Enoch [Hanoch] Son of Jared [Yered]

845. Enoch son of Jared was righteous, and he took it upon himself to condemn, as he intended to sin, but the Creator took him prematurely to do mercy with him and to give him a good reward in the next world.

846. It is written about Ishmael, “And God heard the voice of the boy,” where he was. Some say, “where he was,” that he was righteous at that time, and this is why the Creator heard his voice.

847. Was he truly righteous at that time? Why was Ishmael driven out from Abraham’s home, and what did Sarah see that she said, “Cast out this slave woman and her son”?

It is written, “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing,” and there is no laughing except in idol-worship, since here it is written “laughing,” and there it is written, “and they rose to laugh.” As there, “laughing” is idol-worship, here, too, “laughing” is idol-worship. Thus, at that time, Ishmael was wicked, for he was idol-worshiping. In this case, why do we clarify “where he was” as him being righteous at that time?

848. The answer is that the courthouse of above does not sentence a person until he is twenty years old, and the courthouse of below from thirteen years and on. At the time when Ishmael was expelled from Abraham, he was not twenty years old, and was therefore not sentenced. He deserved punishment, since he was idol-worshiping, but his age did not commit him. This is the meaning of the words “where he was,” in the days where he was, that he was not twenty years old, and was therefore not sentenced.

849. But we see a child, who is not yet twenty, and he is good, and reads and learns, and he dies. Who caused him to depart from the world? It is not for the iniquities of his father, since he is more than thirteen, and has already come out from his father’s authority, and sons do not die for their fathers’ iniquities unless when they are less than thirteen, when their father is responsible for their actions. And if he died for his own iniquities, but he is not yet twenty years old?

850. There is an allegory about a king who had a garden. One day, he came in to stroll in it, and saw small roses growing in it, and their scent came up to him, that there was nothing like them. The king said, “If they are so now, when they are small, when they grow, it will be much more so that their fragrance will come up.”

851. After some time, he went into that garden and thought that he would find those roses that were giving off scent in the beginning, when they were moist and small, that now when they are big and good, they would emit scent and he would enjoy them. When he looked at them, he saw that they were dry and without any scent. He became angry and said, “If I had picked them in the beginning, when they were moist and good and fragrant, I would have enjoyed them. Now, what will I enjoy, since they are dry?”

852. The following year, the king entered the garden and saw small roses emitting scent. The king said, “pick them now and I will enjoy them before they dry up, as they did before, last year.”

853. Similarly, the Creator sees small people emitting scent, and everything is revealed before Him, and He sees that they are destined to condemn, and to be as important as dry straw, so He does mercy with them sooner so He will enjoy them in the Garden of Eden, by removing them from this world now when they are good, to give them a good reward in the next world, as it is written, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the roses.” He leads His world like roses, whose conduct is to give off scent when they are little, and are therefore picked when they are small, and the Creator, too, does so with the world.

854. We see that the Creator did similarly with Jeroboam son of Nabat, that when he was young, he was righteous and good, as it is written, “and the two were alone in the field,” teaching that Ahiyah the Shilonite and Jeroboam were equal in their righteousness and merit out of all of Israel.

855. At that time, the Creator said to the household of above, “The scent of Jeroboam has come up before Me, and I want to remove him from the world now when he is fragrant.” They said to Him, “Lord of the world, You are a true judge; if he is so now, he will be much more so when he grows.”

The Creator said to them, “It is revealed and known to Me that he will do what is bad in My eyes.” They said to Him, “Lord of the world, if it is revealed to You, it is not revealed to us and to the whole world.” The Creator let him live.

856. “So the king sought advice and made two calves of gold.” He sinned and caused the public to sin. At that time, the Creator said to the ministering angels, “But I told you that I want to remove him from the world. What a shame that I did so, that I let him live.”

857. Abijah his son came, and he did good when he was little, and pilgrims would ascend through him without his father’s knowledge. The Creator saw that he was good and removed him from the world prematurely in order to do mercy with him and bequeath to him the next world before his scent becomes foul. This is the mercy that the Creator does with His creations.

858. So was Enoch while he was righteous and the whole generation was at fault. The Creator saw that if He were to let him be, he would learn from their actions, and He removed him from the world prematurely, before his scent turned foul, as it is written, “And he is gone since God has taken him.” That is, he is not in this world to fill out his days since God took him before his time to do mercy with him, to bequeath to him the life of the next world.