202 The Legends of the Jews
He permitted him to abide among men on earth, that he might convert the world to the belief that " the Lord is God." His mission fulfilled, God took him again into heaven, and said to him : " Be thou the guardian spirit of My children forever, and spread the belief in Me abroad in the whole world." "
His angel name is Sandalphon," one of the greatest and mightiest of the fiery angel host. As such it is his duty to wreathe garlands for God out of the prayers sent aloft by Israel.41 Besides, he must offer up sacrifices in the invisi- ble sanctuary, for the Temple was destroyed only appar- ently ; in reality, it went on existing, hidden from the sight of ordinary mortals."
After His Translation
Elijah's removal from earth, so far from being an inter- ruption to his relations with men, rather marks the begin- ning of his real activity as a helper in time of need, as a teacher and as a guide. At first his intervention in sublunar affairs was not frequent. Seven years after his translation," he wrote a letter to the wicked king Jehoram, who reigned over Judah. The next occasion on which he took part in an earthly occurrence was at the time of Ahasuerus, when he did the Jews a good turn by assuming the guise of the courtier Harbonah," in a favorable moment inciting the king against Haman."
It was reserved for later days, however, for Talmudic times, the golden age of the great scholars, the Tannaim and the Amoraim, to enjoy Elijah's special vigilance as protector
