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> In the biblical view, all the souls of the dead congregate in a grim place called Sheol. There is neither reward nor punishment. It is not unlike the Greek realm of Hades, and it likely influenced the Christian concept of Limbo. In rabbinic lore, Sheol was replaced by Gehenna, a place of punishment for the souls of sinners, which combines elements of both purgatory and hell. It was the widespread rabbinic belief that only a few souls went directly to Paradise after death. The majority went to Gehenna where they burned in the fires of hell and were punished with fiery lashes by avenging angels for up to one year. In the Zohar these fires of hell are identified as a person’s own burning passions and desires, which consume him. These punishments are just as severe as those portrayed in Dante’s Inferno, but—in contrast to the Christian concept of hell—the purified souls are released from Gehenna and permitted to make a slow ascent into Paradise. For this reason it could be argued that Jewish hell is more like the Christian concept of purgatory than hell, and some take the position that the inevitable release from Gehenna means there is no Jewish concept of hell at all, but, instead, a stage of punishment that purifies the soul before it ascends on high. However, the descriptions of the punishments of Gehenna are so extensive, and the fear of these punishments among the living was so widespread, that it seems more accurate to simply describe Gehenna as “Jewish hell.”

> Many of the myths of Gehenna simply enumerate the punishments found there. Others attempt to map out the dimensions of Gehenna, and to point out where its entrances can be found. Over time, an elaborate mythology about Gehenna accrued, much as did the mythology about heaven. Many new details emerged, such as the role of Duma, the angel in charge of Gehenna, or the presence of a guard outside Gehenna who only admits those for whom punishment has been decreed. Reports are found about visits to Gehenna by several great rabbis, as well as accounts about how all punishments in Gehenna cease during the Sabbath. One learns that there is a whole category of avenging angels who deliver punishments to the sinners in Gehenna. These fearsome angels chase after the souls of newly deceased sinners with fiery rods, and when these angels catch the sinners, they drag them to Gehenna to face their punishments.

> Thus the role of the punishment of hell in Judaism is a transitional one, part of a larger myth about sin and redemption, in which virtually everyone’s soul is eventually purified enough to escape further punishment. In this it is in stark contrast to the Christian view that the punishments of hell are eternal.

• Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism

> Although angels are generally regarded as sexless, and some rabbinic sources say they do not procreate, almost all of them bear male names such as Michael or Gabriel and they have male characteristics. In addition, the noun, malakh (angel) is grammatically masculine. However, there is one angel, the angel Lailah, who has distinctly feminine characteristics. This angel is responsible for the fetus, for assisting at birth, and for guiding the soul from this world to the next. In many ways Lailah is the polar opposite of Lilith, who wastes seed, is not maternal, and is bent on destruction, not creation. While the word Lailah, meaning “night,” is masculine, the name Lailah is feminine, and the name of this angel does not end in the usual “el,” representing God’s Name. Thus, even though there is no direct evidence that Lailah is a feminine angel, the name Lailah and the role of the angel strongly indicate feminine characteristics.

> Lailah, the angel’s name, likely derives from a rabbinic discussion in B. Niddah 16b, where conception is described as taking place at night. There the name of the angel in charge of conception is identified as “Night” (lailah). This angel takes a drop and places it before God. B. Niddah 30b adds important details about the formation of the embryo and the role of Lailah. It explains that a light shining above the unborn infant’s head lets the child see from one end of the world to the other. At the same time, the angel teaches the unborn child the Torah. But as soon as the child is born, the angel strikes it on the upper lip, causing the infant to forget all he has learned. The full myth of Lailah and the formation of the embryo is found in Midrash Tanhuma Pekudei 3.

> According to Rabbi Menashe ben Israel in Nishmat Hayim 2:18, God breathes the soul into a person at conception, much as He did with Adam, when He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Gen. 2:7). This appears to be an alternate explanation for the version portrayed in the myth of Lailah, where the angel orders the soul to enter the seed.

> Sources:

> B. Niddah 16b, 30b; B. Sanhedrin 96a; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Pekudei 3; Zohar Hadash 68:3; Sefer ha-Zikhronot 10:19-23; Be’er ha-Hasidut 1:216; Aseret ha-Dibrot 79; Avodat ha-Kodeah, Introduction; Nishmat Hayim 2:18; Anaf Yosef on B. Niddah 30b; Amud ha-Avodash 103b; Avkat Rahel in Beit ha-Midrash 1:153-155; Likutei ha-Pardes 4d-5c; IFA 4722, 18976.

> Studies:

> Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, note 20, vol. 5, pp. 75-78.

• Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism

Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism

Check out Tree of Souls by Howard Schwartz!

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https://www.amazon.com/Tree-Souls-Mythology-Howard-Schwartz/dp/0195327136

The book Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism has many wonderful little tales and concepts. It has short stories drawn from centuries-old Jewish midrash. Some of them you might have to flesh out to make into a good story, but there are many droplets of inspiration in the book.

This is the first story I heard from the book and the reason I purchased it:

> 581. THE STAR MAIDEN

> When the generation of the Flood went astray, God began to regret having created humans. Then two angels, Shemhazai and Azazel, reminded God that they had opposed the creation of humans, saying, "What is man, that You have been mindful of him? (Ps. 8:5)." God replied: "Those who dwell on earth are subject to the Evil Inclination. Even you would be overpowered by it." But the angels protested, saying: "Let us descend to the world of humans, and let us show You how we will sanctify Your name." And God said: "Go down and dwell among them."

> So the two angels descended to earth, where they were certain they could resist the power of the Evil Inclination. But as soon as they saw how beautiful were the daughters of men, they forgot their vows and took lovers from among them, even though they were defiling their own pure essence. So too did they teach them secrets of how to entice men, as well as the dark arts of sorcery, incantations, and the divining of roots.

> Then the two angels decided to select brides for themselves from among the daughters of men. Azazel desired Na’amah, the sister of Tubal-Cain, the most beautiful woman on earth. But there was another beautiful maiden, Istahar, the last of the virgins, whom Shemhazai desired, and she refused him. This made him want her all the more.

> "I am an angel," he revealed to her, "you cannot refuse me."

>" I will not give in to you," Istahar replied, "unless you teach me God’s Ineffable Name."

> "That I cannot do," Shemhazai replied, "for it is a secret of heaven."

> "Why should I believe you?" said Istahar. "Perhaps you don’t know it at all. Perhaps you are not really an angel."

> "Of course I know it," said Shemhazai, and he revealed God’s Name.

> Now as soon as she heard the holy Name, Istahar pronounced it and flew up into the heavens, escaping the angel. And when God saw this, He said: "Because she removed herself from sin, let Istahar be set among the stars." And Istahar was transformed into a star, one of the brightest in the sky. And when Shemhazai saw this, he recognized God’s rebuke of his sin and repented, hanging himself upside down between heaven and earth. But Azazel refused to repent, and God hung him upside down in a canyon, bound in chains, where he remains to this day. That is why a scapegoat is sent to Azazel on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, bearing the sins of Israel.

> Others say that when the two angels, Shemhazai and Azazel, came down to earth, they were still innocent. But they were corrupted by the demonesses Na’amah and Lilith. The children they bore were the giants of old, known as the Nefilim, or Fallen Ones. They bore six children at each birth, and in that very hour their offspring stood up, spoke the holy language, and danced before them like sheep. There were said to be sixty in all. These giants had such great appetites that God rained manna on them in many different flavors, so that they might not eat flesh. But the Fallen Ones rejected the manna, slaughtered animals, and even dined on human flesh.

> Still others say that the offspring of the fallen angels were tall and handsome, and had greater strength than all the children of men. Because of the heavenly origin of their fathers, they are referred to as "the children of heaven."

The book also provides some explanations for the stories it tells:

> The primary mystery of Genesis 6 is the identity of the Sons of God. Anthropologists have suggested that they may have been a tribe of exceptionally tall and handsome men who appeared and were irresistible to women. But the ancient rabbis were certain that the Sons of God were angels, although an alternate version in Aggadat Bereshit identifies them as the Sons of Cain. As a model, the rabbis drew on the prologue to Job, where God and Satan agree to test Job to see if he is truly righteous. Here God has a dialogue in heaven with two angels, Shemhazai and Azazel, who condemn the corrupt ways of men. God argues that if they lived on earth they would behave the same way, because everyone on earth is subject to the Yetzer ha-Ra, the Evil Inclination. The angels insist that they would remain righteous, and they convince God to let them descend to earth (in some versions, by Jacob’s ladder). When they do, they are immediately filled with lust for the beautiful daughters of men, and use their heavenly powers to satisfy their desires. And the offspring of these unions are described as the Nefilim, which has been interpreted to mean giants. Thus the account in Genesis 6 also provides the origin of giants.

> In some versions of this myth, the two angels end up coming down to earth not to demonstrate their ability to resist the Evil Inclination, but because God cast them out of heaven for opposing the creation of man. According to Zohar Hadash, Ruth 81a, the angels acquired human form as they descended from on high. When they mated with human women, the “daughters of men,” their offspring were the Nefilim in Genesis 6:4, which literally means “fallen beings.”

> There are many variants of the story of the two angels from a wide range of sources, including The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) and Yalkut Shim’oni. The best-known of these stories concerns two maidens, Istahar and Na’amah, whom the two angels sought to seduce.

> Note that this story, with its fairy-tale quality, manages to explain who the Sons of God were, how they brought corruption to the earth, and the origin of giants. The story also demonstrates that no one, not even angels, is immune to the Evil Impulse. Indeed, so corrupt did the angels become, that it is said that in the end they indiscriminately enjoyed virgins, married women, men, and beasts. The Sons of God are also blamed for having invented the use of ornaments, rouge, and multicolored garments to make women more enticing. The daughters of men are identified as the children of Seth, Adam’s son, and therefore are human (Zohar 1:37a). The heroine of the story is, of course, Istahar, the virgin who resisted the advances of Shemhazai, and was turned into a star. Istahar is a variant name for the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, who was equated with the planet Venus, the brightest star. As for Na’amah, the young woman who is said to have overwhelmed Azazel with her beauty, she is identified as the sister of Tubal-Cain. In later legends, Na’amah is also identified as a sister or daughter of Lilith.

> In most versions of this myth, Istahar demands to be told God’s secret Name, the Tetragrammaton (YHVH). But in one alternate version in Beit ha-Midrash 5:156, which, because it mutes the sexual elements of the story, might be described as a midrash for children, she demands that he let her try on his wings. At first he denies that his wings come off, but when she insists, he takes them off and lets her put them on and at that moment she flies off into heaven and is transformed into a star.

> In later versions of this legend, the role of Shemhazai is diminished, while the role of Azazel is expanded, until Azazel is virtually identified with Satan. Ultimately, it is Shemhazai who repents and Azazel who does not. This leads to subsequent legends about the evil-doings of Azazel. According to Yalkut Shim’oni, Istahar became a star set among the seven stars of the Pleiades, while Shemhazai, hung upside down between heaven and earth, became the constellation Orion. Thus this myth may also be viewed from an astrological perspective as the origin of the constellations Pleiades and Orion.

> There are strong echoes of Greek mythology in the myth of the Sons of God and daughters of men. In bringing heavenly secrets to earth, the Sons of God function much as does Prometheus when he steals fire from heaven and brings it to earth. For more on Prometheus stealing fire from heaven see Graves, The Greek Myths, 39g. There is also a strong parallel to the fate of Istahar in the story of Zeus setting Callisto’s image among the stars. See Graves, The Greek Myths, 22h. See also “Adam Brings Down Fire from Heaven,” p. 137.

And, finally, sources are always given:

> Sources:

> Targum Pseudo-Yonathan on Genesis 6:1-4; Yalkut Shim’oni, Bereshit 44; Midrash Avkir in Beit ha-Midrash, 4:127-128; The Book of Jubilees 4:15, 4:22, 5:1-3; 1 Enoch 6:14; Bereshit Rabbati 29-30; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 22; Zohar 1:37a; Zohar Hadash, Ruth 81a; IFA 10856.

So that's just one of hundreds of stories in the book. They all have the same format. Some are longer, some are shorter. This book certainly has beautifully mythic tales which certainly can be shared with children, but it also has further discussion and information of interest to any older children or parents with an interest in folklore and mythology.

During my Bat Mitvah, my cousin who was going to Tufts for a Major in History and a Minor in Judaic Studies; knowing I was big fan of World Mythology and YA Literature at the time, gave me The Tree of Souls by Howard Schwartz, as recommended to him by his Literature professor.

I enjoyed it immensely because it's informative and scholarly but packages it in a "round camp fire" way that I remember our Zayde telling me about the Bei Llai and the various Tannaim throughout the ages. It kept it entertaining for somebody of that age.