Jewish Fairy Tales

There once was a great king who ruled over a vast kingdom. This king possessed unlimited wealth and power, and had everything a man can have, except that he had no children, and thus had no one to inherit his throne. Now the king longed to have an heir, for the thought that his kingdom would one day fall into the hands of strangers haunted him. So it was that he spent much of his time consulting with doctors and wise men, as well as with every kind of sorcerer and soothsayer. But none of these was able to help him, and the king and queen despaired of ever having a child of their own. Then one day, when the king was very desperate, he turned to his ministers and asked them if they could think of anything else that he might do. An evil minister among them spoke up and said: If I may be permitted to speak, my king, I have a proposal which might possibly provide the solution to your dilemma.  The king replied: Yes, yes, speak up.  And the evil minister said: It is rumored, my lord...

Now King Solomon possessed a carpet with intricate designs, interwoven with fine gold and green silk. It is said that he hung this carpet in his bedroom, where it served as a mirror in which the future could be read. But whenever he wished to travel to a distant place, it was only necessary to take down the carpet and place it on the roof of the palace, and as soon as Solomon spoke the Ineffable Name, it would rise up in the air. One day King Solomon invited his adviser, Asaph ben Berachiah, and Ramirat, a demon prince, to accompany him on a journey. They seated themselves on the flying carpet, Solomon pronounced the Name, and the winds picked up the carpet, making it rise higher and higher, until they flew through the heavens with the earth far beneath them. As they sailed through the air, Solomon thought to himself: There is none like me in the world, for the Holy One, blessed be He, has given me wisdom and understanding and has set me to rule all of his creations. But no sooner did ...

Now it was well known that in the palace of King Solomon there were to be found treasures unmatched in all the world, so precious and unique were they. And whenever a merchant who sold precious items came from another kingdom, he was taken directly to the king. In this way Solomon had gathered in his palace the most rare and treasured vessels, which had been handed down from earlier ages. So it was that King Solomon was very curious when the Queen of Sheba told him she had heard of a treasure more precious than any to be found in his palace. Solomon laughed, for he did not believe this was possible. Still, he asked her to describe this treasure, and she said it was a precious glass vessel illumined from within by an eternal light, and that anyone who stood in its aura was filled with a sense of peace. King Solomon asked her if she had ever seen this treasure, and she confessed she had not, although she had often heard of it. Nor had she sought it out, since she did not yearn for a life...

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...