CHAPTER XLIV
Metatron shows R. Ishmael the abode of the wicked and the intermediate in Sheol. (vss. 1-6)
The Patriarchs pray for the deliverance of Israel (vss. 7-10)
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, x the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:
(1) Come and I will show thee the spirits of the wicked and the spirits of the intermediate where they are standing, and the spirits of the intermediate, whither they go down, and the spirits of the wicked, where they go down.
(2) And he said to me : The spirits of the wicked go down to She'ol by the hands of two angels of destruction: ZA'APHIEL and SIMKIEL are their names.
(3) SIMKIEL is appointed over the intermediate to support them and purify them because of the great mercy of the Prince of the Place (Maqom). ZA'APHIEL is appointed over the spirits of the wicked in order to cast them down from the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, and from the splendour of the Shekina to She'ol, to be punished in the fire of Gehenna with staves of burning coal.
(4) And I went by his side, and he took me by his hand and showed me all of them with his fingers.
(5) And I beheld the appearance of their faces (and, lo, it was) as the appearance of children of men, and their bodies like eagles. And not only that but (furthermore) the colour of the countenance of the intermediate was like pale grey on account of their deeds, for there are stains upon them until they have become cleaned from their iniquity in the fire.
(6) And the colour of the wicked was like the bottom of a pot on account of the wickedness of their doings.
(7) And I saw the spirits of the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the rest of the righteous whom they have brought up out of their graves and who have ascended to the Heaven (Raqirf). And they were praying before the Holy One, blessed be He, saying in their prayer: "Lord of the Universe! How long wilt thou sit upon (thy) Throne like a mourner in the days of his mourning with thy right hand behind thee and not deliver thy children and reveal thy Kingdom in the world? And for how long wilt thou have no pity upon thy children who are made slaves among the nations of the world? Nor upon thy right hand that is behind thee wherewith thou didst stretch out the heavens and the earth and the heavens of heavens? When wilt thou have compassion?"
(8) Then the Holy One, blessed be He, answered every one of them, saying: "Since these wicked do sin so and so, and transgress with such and such transgressions against me, how could I deliver my great Right Hand in the downfall by their hands (caused by them).
(9) In that moment Metatron called me and spake to me: "My servant! Take the books, and read their evil doings!" Forthwith I took the books and read their doings and there were to be found 36 transgressions (written down) with regard to each wicked one and besides, that they have transgressed all the letters in the Tora, as it is written (Dan. ix. u) : "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy Law". It is not written 'al torateka but 'et (JIN) torateka, for they have transgressed from 'Aleph to Taw, 40 statutes have they transgressed for each letter.
(10) Forthwith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wept. Then said to them the Holy One, blessed be He: "Abraham, my beloved, Isaac, my Elect one, Jacob, my firstborn!
How can I now deliver them from among the nations of the world?" And forthwith MIKAEL, the Prince of Israel, cried and wept with a loud voice and said (Ps. x. i): "Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?".
