Midrash Stories: The Story of #Asmodeus King of Demons and the Death of Sarah's Husband [🎥]

(1) He guards him like the pupil of His eye: The Holy One, blessed be ... And there is a story of a very rich and popular man, and he had a daughter who was of very beautiful appearance and pious. And she married three times to three men, but on the morrow of each first night of her marriage, they would take out her husband dead. She said, "Men shall no longer die due to me - I will sit as a widow and a chained woman (agunah) until the Omnipresent sees and has mercy." She sat [like this] many days. And that wealthy man had a very poor brother in a different province, and he had ten sons. And on each and every day, he and his biggest son would would bring bundles of wood from the forest and sell them. And from that, he, his wife and his children would support themselves. One time, they did not sell it and they did not have money to buy bread; and [so] that day, they did not eat the whole day. They went to the forest and the father fainted. The son's eyes poured tears about their poverty and he hung his eyes to the Above. The son thought in his heart - he took leave from his father and from his mother and he went to the province of his uncle. And when he came to [his uncle's] house, his uncle was very happy about him, as was his wife and his daughter. They asked him about his father and about his mother and about the children. He stayed with [the uncle] for seven days. At the end of seven days, the lad came to his uncle. He said to him, "I have one request to ask from you; do not turn me away." His uncle said to him, "Say what you want, my son." He said to him, "Swear to me." And so he did. He said, "This is the request that I am asking from you - that you give me your daughter as a wife." When the man heard, he cried. He said to him, "Don't, my son, don't - as such is her trait, due to my iniquities." He said to him, "[Nonetheless]." He said to him, "If it is for the [sake] of my money that you are seizing upon her, do not marry her - as I will give you much silver and gold, since you are a fine and wise lad. But upon my advice, do not endanger yourself with her." He said, "You have already sworn about this thing." The rich man examined the thing and agreed to him. He came to his daughter and explained the things to her. When she heard this, she cried and yelled out from the bitterness of her soul. And she hung her eyes to the Above, and she said, "Master of the Universe, May your hand be upon me, and let not all of these die due to me." What did [the rich man] do? He betrothed her and made a party and called the elders of the city and made a canopy and the groom sat within it. And an elder chanced there - and it was Eliyahu the prophet - and he called [the groom] to speak with him [privately]. And he said to him, "My son, I will counsel you proper advice and do not budge from my advice. When you sit to repast, a poor man will come to you, dressed in torn black clothes, barefoot and tired, his hair like nails - a poor man that has none like him in the whole world. When you see him, rise from your seat and seat him next to you, give him to eat and to drink and serve him with all of your strength and honor him. And do not neglect anything from all that I have told you; and you shall stay in peace and I will go upon my way." The elder left and the groom came to his place. They [all] sat at the party. When they began to eat, that poor man came. And when the groom saw him, he rose from his place and did everything for him that the elder told him. After the party, that poor man called the groom, [and] he brought him to the room. He said to him, "My son, I am the messenger of the Omnipresent, and I have come here to take your soul." He said to him, "My master, give me a year's time or half a year." He said to him, "I will not do [so]." He said to him, "If so, give me thirty days or seven days of the party." He said to him, "I will not even give you a day, as your time has already come." He said to him, "I plead of you, Wait for me until I go and take leave of my wife." He said to him, "About this thing I will lift your face (indulge you), but go quickly." He went to the room and she was sitting alone and crying and praying to her Maker. The lad called to her, and she came to open [the door] for him, [and] brought him into the room with her. She held him and kissed him, [and] said to him, "My brother, why have you come?" He said to her, "To take leave from you, as my time has come to go in the way of all the world - since the angel came and told me that he came to seek my soul." She said to him, "Do not go but sit here, and I will go to him and I will speak to him." She went and found him, [and] said to him, "Are you the angel that has come to seek the soul of my husband?" He said, "Yes." She said to him, "He shall not die now - it is written in the Torah (Deuteronomy 24:5), 'When a man takes a woman for a wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be assigned to it for any purpose; he shall be exempt one year for his household, to rejoice his wife that he has married.' And the Holy One, blessed be He, is true and His Torah is true, but if you take his soul, you will make the Torah, a fraud. [So,] if you accept my words, good; but if not, come with me to the great court. Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked the angel, and he left. At night, the groom and the bride laid together, but the father of the bride and her mother were crying in their room. And when midnight arrived, the man and his wife got up to prepare a grave for their son-in-law before the rising of the dawn. When they got up, they heard the groom and bride laughing and joyful together. They went into the room to see the thing. They saw and they rejoiced and they announced the thing to the community and gave thanks to the Lord. And this is that which the Holy One, blessed be He, guards those that have faith in Him.