Igeret aliyat ha-neshamah (Epistle on the Ascent of the Soul)

You will assuredly regard it as wondrous, and it will gladden your heart that I too regarded as wondrous the vision vouchsafed to me by the Almighty in relation to the aliyot “ascents”—wondrous things concerning the rising of the soul, a phenomenon familiar to you. I saw amazing things that I had never seen until now, from the time when I was capable of reason; and what I saw and learned when I ascended there is impossible to relate and to speak of, even directly in words, except what I experienced when I returned to the nether Paradise and saw numerous souls of the living and of the departed—both those known to me and those unknown to me, in countless numbers—running to and fro, to ascend from one world to another by way of the “platform” familiar to those who experience divine grace, with great and intense joy which the mouth tires to recount and to speak of, and which is too hard for the ear, being of a corporeal nature, to hear. 

Moreover, many evil men repented, and their sins were forgiven them, as the time of divine favor was then so great that I too was most astounded that so many, even of those known to you, had been accepted by virtue of their repentance; and there was very great joy among them likewise, and they too ascended, in the ascent mentioned above. All of them, in unison, requested and even pressed me to the point of embarrassment, saying: “Most exalted and honored one in your Torah scholarship, the Almighty has favored you with extraordinary understanding, enabling you to grasp and to have knowledge of these matters. Ascend with us to be our help and support, as someone upon whom we may place reliance!” On account of the great joy that I witnessed among them, I said that I would ascend with them; I enquired as to the cause of this joy, and as to why this day was different from all others, in that such joy had never before been experienced, and as to the ultimate purpose of this joy. But they were unable to answer me. My teacher, with whom you are acquainted, was also constantly with me. 

I also saw all the princes of the nations of the world coming and humbling themselves, like slaves before their masters, before the great angel Mikha’el, and great rewards being bestowed upon all the righteous and upon the entire world, thereby enabling them to remain steadfast and experience that true rejoicing and immense delight which had been felt on the occasion of the giving of the Torah—a phenomenon it is impossible to experience in material form. Now I was alarmed and agitated at this vision, for I said to myself: “Perhaps it was staged on my account and—Heaven forbid—my time had come to leave the earthly world, and perhaps it was with that in view that it was appropriate for this to be done”; and this should suffice for one with understanding! My soul was grieved, both on my own account and for the sake of my friends, at the fact that my soul would be departing this earthly world outside the Land of Israel, until such time as I had arrived at, and ascended to, the palace of the Messianic King—in a literal sense—and I literally saw “faces within faces” such as I had never seen until now, ever since the time I was capable of reason. They revealed to me in this connection that this was not taking place on my account, and they additionally disclosed to me wondrous and awesome matters contained in the depths of the Torah which I had neither previously seen nor heard, and which no human ear had heard for a good many years. 

And the idea entered my heart, and it crossed my mind, to enquire of him: “Is it possible that this rejoicing and gladness is on account of the preparation for his goodly advent, and when will the Master [the Messiah] actually come?” But his lofty reply was: “It is not possible to reveal this, but this much you should know: at such time as your teaching will enter the public domain and become revealed within the world, and your wellsprings are scattered abroad—namely, that which I have taught you and you have grasped—and when they too will be able to perform acts of unification of the Almighty and spiritual ascents like you, then all the husks¹ will cease to exist, and it will be a time of favor and salvation.” Now I marveled at this, and was most aggrieved at the fact that it would take so long, and pondered when this might conceivably come about. However, as a result of my having heard three special things of mystical significance and three of the sacred names of the Almighty, which were simple to learn and to explain, my mind was set at ease, and I thought: “It is conceivable that by this means, it will be possible for men of exceptional spiritual inclination also to attain the same spiritual degree and level of testing as myself; that is to say, when they are able to transport souls up to Heaven, and when they will learn and grasp such matters just as I do.” But permission was not granted to me to reveal this so long as I live; and I made a request on your behalf to learn with you, but was not allowed under any circumstances to do so, and I remain committed to this by oath from that time henceforth.