Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Seeing that God had resolved unalterably, Adam began to weep again and
implore the angels to grant him at least permission to take
sweet-scented spices with him out of Paradise, that outside, too, he
might be able to bring offerings unto God, and his prayers be accepted
before the Lord. Thereupon the angels came before God, and spake: "King
unto everlasting, command Thou us to give Adam sweet-scented spices of
Paradise," and God heard their prayer. Thus Adam gathered saffron,
nard, calamus, and cinnamon, and all sorts of seeds besides for his
sustenance. Laden with these, Adam and Eve left Paradise, and came upon
earth.[96] They had enjoyed the splendors of Paradise but a brief span
of time—but a few hours. It was in the first hour of the sixth day of
creation that God conceived the idea of creating man; in the second
hour, He took counsel with the angels; in the third, He gathered the
dust for the body of man; in the fourth, He formed Adam; in the fifth,
He clothed him with skin; in the sixth, the soulless shape was
complete, so that it could stand upright; in the seventh, a soul was
breathed into it; in the eighth, man was led into Paradise; in the
ninth, the Divine command prohibiting the fruit of the tree in the
midst of the garden was issued to him; in the tenth, he transgressed
the command; in the eleventh, he was judged; and in the twelfth hour of
the day, he was cast out of Paradise, in atonement for his sin.
This eventful day was the first of the month of Tishri. Therefore God
spoke to Adam: "Thou shalt be the prototype of thy children. As thou
hast been judged by Me on this day and absolved, so thy children Israel
shall be judged by Me on this New Year's Day, and they shall be
absolved."[97]
Each day of creation brought forth three things: the first, heaven,
earth, and light; the second, the firmament, Gehenna, and the angels;
the third, trees, herbs, and Paradise; the fourth, sun, moon, and
stars; and the fifth, fishes, birds, and leviathan. As God intended to
rest on the seventh day, the Sabbath, the sixth day had to do double
duty. It brought forth six creations: Adam, Eve, cattle, reptiles, the
beasts of the field, and demons. The demons were made shortly before
the Sabbath came in, and they are, therefore, incorporeal spirits—the
Lord had no time to create bodies for them.[98]
In the twilight, between the sixth day and the Sabbath, ten creations
were, brought forth: the rainbow, invisible until Noah's time; the
manna; watersprings, whence Israel drew water for his thirst in the
desert; the writing upon the two tables of stone given at Sinai; the
pen with which the writing was written; the two tables themselves; the
mouth of Balaam's she-ass; the grave of Moses; the cave in which Moses
and Elijah dwelt; and the rod of Aaron, with its blossoms and its ripe
almonds.[99]
SABBATH IN HEAVEN
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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