Rishon Rishon

Angels

To our modern way of thinking, the universe is governed by forces of nature. Not that forces of nature are independent of one another: centrifugal force derives from the laws of motion, gravity derives from General Relativity, and presumably all forces derive from a Universal Field Theory not yet discovered. Traditionally, Judaism has a similar understanding of the governance of the universe. God, of course, is the ultimate governor of everything. And what are the forces of nature? In the language of Judaism, they are called angels. Angels are forces of nature: there are angels of wind and rain and angels that guard over people and nations, and of course there are spiritual angels.

Hebrew has several words meaning 'angel': mal'akh (מלאך), k'ruv (כרוב), saraf (שרף), ar'el (אראל), and probably some more that don't come to mind at the moment. The most generic word is mal'akh, which is related to the word m'la'kha (מלאכה) - fabrication, work. Angels are workers. In Judaism, they are specifically agents of God - they have no free will, and thus have a lower status than human beings. (Though, being without free will, they can't sin.) When an angel does something, it is as if God did it directly - only its appearances are indirect, as with any force of nature.

Angels, like forces of nature, are arranged hierarchically. Below God are Mikha'el (מיכאל) - Michael, and Gavri'el (גבריאל) - Gabriel. Which represent the forces of Hesed (חסד) and G'vura (גבורה), grace and might (i.e. the taking-in force, and the going-out force, explained in more detail here).  According to the Talmud, Michael is made of snow and Gabriel is made of fire, but though they work side by side, neither damages the other. In other words, though they are opposites, both are forces of good - they work together:

אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש
מיכאל כולו שלג וגבריאל כולו אש
ועומדין זה אצל זה ואינם מזיקים

Amar rabi shim`on ben laqish
Mikha'el kulo sheleg v'gavri'el kulo esh
v`omdin ze esel ze v'eynam m'ziqim

Rabbi Shim`on son of Laqish said
Michael is all snow and Gabriel is all fire
And they stand next to one another and are not damaged

D'varim Raba 5:11

Widening the hierarchy a little, we get the angels represented by the acronym, Argaman (ארגמן) - royal purple: Uri'el (אוריאל) - Uriel, R'fa'el (רפאל) - Rafael, Gavri'el (גבריאל) - Gabriel, Mikha'el (מיכאל) - Michael, and Nuri'el (נוריאל) - Nuriel. They appear in this line from the bedtime prayer:

מִימִינִי מִיכָאֵל
 וּמִשְּׂמֹאלִי גַּבְרִיאֵל
 וּמִלְּפָנַי אוּרִיאֵל
 וּמֵאֲחוֹרַי רְפָאֵל
 וְעַל רֹאשִׁי שְׁכִינַת אֵל

Mimini mikha'el
Umismoli gavri'el
Umilfanay uri'el
Ume'ahoray r'fa'el
V`al roshi sh'khinat el

On my right Michael
And on my left Gabriel
And before me Uriel
And behind me Rafael
And above my head the Divine presence of God

In fact, there are a myriad of angels. Most of the angels (not all of them) found on this page, for example, are of Hebraic origin. However, they play no part in Jewish theology: They are not worshiped, or prayed to - having no free will, that would make as much sense as praying to gravity, or to the wind. This, despite the fact that they are everywhere in the rhetoric of prayer. For example, every Shabat begins by welcoming mal'akhey hasharet (מלאכי השרת) - the ministering angels (of God), based on the following passage from the Talmud:

רבי יוסי בר יהודה אומר
 שני מלאכי השרת מלוין לו לאדם
 בערב שבת מבית הכנסת לביתו
 אחד טוב ואחד רע
 וכשבא לביתו ומצא נר דלוק ושלחן ערוך ומטתו מוצעת
 מלאך טוב אומר יהי רצון שתהא לשבת אחרת כך
 ומלאך רע עונה אמן בעל כרחו
 ואם לאו מלאך רע אומר יהי רצון שתהא לשבת אחרת כך
 ומלאך טוב עונה אמן בעל כרחו

Rabi yosey bar y'huda omer
Shney mal'akhey hasharet m'lavin lo la'adam
B`erev shabat mibeyt hakneset l'veyto
Ehad tov v'ehad ra`
Ukhsheba' l'veyto umasa' ner daluq v'shulhan `arukh umitato musa`at
Mal'akh tov omer y'hi rason shet'he l'shabat aheret kakh
Umal'akh ra` `one amen b`al karho
V'im lav mal'akh ra` omer y'hi rason shet'he l'shabat aheret kakh
Umal'akh tov `one amen b`al karho

Rabbi Yosey son of Yehuda says
Two ministering angels accompany a person
On the Sabbath eve from the synagogue to his house
One good and one bad
And when he comes to his house and finds a lit candle and a set table and his bed made
The good angel says: May there be another Sabbath like this!
And the bad angel answers: Amen - against his will
And if not, the bad angel says: May there be another Sabbath like this!
And the good angel answers: Amen - against his will

Shabat 119-B

In other words, it is a force of nature that things generally continue as they were. Nevertheless, we welcome the angels. Other examples: When you do a misva (comandment), an angel is born, when you say a blessing an angel is born, i.e. doing a misva or saying a blessing is a force (of good) in the world. I say this to my kids every day when they go to sleep:

הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגּוֹאֵל אוֹתִי מִכָּל רָע
יְבָרֵךְ אֶת הַנְּעָרִים
וְיִקָּרֵא בָהֶם שְׁמִי וְשֵׁם אֲבוֹתַי
אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק
וְיִדְגּוּ לָרוֹב בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ

Hamal'akh hago'el oti mikol ra`
Y'varekh et han`arim
V'yiqare' vahem sh'mi v'shem avotay
Avraham v'yishaq
V'yidgu larov b'qerev ha'ares

May the angel that redeems me from all evil
Bless the children
And may they be called by my name and the name of my fathers
Abraham and Issac
And may they grow to a multitude in the midst of the earth 

Genesis 48:16

This is the blessing that Jacob gave to Joseph's children, Ephraim and Manasseh, before he died.

Posted by David Boxenhorn at January 6, 2005 09:51 PM