The Seven Heavens

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The Seven Heavens There are seven levels in the heavens: 1. Shamayim as it says: Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, unto the LORD thy God belongeth heaven, [Shamayim] and the heaven of heavens. 2. Rakia’ is that in which sun and moon, stars and constellations are set, for it is said: Genesis 1:14 And God set them in the firmament [Rakia’] of the heaven. 3. Shehakim is that in which millstones stand and grind manna for the righteous, for it is said: Psalms 78:23,24 And He commanded the skies [Shehakim] above, and opened the doors of heaven; and He caused manna to rain upon them for food. 4. Zebul is that in which [the heavenly] Yerushalayim and the Temple and the Alter are built, and Michael, the great Prince, stands and offers up thereon an offering, for it is said: Isaiah 63:15 Look down from the heaven, and see, even from Thy holy and glorious habitation [Zebul] 5. Ma’on is that in which there are companies of Ministering Angels, who utter [divine] song by night, and are silent by day for the sake of Israel’s glory, for it is said: Psalms 42:8 By day the LORD doth command His loving kindness, and in the night His song is with me. And whence do we derive that it is called heaven? – For it is said: Deuteronomy 26:15 Look forth from Thy holy habitation [Ma’on], from heaven. 6. Makon is that in which there are the stores of snow and the stores of hail, and the loft of harmful dews and the loft of raindrops, the chamber of the whirlwind and storm, and the cave of vapor, and their doors are of fire… And whence do we derive that it is called heaven? For it is written: 1 Kings 8:30 Then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling place [Makon] 7. ‘Araboth is that in which there are Right and Judment and Righteousness, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing, and dew where God will hereafter revive the dead…There [too] are the Set Apart Living Creatures, and the Ministering Angels, and the Throne of God; and the King, the Living God, high and exhaulted, dwells over them in ‘Araboth, for it is said: Psalms 68:4 Extol Him that rideth upon heavens [Araboth]. 1/5/16 .

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