The Midrash of “He Established” (Midrash konen)

I will begin measuring the world, with the help of the Creator of the world.

Our rabbis taught: The settled world covers a distance of 500 years; a third of [the whole] is sea, a third is desert, and a third is settled. [ . . . ]

East, the garden of Eden. These are the four ends of the four directions of the earth surrounding the settled world. In the East: Eden, as it says: The Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, etc. (Genesis 2:8), from the eastward direction. And it is measured at a distance of 800,000 years, etc. Four classes of righteous people and houses are built in it, and every house is twelve thousand mil,¹ and rises up to 100 thousand mil.

The first house, which is opposite the gate to the garden of Eden, is home to the righteous converts who converted out of love. Its beams are made of white glass as clear as a mirror, and its walls are made of cedars. Obadiah the prophet is appointed over them and teaches them Torah.

The second house is at the open gate of the garden of Eden. Its beams are made of smelted pure silver, and its walls are made of cedar, and those who have repented and are cleansed of all sin, just as silver is purified of all slag, reside in that house. Manasseh ben Hezekiah is appointed as a rabbi over them and teaches them Torah [see b. Sanhedrin 102b].

The third house is built of silver and fine gold and all sorts of precious stones and pearls. It is very large, and all the delights of the heaven and earth are there. All sorts of tasty things and fragrant herbs and pleasant-smelling things are also there.

In the middle is the tree of life, as it says: The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:9). It is 500 years high. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve tribes, and all those who came out of Egypt and those who died in the desert, dwell in its shadow. Moses and Aaron are appointed over them and teach them Torah. David and Solomon are there with their crowns, as well as Kalab the son of David, who is still alive and serving his father [see 2 Samuel 12:14–23]. Every generation of the Israelites is there, except for Absalom and his faction. Moses expounds the whole Torah, and Aaron teaches the priests the Order of Priesthood. And any one of them who desecrated their priesthood in this world, their face turns green from shame, and they sit alone and desolate until Elijah comes, as it says: And he will purify the sons of Levi, etc. (Malachi 3:3).

The souls of the righteous ascend and descend from the tree of life to heaven, and from heaven back to the garden of Eden, like a person ascending and descending a ladder [see Genesis 28].

It [the tree] is planted in a source of living water, as it says: He will be like a tree planted by streams of water (Psalms 1:3). The tributary of the river flows from there and splits into four rivers, as it says: And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became four heads (Genesis 2:10). It becomes four riverheads—and they are the Gihon, Tigris, Pishon, and the Euphrates [see Genesis 2:11–14]. These go out and wind through the world. The measure of the garden is a distance of a thousand years, and there all of Israel and the righteous converts rest, but the completely righteous and the patriarchs of the world and the ten martyrs and those who were tested by persecutions, who gave their lives over to death for the sake of the Name, their souls are in the heavenly academy. Every day they descend with the souls of the righteous which are in the garden. And their souls, which are in the garden, stand in groups—each person with the members of his house and his family, each family together, up to the tribe they come from, as it is written: you also will be gathered to your people (Numbers 27:13)—[that is,] to the family members; and he was gathered to his people (Genesis 49:33)—[that is,] the members of the tribe. Chairs of precious stones and pearls, and laid beds are there. They sit and thank and praise the Eternal God, each person as is fitting for them, and enjoy the light of the divine presence [shekhinah].

In between this world and the world to come is the sword which turns every way—from the heat of fire to the cold of hail, and from hail to rivers of fire—so that no man can enter alive, as it says: And He placed the cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way (Genesis 3:24). The measure of the flaming sword is a distance of ten years. When the souls of Israel arrive at the garden of Eden, they are submerged in 248 rivers of balsam and persimmon, and they are brought into the garden of Eden, and they enjoy the light of the divine presence, each one according to their deeds and their Torah.

The fourth house has walls of olive wood, and those who reside there are Israelites who suffered in this world but did not rebel against the protecting shade of God, instead remaining lowly with the sweetness of lips [see Proverbs 16:21]. And why is it built of olive wood? Because they were under pressure in this world and their lives were as bitter as olives, but now they are as brilliant in the garden of Eden as olive oil.

The fifth house is built of stones of onyx and jasper, and there are stones set with silver, shining gold, and fine gold. Rivers of persimmon flow around it, and the Gihon flows in front of the gate. The gate is covered with trees of frankincense, good scents, beds of silver and gold, and embroidered clothing. It is there that the messiah the son of David, Elijah, and the messiah the son of Ephraim dwell. There is a palanquin there made of Lebanon wood [see Song of Songs 3:9], as there was in the Tabernacle that Moses made in the desert; all its furnishings and pillars are made of silver. Its top is gold, and its seat is purple [see Song of Songs 3:10]. Within it resides the messiah son of David, who loves Jerusalem. Elijah, of blessed memory, holds him by his head and places him in his lap and holds him there, and says to him, “You have suffered troubles and the judgment of your master, who afflicts you due to the sins of Israel, as it is written: But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5), until the end days come.”

Every Monday and Thursday and every Sabbath and holiday, the patriarchs of the world, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, and all the kings of the House of David, and the prophets and the righteous ones come and greet him and weep with him, and he weeps with them. They encourage him and say to him, “Suffer the judgment of your master, for the end is coming soon, and the chains at your throat will be broken, and you will go free.” And even Korah and his whole faction plead every Wednesday, and say to him, “When will the end come? When will wonders return and bring us to life and bring us up from the ends of the earth?” And he says to them, “I do not know; ask the patriarchs of the world.” They are ashamed and return to their place. We have thus written of the East and the settlements within it and the chambers of the garden of Eden.

The West: desert. The western side contains the waters of the ocean, in which there are many islands. Speakers of many languages and many nations reside there. Beyond the ocean there are deserts full of snakes, vipers, and scorpions and desolate, empty land—no people, no growth, no trees. Its measurement is a distance of 2,500 years. This is the burden of the wilderness of the sea (Isaiah 21:1), which is translated as the west sea.

The North: hell. The north side is the settled land of Babylon and the Chaldeans, except for the settled land beyond them, storehouses of the fire of hell, and the storehouses of snow, hail, smoke, frost, darkness, and stormy winds. [ . . . ]

The South: settled land. The southern side contains the chambers of the south [see Job 9:9], and they are the storehouses of fire, and a cave of smoke and storms and gales. [ . . . ]

Above the lower earth is the deep, and above the deep is formless matter and above the formless matter is the void and above the void is sea, and above the sea there are fresh waters and above the fresh waters there is land, and on the land there is the greatness and praise of the Holy One, and His power and rule, as it says: Fear not, O, Land [be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things] (Joel 2:21). This is the boundary of the second deep [tehom]. Above the deep is formless matter, above the formless matter is the void, above the void is darkness, above darkness is water, above water are the dry waters, above the dry waters are the rivers and all the lake waters, as it says: I will make the rivers dry (Ezekiel 30:12). This is the boundary of the third deep. Above the dry waters is the deep; above the deep is formless matter, the void, and water; above the water is dry land; and on the dry land are waters, rivers, and the gathering of waters, as it says: The sea is His, for He made it (Psalms 95:5). This is the boundary of the fourth deep. Above the dry land is the deep; above the deep are formless matter, the void, darkness, and water; above the water is earth; and in the earth is the depths of Sheol (Deuteronomy 32:22), the place of destruction, the gruesome pit, the miry clay, and the gates of death [see b. Eruvin 19a], and within them are those sentenced to hell. There, evildoers are judged, and the angels of destruction are appointed over them. There are the treasures of darkness (Isaiah 45:3), and the wicked shall be silent in darkness (1 Samuel 2:9). [ . . . ]

The sixth deep. Above the land, the deep; above the deep, the formless matter and the void and darkness and sea and water; above the water, the world; and within the universe, man, animals, beasts of the field, birds of heavens, seas and rivers, the fish of the sea and all sorts of crawling creatures. There reside Israel and the Torah and the commandments and good deeds and the righteous and those who fear God; the seventy nations, among them evil people and righteous people and honest people; deserts and mountains and hills and fields and vineyards and gardens and orchards and forests and the whole settled land, as it says: Give ear, all inhabitants of the world (Psalms 49:2). This is the boundary of the seventh realm and the boundary of the lower realms.