Now King David had had a long and full life, and the time had come when he saw that he would soon take leave of this world, and that his son, Solomon, would take his place as king. So King David called in Solomon and said to him: Solomon, my son, now that I am growing old there is a secret I wish to share with you, a secret I have been saving for many years. It concerns a dream that came to me on the night you were born. In the dream I was following a path at night, when I came upon a ladder that reached from earth into heaven. I knew at once that I must ascend that ladder, for I longed to know where it would lead me. And as soon as I stepped on the first rung, I heard a melody like a distant harp, more beautiful than any I had ever heard. And with each rung I climbed, the melody grew clearer and drew me closer.
When at last I reached the top rung of the ladder, I found myself in a city that resembled Jerusalem in every respect, except that the stones of the houses and the streets were made of gold. I wandered through those streets in a daze, marveling at this mirror image of Jerusalem in the heavens, until I reached a Temple of great splendor in the center of that golden city. Just then an old man in a white robe approached me, and said: 'Welcome, King David. We have been expecting your arrival.' I asked the old man who he was, and he told me that he was Abraham, our first Father. He took me and led me to the entrance of the Temple, and there we were met by two other men, also robed in white, our Fathers Isaac and Jacob. They took me through the Temple, and showed me each and every aspect of it, and when the splendor of the Temple had been revealed to me in all its glory, Abraham said: The heavenly Jerusalem is like the earthly Jerusalem in every respect, except that the Temple that has existed here since the creation of the world has yet to be built on earth. It is for you, King David, to bring the vision of this Temple back to the world of men and, when the time comes, to share it with your son, Solomon, who is about to be born. For it is destined that Solomon shall bring the Temple on earth into being.' Solomon was amazed when he heard these words, and he understood that his destiny had been revealed to him. From that moment on he thought only of the Temple he would construct in the center of the city, which would resemble the celestial Temple in every way, exactly as King David had described it, so that the heavenly city would finally find its mirror image on earth.
Not long after, King David left this world and rejoined the Fathers in Paradise. And when Solomon became king and set out to build the Temple, he soon realized that he must find a way to fashion the stones that would be used in building the altar, for it is forbidden in the Torah to fashion the altar with iron, since iron is used in forging weapons of war. Solomon called in his wise men and asked for their advice. One of them recalled the legend of a creature no larger than a grain of barley, known as the Shamir, which could cut through mountains the way a knife cuts through butter, but the man did not know if it really existed or not. Solomon then used his powers to conjure up two demons, one male and one female, to see if they knew where it might be found. When the demons had been brought forth and questioned, they told Solomon that the Shamir did exist, but that they did not know where it might be found. Their king, Asmodeus, however, surely would know this secret, and might even have the Shamir in his possession. Solomon then asked them where Asmodeus could be found, and they told him that his palace had been built on the highest peak of the Mountains of Darkness, in the Kingdom of Darkness. There Asmodeus had an underground cistern, from which he alone drew his drinking water. Every day he sealed that cistern and covered it with a huge boulder. Then he left to rule the Kingdom of Darkness. When he returned he would check the seal to be certain no one had tampered with it, and when he was thus assured, he removed the rock and satisfied his thirst.
Now that Solomon knew where Asmodeus could be found, he summoned Benaiah, his most trusted minister, and sent him with six men to the palace of Asmodeus, in order to capture the king of demons and to bring him back. To assist them in their quest, Solomon first whispered a secret to Benaiah, and then gave him four things: a chain on every link of which the Name of God was engraved; his magic ring, on which the Ineffable Name was also inscribed; a large skin of wine; and a bundle of wool.
Then Benaiah journeyed until he reached the Mountains of Darkness, and he and his men climbed the highest peak, where they discovered the cistern of Asmodeus. There they hid themselves in trees until Asmodeus left his palace and came to the cistern.
But when they saw him, Benaiah and his men were terrified, for Asmodeus was very terrible in appearance—he was a winged giant with the feet of a cock, with the beard of a he-goat, and with fire shooting forth from his nostrils. Yet they put their trust in the power of the Name, and they did not lose heart.
When Asmodeus had finished drinking from the cistern, he sealed and covered it as usual and took his leave. Then Benaiah and his men climbed down from the trees and bored a hole in the cistern, letting all the water run out. Then they closed the hole with the wool they had brought with them. After that they bored a second hole, higher up, and let the wine flow in through there. Finally they covered both holes with dirt, so as not to arouse the suspicions of Asmodeus. Then they concealed themselves in the trees, waiting for him to return.
When Asmodeus finally appeared many hours later, he lifted the stone off the top of the cistern, checked the seal and saw it was unbroken, and lowered the bucket to drink. But when he drew up the bucket he was astonished to find that the water had turned to wine. At first he was reluctant to drink it, but since he saw no sign of tampering and his thirst was very great, he finally drank a bucketful of the wine, and then another and yet another.
In this way he became drunk and fell to the ground in a stupor, and soon was deep asleep. Benaiah and his men then came down from the branches and drew the chain around the hands of Asmodeus, and around his neck.
On waking, Asmodeus discovered that he had been chained, and roared with anger. But when he tried to break the chain, he found that he could not. Just then Benaiah and the others came out of hiding, and as Benaiah held up Solomon's magic ring they shouted: The Name of your Master is upon you! And when Asmodeus saw that he was under the power of the Name, he ceased to resist, for his power flourished only in the absence of everything holy. And so he let himself be led away.
Nor did Asmodeus try to escape his captors during all of the journey to Jerusalem, but he did act in peculiar ways, of which Benaiah took note. When they passed a wedding, Asmodeus wept, and when they came upon a man who asked a shoemaker to make him shoes that would last for seven years, he laughed.
Later, when they met a blind man who had lost his way, Asmodeus directed him back to the proper path, and when they came upon a magician who bragged of his great skill, Asmodeus had nothing but contempt.
After they reached the palace, Benaiah told King Solomon of Asmodeus's strange behavior, and Solomon decided to wait three days before receiving him. On the first day the king instructed his guard to tell Asmodeus he could not see him because he was drunk. When Asmodeus heard this he said nothing, but took two bricks and placed them one on top of the other.
When the guard reported this to Solomon, the king laughed and said: By this he means to say that you should give me more to drink. The second day the guard was instructed to say Solomon could not see him because he had eaten too much and felt sleepy. When Asmodeus heard this he again said nothing, but took one brick down from the other. By this, Solomon explained, he means to say that you should give me less to eat. Then on the third day Asmodeus was brought before Solomon.
As soon as he stood before him, Asmodeus marked off four ells on the floor and said: Tell me, King Solomon, why do you seek to conquer the world? Is not the kingdom you rule enough for you? Do you seek to rule over the Kingdom of Darkness as well?
Do you not know that before long all you will need will be the four ells of a single grave? But Solomon ignored these questions and said: Tell me first, Asmodeus, what was the meaning of your strange behavior on the way to my kingdom? To this Asmodeus replied: When I saw the wedding, I wept, because I knew that the bridegroom had less than a week to live. I laughed at him who wanted his shoes to last for seven years, since he would not own them for seven days. I set the blind man on the right path because he was one of the perfect pious ones, whom even demons must respect.
And I had only contempt for the magician who boasted of his powers, since he did not even know that a buried treasure lay at his feet. Now, King Solomon, if you please, let me know why you have gone to all the trouble of having me captured. Then King Solomon said: It is my fate and destiny to build a great Temple in this holy city to honor the King of the Universe, who rules over us all, even kings such as you and I, Asmodeus.
But I cannot fashion the stones for the altar without the aid of the Shamir, and you, I have learned, have possession of it. No, I do not possess the Shamir, said Asmodeus. But I know it was created at twilight on the eve of the first Sabbath, and left in the care of Rahab, Prince of the Sea, who has entrusted it to the White Eagle. Then Solomon asked: But what does the White Eagle do with the Shamir? Asmodeus replied: It places the Shamir on the high mountains and the Shamir splits and forms canyons, where wild fruit trees grow, and from the fruit of these trees the White Eagle is able to feed its brood. Then Solomon said: And where can the White Eagle be found? Asmodeus answered: It makes its nest on the peak of the mountain where I make my home. When Solomon heard this, he directed Benaiah to return to the Mountains of Darkness, in order to recover the Shamir.
This time Benaiah went alone, and took with him only a plate of glass. And when he reached the nest of the White Eagle on the highest peak of the Mountains of Darkness, he covered it with the plate of glass. Then he hid himself behind a huge rock and waited. When the White Eagle returned to feed its brood and found it could see them, but could not reach them because of the glass, it flew off to its hiding place, and soon returned with a small object in its beak. This was the Shamir, which it then set down on the plate of glass. At that moment Benaiah came out shouting and making a great clamor, and so frightened the White Eagle that it flew off. Then Benaiah took the Shamir, lifted the plate of glass off the nest, and returned triumphantly to his king.
So it was that King Solomon was able to fashion the stones of the altar, and thus complete the House of the Lord in the Holy Land that was the mirror image of the Temple in the celestial city on high.