he will walk and he stands as it is written (Kings A, 22, 19): “…I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right-hand and on his left.” But where it is written that he is sitting it is only a semblance of sitting, he looks as-if he is sitting, since he is the judgeof them all. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: at first, I was sitting on a great chair at the entrance of the seventh hall andjudgedall of heaven’s-members with theauthorizationof God, andallottedgreatness and kingdom andRabbinate, andsplendorandpraiseandtiaraandcrownand honor, and all the ministering angels were standing above me to my right and to my left, when I was sitting in the assembly-of-heaven by theauthorizationof God. And whenElisha ben (son of) Abuya”14”came, he was late to look at theviewingof thecarriage (Merkavah), and was looking at me, and was fearing me andshockedby me, and his soul isrushing(NB: as is the case in several other places, the author changes tenses in mid-sentence) to flee out of him as a result of [his] fear of me, myreverenceand myawe, that he saw me sitting on the chair as a king and the ministering angels are standing by me and all the ministers of heaven’s-kingdoms aretying crowns and surrounding me; at that time he [Elisha] opened hismouthand said: “for sure there are twoauthorities in heaven.” Promptly a Bat Kol(lit. a voice, metaphorically a Heavenly Voice) came out [from] before the Divine spirit and said: return younaughtysons,apart fromanother. Then came, at the command of God, Anfiel H’ the minister-angel, thehonored,magnificent,wonderful,pleasant,awesomeandadmired– and brought 60 pulsas (from the Aramaic, lit.lashes) of fire [against Metatron] and they (the pulsas) stood me straight-up on myfeet (knocked Metatron up onto his feet). In Rabbi Akiva’salphabet, (God) gave to Metatron, who isEnoch ben (son of) Jared,all thehoardsand assignedhim all thetreasureI (God) have in every heaven, and the key to each one is in his (Metatron) hands. I (God)appointed him to [be] a minister of all the ministers, and I made him a servant of my honored chair, tocurl and totake care ofthe holy animals (the Chayot Angels) and to tie crowns to their heads, andangels of splendor to surround them, honor,gloryand splendor to dress them, andsparks ofradianceto grab in hands, brightness andradianceof flameangels (Seraphim) with which to proudlywrap, and flashes of light tostrengthenfrom, and at every gate to prepare for Him a seat when he is sitting on his chair [besides the presence] of the glory of my (God’s) chair, of the glory of my honor in honor and respect to increase my honor in heavens in its height in all the highs is 70,000parasangs and I increased his honor from the glory
of my honor, and theradiance of his eyes is as the brightness of the chair of honor (the Divine “Throne”). The crownof his kingdom, 500 by 500parasangs, and I (God) granted him (Metatron) from my glory and my splendor, from my honor which is on the chair of honor, and I called him in my name “little God,” head of angels and knower of secrets, and each and every secret I told him as beloved-one, and each and every secret I informed him, when I set him to sit at the entrance of his hall as ajudgeof all myentouragein heaven. And every minster I put in front of him, to get permission to do his (the minister’s) will. 70names I (God) took frommine, and called him (Metatron) by them to increase his honor and respect. And 70 ministers I gave to his command at any language. To degrade superiors to earth and to lift up despisers to heaven, and to strike kings and to beat counts, and to rise kings and counts. “And he changeth the times and the seasons: removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2, 21), to give wisdom to every world-wise, and sense and knowledge to every knowing, and I appointed him to reveal secrets and to teach the laws. “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I pleased…”(Isaiah, 55, 11). I did not [say] “was said” but “accomplished” , to teach that each and every thing and each and every word that came out of God’s mouth, Metatron, head of angels, steps forwards and performs it, and maintains the commands oftheHoly One, Blessed be He. And each and everyday Metatron sits [for] three hours in heaven and writes down (records) all the souls of fetuses who died in their mothers’ intestine(sic), and of thesesucking breasts who died on their mothers’ breasts, and of schoolchildrenwho died on theTorah, and he brings them under the chair of honor, and seats them by classes-classes, bands-bands, group-group around him, and teaches them Torah and wisdom, Aggadas (A type of Rabbinic literature, lit.legends) and rumors and completes their book of studies, as it says (Ibid. 28, 9): “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts.” And 70names has Metatron, faithful youngster, little God, and he called Zganzgael (contains theconsonants and sounds of - gnazim- Hebrew forhoards, and - el- Hebrew for God) since all thetreasures of wisdomare given to him, and all of them were open to Moses,may he rest in peace,in Mount Sinai, until he studied them in 40 days, when Metatron studies Torah in 70 aspects of 70 languages,Prophetsin 70 aspects of 7 languages, [the]Writingsin 70 aspects of 7 languages, [and] since [after the] 40 days were over, he (Moses) forgot all at once, God called him (Metatron), thegorgeousminister of Torah (Metatron), and gave him all of them (that he forgot) as a present, like it was before, as it says (Deuteronomy, 10, 4) :”… and the Lord gave them unto me.” And after that was valid what was said (Malachi, 3, 24):” Remember ye the law of Moses my servant…” Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: out of lots of love and great mercy, God loved me more than all heaven’s-members, he (God) wrote with his finger, with a flame-pen and tied to my head-crown letters in which [the] heaven and earth were created”15”, letters in which seas and rivers were created, letters in which stars and zodiac-signs were created, andlightningand winds, andthunder-snow, andhail storm and tempest, letters in which all the values of the world and all the laws of nature were created and each and every letter isflyingoccasionallylike the sight of lightning,occasionallylike the sight of the torches,occasionallylike the sight of the fire-flames,occasionallylike the sight of the rise of the sun in its glory, and the moon and the stars. Said RabbiIshmael: Metatron, head of the angels, told me: whenthe Holy One, Blessed be He,tied this crown to my head, moved all the ministers-of-soldiers that are in the upper plains,
and all heaven, and even ministers-of-gods and ministers-of-angels, and ministers-of-emissaries that are greater than all the ministering angels who are serving the honored chair, [even they] were moved and are shivered by me when they see [me], and even minister Samael, head of all Accusers, who is greater than the ministers of all heaven’s-kingdoms fears me and is outraged by me. And even the angels of fire, and the angels of hail, and the angels of wind, and the angels of fury, and the angel of rage, and the angels of noise, and the angels of snow the hail and the rain, and the angel of the day, and the angel of the night, and the angel of the moon, and the angel of the sun, and the angel of the stars, and the angel of the zodiac-signs which rule the world under their hands (the signs), [all of these] are moving, and are outraging and are frightened by me, see me and are falling on their faces, and cannot look at mebecause of [the] glory and splendor and brightness andradianceandbeautyandgleamof the light of my crown-of-honor that is on my head. Metatronis a minister upon all ministers and stands ahead of anyone who were [to be] raised [up] by God, and he (Metatron) enters under the chair of honor, and he has a greatseatof light up (in heaven) and he brings asilentfire and makes theears of animals not to hear the voice of speech. WhenMoses rose to heaven and suffered 121Taaniths (lit.fasts) until the springs of flashes were opened to him, and he saw that his heart is like the heart of a lion, and saw hosts-sects there around him to burn him, and [when] Moses asked for mercy for Israel and [then] later asked mercy for himself, and [the one]who is in charge of thecarriage(Merkabah) opened the windows above the heads of thecherubs and 1800advocates of Israel went out, and Metatron head of angels with them, they received Moses’prayer and set it at the head of God,“Hear O Israel the Lord our God Lord is One” (Shema Yisrael), [they]rejoiced and were happy from the face of the Divine spirit (Shechina), and she (the Divine spirit) told to Metatron: who are these and to whom do they give all this honor and respect, as it says (Nahum, 2,3) in thegreatnessof Israel God is alive. At that time Akatriel Y”H H’ ( ) turned and said to Metatron head of angels: whoever asks for God, do not deny hisrequest, hear hisprayerand fill his needs, be them (the needs) many or few.Promptly said Metatron to Moses son of Amram: do not fear,demand your needs proudly andbravely, since the skin of your face shines from the end of the world to its end; said Moses,could it be thatI am guilty? Said Metatron head of angels to Moses: receive thisoath that is not a breaking of a treaty; and his name called Metatron that became a metator (Greek or Latin: the one who sits on the chair of honor), shows what God wanted for his angels that he will be ahead [of them], and he Metatron is a Rabbi and a teacher of the good children, it is Metatron the matron of the evil that is not Benai (sons of) Osna”t Mshga”ch ( ) that are mentioned in Masechet Nedarim. And why [is it that] he made Metatron a governor of all heaven’s-members? Because when saw (Metatron as Enoch) the Flood generation sin, he built a house extant to his place (i.e., a place for him to go into physical isolation), and there was the place where he prayed and where he studied, and he was not walking inside the world, and Enoch (Metatron) was worshiping God and dismissedhim in a great shout, rose God in a shout with the Divine spirit H’ ( ) in a shofar-voice (Psalm 47,6)to inform that [the]piousare prior to [the] ministering angels, “to this time it shall be said to Jacob and Israel: What hath God wrought!” (Numbers, 23, 23). And so found Kilar these will be from within, etc.
END NOTES 1 Also could be “Youth” or “Lad”. page 8 2 I.e., God. page 8 3 These are the “fallen angels” spoken of in I Enoch. page 8 4 Alternatively, “Desires.” page 8 5 The Shechina, or Divine Presence. page 8 6 Compare to the Holy Ark, where the same dwelled between two Cherubim (Keruvim) on the cover of the Ark (the “Mercy Seat”). Generally, the two Cherubim there are thought to be or represent Metatron and Sandalphon. page 8 7 Alternatively, “Uses.” page 8 8 A deeper meaning here could be that they were collecting these things for occult purposes and use. page 8 9 Acts of sorcery. page 8 10 “Chayot” - a class of Angels seen in Ezekiel’s vision. page 10 11 “Seraphim”, or “burning” Angels, ibid. page 10 12 “Little Ha-Shem” (Yod Hey Vav Hey). Confusion by Acher, who ascended with Rabbi Akiva to Shmaim (Pardes), led him to wrongfully conclude that there were two powers in Heaven (this is one explanation of what Acher’s “Apostasy” was). See, Hagiga at 14b, and NB,infra. page 11 13
Note that Jews are obligated to pray three times per day by Torah Law. page 12 14 See Note 12, supra. page 13 15 See the Sefer Yetzirah. page 15 NB: Hagiga, amud 14b does not explicitly mention Metatron. it merely says “Acher kitzetz bantiot” (Acher chopped down saplings [in Pardes]). This is interpreted to be an allusion to apostasy - the meaning is not explicit, i.e., any precise events.
