The Ten Martyrs

104. “But we, who dwell among the fences of the serpent, who lurks for us each day, biting and killing, we saw with our own eyes the perversion of justice that was done among us against those heroes, the sons of Jacob, who incarnated into the Ten Martyrs. In their days, the slandering serpent was silent and did not ask for judgment, for he feared them terribly and could not stand against them. But once they went to that world in repentance, meaning died, the serpent stood before the Creator and demanded judgment.

105. “The serpent made a precision about the verse, ‘Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.’ The Creator said to the serpent, ‘Joseph was not a man, for he was less than twenty, and the courthouses of above do not punish for him, and it is written, ‘and anyone found in possession of him,’ but he was not in possession of them.’’ The serpent reiterated and said, ‘It is written, ‘If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that thief shall die.’’ But here, it does say ‘man,’ and he is in his possession, and nevertheless, that thief dies.”

106. Eight hundred years that serpent stood and demanded justice. And we learned that one who is found guilty twice suffers a heavy punishment. Since they died, they already suffered the heavy punishment, and are exempt from other judgments. Woe to one who already received a punishment for his sin, since death atones for the sins, and he returns to receive another punishment, which is the perversion of the justice. Woe, for the strong men were bent‎, and Sam and the serpent stood to demand judgment for it.

107. “We deserve to cry and lament that the holy city has been left alone of all that good that was in it.” At that time, Sam came down and confused the world, and instilled that spirit in the insides of that wicked man, the king of Rome, who demanded judgment from the nobles of the world, who are the Ten Martyrs. Woe to this one, woe to the world, no such perversion of justice has been found since the day when the world was created.

108. How did your children, the pillars of the world, righteous, supporters, on whom the world stood, and I was crowned over them each day through their good deeds, how were they warped by the serpent? How have their holy spirits been warped, so as to clothe in other, foreign garments, to judge them in great disgrace. Woe to that, woe to that perversion.

When they were executed, their holy bodies were swapped by other bodies of the Sitra Achra, and they did not control their holy bodies but the bodies of the Sitra Achra. This is why it was said that their holy spirits had been warped so as to clothe in other, foreign clothes to judge them, since in the end, it was blasphemy, and the world thought that they were their holy bodies.

109. Who saw within the Garden of Eden when the judgment was passed above, to hand them over to the hands of the wicked Malchut, ten beautiful gemstones, the souls of the Ten Martyrs, the light of the entire garden, for the whole of the Garden of Eden was illuminated by their lights among all the trees, among all the souls that are there.

They took off their garments in the Garden of Eden and they all went outside the Garden of Eden. All those souls cry out and say, “Woe, for the strong men were bent‎, and the guards of the gate of the Garden of Eden, the Cherubim, are shaken, ascending and descending, and did not make room to let out those lights from the Garden of Eden.

110. When the souls of the martyrs expanded from the lights of their garments in the Garden of Eden, and upper ones and lower ones shouted against them, and the guards of the walls above were shaken, and all the armies at the top of heaven were crying and wailing, “Who saw a mother howling and wailing? She went down to the Cherubim, the guards of the gates of the garden, and they were shaken. Our mother has risen, the Shechina has departed and one Cherub is with her.”

111. At that time, the blaze of the swirling sword, which is very sharp, struck inside the gates of the Garden of Eden and those ten lights came out, the souls of the Ten Martyrs. The upper ones and lower ones cried out, “Woe to the world; woe to the generation.”

112. We should lament like jackals when the mother, the Shechina, came down and did not find them there, in the Garden of Eden, and all those lights and perfumes, the souls, were howling and wailing, and then the Shechina howls and wails. Those Cherubim, the guards of the gates, cry and wail, and open in weeping. We, all the more so, deserve to cry over everything, and over this perversion.

113. “And they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, ‘Before your father died, he commanded, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: ‘I beg you, please forgive the crime of your brothers and their sin.’’’ And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.” They sinned against Joseph, and he atoned for everything, and atoned for their sins. Since he atoned, whom can he plead for over their sin? It is written, “And the strong men were bent,” meaning there was a great perversion of justice against these strong men. Woe to us, who will comfort us?

114. Why was that perversion of justice? It is because our mother had been banished and fled, and went away. This is why there is perversion of justice, since the one who slandered against us was alone, and there was no one to stop him and speak in our favor. This is why they were given into the hands of the shell; all the corrections of our mother.

115. Had our mother been there, she would have let them in beyond the letter of the law. This is what she cries about; this is what she wails about, about the children who have been exiled and killed and destroyed for nothing.

116. The Shechina was not present in the sentencing of the Ten Martyrs, and the serpent did with them as he wanted. This is why it is written, “And for your crimes, your mother was sent away.” Your mother was sent away; she will not be present in your sentences; How lonely sits the Shechina at that time, since she would have accepted the arguments of her children, and for her, the judgment would have been torn away.

117. When these ten gems went out from the Garden of Eden to clothe in other garments, in other bodies, all the garments were given to the serpent, except for Reuben, as it is written, “And Reuben returned to the pit.”

118. For Reuben’s advice to throw Joseph into the pit, he, too, was caught in the pit and was saved. This is the great Rabbi Eliezer, the incarnation of the soul of Reuben. When he was caught for heresy, they put him in a pit, in prison, and the soul of Reuben was saved for they did not kill him.