"... The means by which the apocalyptic seer descends to the underworld are not usually specified more closely than by saying that an angel took him or her. Although medieval Jewish texts refer to specific entrances to the underworld, as in Greek tradition,59 these are not used in the tours of hell, nor is there often any reference to obstacles to be passed. Enoch shudders at the sight of the gatekeepers of hell (2 Enoch 42: I). Ezra passes without difficulty, like the righteous dead, the two fiery lions who guard the gates of hell (VisEzra 3). Paul, like Odysseus, has to cross the river Oceanus to reach hell in the far west, but it is not said how he does so (Apocalypse of Paul 31). In the Gedulat Moshe, the fire withdraws before Moses as he enters hell, but when he fears to descend to the abyss of fire and snow, the Shekinah goes before him to protect him from the angels of punishment. The angelic guides (or, in the case of Joshua ben Levi, the prophet Elijah, and, in the apocalypses of the Virgin, Christ himself) are a constant feature of the tours: they lead, guide, explain and answer questions ..."