Work of the Chariot

Unknown

Ma‘aseh merkavah, §544-546

6th to 8th Century

About This Entry

Through the dialogues of rabbis Akiba, Ishmael, and Neḥunia, this text attributes power and significance to prayers and hymns. More than any other text in the Hekhalot corpus, this Hebrew narrative is preoccupied with the prayers that enable the mystics’ ascent to the heavenly palaces, their experience of visions, and their evasion of the dangerous side effects of journeys to the heavenly realm. The opening section of the work is presented here.

(§544) Rabbi Ishmael said: I asked of Rabbi Akiba the prayer that one recites {when he ascends to the Merkavah,} {and I asked of him} the praise of RWZYY, Lord, God of Israel—who knows what it is? He said to me: [There must be] purity and holiness in his heart, and he says a prayer:

Be praised forever.

At the Throne of Glory You dwell,

in the Chambers on high, and the exalted Hekhal.

For you have revealed the secrets and the deepest of secrets,

and the hidden things, and the most hidden things

to Moses, and Moses {taught them} to Israel

so that they can engage in Torah with them, and increase study with them.

(§545) Rabbi Akiba said: When I ascended and gazed at the Power [Gevurah], I saw all the creatures that are in all the paths of heaven—those whose lengths are above and widths are below, and those whose widths are above and whose lengths are below.

(§546) Rabbi Ishmael said: How do the ministering angels stand on them? He said to me: like a bridge laid over a river that everyone passes over; so is a bridge laid from the beginning of the entrance to its end; and the ministering angels go around on it and recite song before ṬRQYLYY YHWH God of Israel.

The fearsome Soldiers stand upon it,

the awesome Captains;

a thousand thousand thousands

and a myriad of myriads of myriads,

and give praise and approbation before KS ZH YHWṢYH YWY God of Israel.

How many bridges are there,

How many rivers of fire are there,

How many rivers of hail are there,

how many storehouses of snow are there,

how many balls of fire are there,

how many ministering angels are there?

[There are] twelve thousand myriads {of bridges};

six above and six below.

[There are] twelve myriads of {rivers of fire;}

six above and six below.

{[There are] twelve thousand myriads of rivers of hail;

six above and six below.

[There are] twelve thousand storehouses of snow;

six above and six below.}

[There are] twenty-four myriads of balls of fire;

twelve above and twelve below.

And surrounding the bridges, the rivers of fire, the rivers of hail, the storehouses of snow, the ministering angels, many ministering angels at each entrance and at each passageway stand inside {them} facing all the paths of heaven.

Translated by Michael D. Swartz.

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Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation. Braces denote variant text.

Credits

Unknown, Work of the Chariot (Ma‘aseh merkavah), trans. Michael D. Swartz, from Michael D. Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism: An Analysis of Ma‘aseh Merkavah (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1992), 224–25. © 1992 by J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), P.O. Box 2040, D-7400 Tübingen. Used with permission of the publisher.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.