Parshat Vayetze - 5762

"And behold, Angels of G-d, Ascending and Descending Upon It"

In the famous dream that Yaakov experiences at the beginning of Parshat VaYetze (Bereshit 28:12), we find a "Sulam," a "ladder", with angels going up on one side and coming down on the other. One explanation of the "up and down" movement, cited by RASHI, is that those going up represent angels of the Land of Israel and, since Yaakov was now departing Eretz Yisrael, he would now need to be escorted by a different type of angel; namely, angels of "chutz la'Aretz," angels whose nature allowed them to work only outside of the Holy Land. 

From this dream, according to the Ha'amek Davar, Yaakov understood that the Divine Presence was to be found on earth, that there were "Malachim" all around him, and that this was a sign of HaShem's 'Hashgachah P'ratit," personal supervision, over him. Yaakov will reach a level where he can "struggle with heavenly beings and with human beings, and prevail;" and reflecting this, his name will be changed from Yaakov to Yisrael.

The word "Malach" means "Messenger;" that is, the Malachim were "Messengers" of HaShem. But Mechilta to Beshalach (6:14) points out that that the messengers of HaShem are unlike human messengers. Human messengers are sent to perform a task, and then must return to the sender to report whether the mission was accomplished, or not. Unlike the case of Malachim, who do not need to return to report to their "sender," Who is everywhere.

Malachim act as intermediaries between the infinite and eternal G-d and the large but finite world of mortal human beings. One of the mysteries of faith is how this relationship can occur. A name that has been given to the process that allows this is "Tzimtzum," whereby HaShem, as it were, "contracts" Himself to allow contact with His subjects. In Midrash Safra on Naso 42, we find "Rebbi said in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Yossi, "One verse says, 'Is there a number to His legions?' And another verse says 'One million servants serve Me.' How can these verses be reconciled? The answer is that each legion contains a million angels. But there is an infinite number of such legions."

One of the early appearances of Malachim in the Bible is when three angels visit Avraham at Elonei Mamre, when he was recovering from his Brit Milah. RASHI explains the necessity for the three: "One was to bring the good news to Sarah (of Yitzchak's birth), one to destroy S'dom, and one to heal Avraham, because even a Malach can accomplish only one mission at a time." Apparently, Malachim are also able to do good impersonations of human beings, from the ability to converse and pretend to eat, down to simulating dusty and tired feet. 

The most important tasks can be allocated to Malachim. When Avraham had to be stopped from sacrificing his son Yitzchak, we read (Bereshit 22:11), "And the Angel of the L-rd called to him and said, 'Avraham, Avraham.' And he said, 'I am here.' And he said, 'Do not touch the child, nor harm him in any way, for now I know that you fear G-d."

HaShem Himself rarely "appears in public." Har Sinai, when the Torah was given to the Jewish People, was of course an exception. We pray on Rosh HaShanah, "You revealed Yourself in Your Cloud of Glory upon Your Holy Mountain, to speak with them." Yet Moshe cautions the Jewish People when he speaks of the Sinai experience (Devarim 4:15), "Take great heed to yourselves, for you saw no manner of physical form on the day that the L-rd spoke to you at Chorev out of the midst of the fire."

Before the birth of Shimshon the Mighty, an Angel of HaShem appeared to the wife of Manoach in the field, to give the woman, who had been barren, the good news that she would give birth. When the joyous wife brought the news to her husband, he was less elated. He indicated a strong interest in meeting this "Angel." HaShem, to preserve "Shalom Bayit," trust and confidence between the spouses, sends the Angel again to repeat the message and to convince Manoach that the messenger was indeed a spiritual being.

Both Yeshayahu and Yechezkel experience visions of the "Throne-Room," so to speak, of G-d. In Yechezkel's vision, he sees "four living creatures…And every one had four faces,…the face of a man, and the four had the face of a lion on the right side and the face of an ox on the left side, and the four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces; and their wings were divided upwards; two wings of every one were joined one to another and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward, they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like coals of fire, burning like the appearance of torches…And the living creatures ran and returned like the appearance of a flash of lightning…" A mysterious vision of the angels, replete with physical detail.

The greatest human beings can sometimes approach the boundary between human being and Malach. Moshe neither ate nor drank nor slept for forty days and forty nights when he received the Torah from HaShem. And sometimes they can cross that boundary. Eliyahu HaNavi was taken up to Heaven in a fiery chariot, pulled by fiery horses.

At this time, when none of our leaders seems to know which way to turn, we pray for the return of Eliyahu, who heard the "still, small voice" of HaShem in the desert. That HaShem will send Eliyahu, the "Malach HaBrit," the "Angel of the Covenant," to fulfill his destined role as the "harbinger of the Mashiach," the symbol of "Malchut Shamayim," the Rule of HaShem over all of humanity.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel
Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU

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