1
After this I continued to fast.
2
I compared the present age to a narrow entrance opening into a broad city.
3
Uri'el said, “Imagine a city filled with every good thing, yet its only entrance lies between fire on one side and deep water on the other, so narrow that only one may pass at a time.”
4
“If the inheritance belongs to the one who must pass through the narrow way, how will he receive the city without first crossing the danger?”
5
“So Adam inherited a world wounded by his transgression; the path into the future inheritance is difficult.”
6
I said, “Why then was Adam not restrained from sin so that his descendants would not suffer?”
7
The answer was that understanding and commandment were given, and human beings were not created as stones without choice.
8
“Elohim sowed Torah among them, but they despised it; He gave understanding, but they rejected it.”
9
“Therefore Judgment shall reveal what they chose.”
10
I asked whether only a few would be delivered.
11
Uri'el said, “Precious things are scarce; common things are abundant.”
12
“There is more clay than gold, more ordinary stone than precious stone, more iron than silver.”
13
I grieved that the multitude would perish.
14
He said, “Do not grieve more for the rebellious than the One who created them.”
15
“Ask concerning the righteous; their deliverance is the matter entrusted to you.”
16
I asked about the state after death.
17
He said that when the decree of death goes forth, the ruach leaves the body and returns to the One who gave it.
18
For seven days, the being perceives the order into which it is entering.
19
The ways of those who despised Torah begin with seeing the glory they rejected.
20
They understand that repentance can no longer be performed as in mortal life.
21
They see the guarded places of the righteous and the torment appointed for lawlessness.
22
They perceive the Day of Judgment approaching and the separation becoming fixed.
23
These recognitions become successive wounds of conscience.
24
The righteous, however, rejoice because they fought against the evil inclination and kept the Way entrusted to them.
25
They see the confusion from which they have escaped.
26
They see the narrow age behind them and the spacious inheritance before them.
27
Their faces shine like the sun, and they are prepared for rest.
28
I asked whether beings may intercede for one another after the Day of Judgment.
29
The answer was that the final Judgment establishes each being according to its own works and faithfulness.
30
“As an earthly father cannot carry another’s guilt before a righteous court merely because of affection, so the final Judgment cannot be bought by another’s plea.”
31
I protested with examples of Avraham interceding for Sedom, Mosheh for Yisra'el, Yehoshua after him, Shemu'el, Daviyd, Shəlomah, Eliyahu, Chizqiyahu, and others.
32
Uri'el answered that the present age is the time in which mercy, intercession, repentance, and labor operate.
33
“The Day of Judgment is the completion of that process, not another period in which the verdict is endlessly reopened.”
34
“Now compassion is shown; then the scales are revealed.”
35
I lamented that so few would be delivered.
36
He answered, “The earth produces much clay but little gold; so is the present world.”
37
I said, “Better then that Adam had never been created if the path is so dangerous.”
38
The answer was that Adam was given mind and commandment, and those who perish condemn what they themselves chose.
39
“El Elyon does not delight in destruction. He calls, teaches, warns, and opens the Way.”
40
“But those who despise the Way cannot demand that Judgment call rebellion righteousness.”