The mystical story of Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha and the heavenly revelation of the divine decree
The Roman emperor poses a troubling question to the Sages of Israel: "If your Torah is a Torah of truth, why has no one ever paid the price for Joseph's sale? The Torah says: 'He who steals a man and sells him... shall die'. Where is justice?" This seemingly simple question conceals a profound mystery that leads us to the heavens, where Rabbi Ishmael discovers the true reason for the heavenly decree.
The Roman emperor sought a pretext to persecute the Sages of Israel. He approached them with an apparently legitimate question, feigning interest in Torah study.
The emperor continues his argument with implacable logic:
The Sages of Israel hear this question and realize: "We have a great problem here. This gentile is right in his argument, at least on the surface."
But they also understand that this accusation falls upon them from heaven as a divine decree. They then decide to verify if there is truth in this matter.
The Sages turn to Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, who was then High Priest and one of the first Tannaim. They say to him: "Go and ask above if this is true. Is this decree a real decree, or are we simply being persecuted now?"
There is a Midrash called "Eleh Ezkerah" that tells this story in a more organized manner. It is based on this Midrash that the lament of the Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom that we recite on Tisha B'Av was composed.
Arriving at the sixth heaven, Rabbi Ishmael meets the archangel Gabriel who asks him: "Why have you ascended here? What are you doing here?"
Gabriel answers him: "Ishmael, my son, by your life! I heard from behind the Curtain that ten Sages of Israel will be delivered to death by the hand of the wicked kingdom. This is the decree."
Rabbi Ishmael asks: "Why? What is the reason?"
Gabriel answers: "Because of Joseph's sale that his brothers sold."
The emperor thought he was inventing something new, but he was only an instrument, only a channel to transmit this decree that had already been pronounced by the Holy One, Blessed be He.
For the attribute of justice accuses every day before the Throne of Glory: "Have You not written a single letter in vain in Your Torah? The tribes who sold Joseph have not yet been punished, neither they nor their descendants."
The Midrash continues: Rabbi Ishmael walked in the firmament here and there. Since he was already up there, he took a tour. He took advantage of the opportunity to see what was there.
He saw an altar close to the Throne of Glory. He asked Gabriel: "What is this?"
Gabriel answered: "An altar."
Rabbi Ishmael asked: "And what do you sacrifice on it every day? Do you have bulls and rams up there? Do you have fire up there? Why do you need this altar?"
Gabriel answered: "The souls of the righteous. We sacrifice on it every day."
Rabbi Ishmael asked: "And who is the priest? Who sacrifices them?"
Gabriel answered: "Michael, the Great Prince" - that is, Michael, the Prince of Israel.
Every day, the souls of the righteous are sacrificed on the altar adjacent to the Throne of Glory to atone for the people of Israel, day after day.
A question arises: why ten martyrs of the kingdom? How many were there during the sale? There were nine. Benjamin remained at home, Joseph was in the pit and did not participate in the sale since he was the one sold, and Reuben had gone to see what was happening.
They took advantage of Reuben's absence. So how many were there in total? Nine. So why ten martyrs of the kingdom?
The answer is profound: to judge the brothers, they constituted a court and condemned him to death as in a capital court. Instead of that, they sold him. For this, ten people are needed to constitute a court.
Someone had to be added to the count. They added the Holy One, Blessed be He with them to the count. That is, the Holy One, Blessed be He also participated in Joseph's sale.
Why? Because there was anyway a decree that the people of Israel had to go down to Egypt. He arranged this in the form of Joseph's sale. It was not possible to do it otherwise.
Who is the tenth who comes to atone for the Holy One, Blessed be He? Rabbi Akiva.
Rabbi Akiva is the tenth, the one who corresponds to the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Zohar explains that each of the ten martyrs of the kingdom corresponds to one of the tribes and to the Holy One, Blessed be He. Rabbi Akiva represents the atonement for the Holy One, Blessed be He.
Now, I want us to pause on the greatness of this Tanna. There is another story about him that we encounter in Tractate Berakhot, and on which a song has even been composed.
He teaches: "Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha said..." He himself recounts this matter.
He had prepared to perform the service, knowing he had to enter, make a short prayer and exit. Otherwise, a foreign thought could lead him astray...
That is, the Shekhinah... he sees it now and it speaks to him. Surprise! He doesn't even imagine that such a thing could happen.
Imagine yourselves, each of you, even if he were High Priest... A High Priest enters, and suddenly the Holy One, Blessed be He addresses him and says to him: "Bless Me."
Any normal person, what would they have done? First, they would have fainted. Then... the Holy One, Blessed be He asks? "Bless Me." Me, bless the Holy One, Blessed be He?
I came here to ask for a blessing for all the people of Israel. But he is not troubled.
Listen carefully to the blessing - we say it every day in the morning prayer in the sacrifices:
"May it be Your will that Your mercies overcome Your anger, and may Your mercies be revealed over Your attributes, and may You behave with Your children with the attribute of mercy, and may You enter for them beyond the line of justice."
And the Gemara concludes: "And He nodded His head to me" - thank you very much for this blessing.
As Rashi explains: "He nodded His head like one who says Amen." Exactly as when the Holy One, Blessed be He says Amen. Amen and Amen. If the Holy One, Blessed be He says Amen...
Yes, so this is not exactly a blessing for the Holy One, Blessed be He. This is already praying for the people of Israel. It's true, there is an expression in Moroccan Arabic: "Amir rab hai drash drash ala ras ou" - if you see that the rabbi says in his sermon all kinds of things about honoring rabbis, that one must respect rabbis, he is speaking about himself, he wants to be honored.
So now, the same thing here? What does "I asked" mean? The Holy One, Blessed be He says "I want you to bless Me," instead of blessing Him, what does he do? He blesses himself, the people of Israel.
What kind of blessing is this? How can it be that when he says "May Your will be that Your mercies overcome"? That is, don't get angry, this is a blessing. I would not have dared to do such a thing.
What does this resemble? A father who gets angry at his son, very angry at him, he did something wrong and he is angry at him, etc.
If at that moment when he is angry, you take the father aside and ask him how he feels now that he is angry at his son... Stop the image, take him aside. Ask him in the middle of his anger how he feels. Does he feel good or bad? What will he say? He feels bad.
Why? Because deep down, inside, a father loves his son. A father loves his son and wants him to be well, and even if he gets angry at him now, he gets angry at him because he wants him to be well, not to be bad.
So the fact that you are angry at your son now, does this hurt you? So what will I bless you, that you never get angry at your sons, never?
Exactly. Never get angry at the people of Israel. And what does this mean? That you always have good? This is the blessing.
This is what he meant when he said to Him: "May Your will be that Your mercies overcome Your anger." Don't get angry. Why? Because anger doesn't do You good.
I'm not talking about myself. I want You not to get angry at me, that's obvious. I want good things to happen to me, that the Holy One, Blessed be He not get angry at me. This is the best choice, but this also blesses the Father.
This also blesses the Holy One, Blessed be He that if He knows that He never gets angry at His children, then this does Him good, that He be happy with them always, and this is what he blessed Him. That the Holy One, Blessed be He be happy always.
If the Holy One, Blessed be He is always happy, this means that He will only want to do good for us. So what is our role on the other side? We must be good children.
And if we are good children, we don't give the Holy One, Blessed be He reason to get angry at us, and by this we do Him good. And this is what we say literally: "To unify the Holy One, Blessed be He... to bring joy to his Creator" - this is the blessing.
We... all our work here is to bring joy to the Creator.
Why do we bring joy to the Holy One, Blessed be He? Then abundance descends upon us - blessing and success and health and complete redemption with God's help, speedily in our days.
Amen!
The story of the Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom teaches us that divine justice is sometimes fulfilled across generations. But it also reveals to us that our role is to create harmony between Heaven and Earth.
When we act with righteousness, we allow the Holy One, Blessed be He to be in joy, and this divine joy is reflected upon us through the abundance of His blessings.
The profound teaching here is that there exists a reciprocal relationship between the Divine and humanity. Just as a loving parent finds joy in their children's wellbeing, the Holy One finds joy when His children walk in righteousness.
The ten martyrs, through their ultimate sacrifice, completed the cosmic justice required for Joseph's sale. But their story also teaches us that every generation has the power to bring joy to Heaven through righteous action.
Rabbi Ishmael's blessing reveals the secret of our existence: we are here not just to receive divine blessings, but to be a source of divine joy. When we study Torah, perform mitzvot, and treat each other with kindness, we fulfill our cosmic purpose.
The emperor's question, intended to destroy, ultimately revealed the profound interconnectedness of all Jewish souls across time. The martyrs' sacrifice teaches us that no righteous act is ever lost, and no injustice goes forever unanswered.
Just as the Roman emperor thought he was acting independently while serving as a divine instrument, we see throughout history how apparent enemies of the Jewish people ultimately serve to fulfill divine plans they never intended.
The story teaches us to look beyond immediate circumstances and recognize the hidden divine hand guiding history toward ultimate justice and redemption.
The concept that ten great sages atoned for the actions of the tribes centuries earlier teaches us about the interconnectedness of the Jewish soul. We are all responsible for one another across time and space.
This responsibility is not a burden but a privilege - it means that our righteous actions can elevate not only ourselves but our entire people, past, present, and future.
The vision of the celestial altar where souls of the righteous are offered daily reminds us that every act of self-sacrifice for the sake of Torah and mitzvot has cosmic significance.
In our generation, we may not face physical martyrdom, but we can still offer ourselves on this celestial altar through dedication to spiritual growth, acts of kindness, and commitment to Jewish values in a challenging world.
The most profound teaching of this story is the paradox that the Holy One, Blessed be He, included Himself among those requiring atonement. This reveals the ultimate unity between the Divine and His people.
When we suffer, He suffers. When we rejoice, He rejoices. Our spiritual elevation is simultaneously His elevation. This is why Rabbi Akiva, the greatest of the martyrs, corresponded to the Divine Himself.
Just as the story of the ten martyrs reveals hidden divine justice, it also promises that all suffering will ultimately be revealed as part of a greater plan for good.
The same divine love that demanded justice for Joseph's sale is the love that will bring about the final redemption, when all tears will be wiped away and the true unity between Heaven and Earth will be revealed.
May this redemption come speedily in our days!
๐ Sources for this Study:
Midrash "Eleh Ezkerah" โข Tractate Berakhot โข Zohar โข Traditional Oral Teachings
Translated from the Hebrew oral teaching