According to Rabbi Meir ibn Gabbai in Avodat ha-Kodesh, “Before a soul descends to this world, it recognizes the Oneness of God and grasps the secrets of the Torah.” He links this intrinsic knowledge of the soul with the verse Open my eyes that I may perceive the wonder of Your teachings (Psalms 119:18). These are the wonders that were apprehended before the child was born.
Although angels are generally regarded as sexless, and some rabbinic sources say they do not procreate, almost all of them bear male names such as Michael or Gabriel and they have male characteristics. In addition, the noun, malakh (angel) is grammatically masculine. However, there is one angel, the angel Lailah, who has distinctly feminine characteristics. This angel is responsible for the fetus, for assisting at birth, and for guiding the soul from this world to the next. In many ways Lailah is the polar opposite of Lilith, who wastes seed, is not maternal, and is bent on destruction, not creation. While the word Lailah, meaning “night,” is masculine, the name Lailah is feminine, and the name of this angel does not end in the usual “el,” representing God’s Name. Thus, even though there is no direct evidence that Lailah is a feminine angel, the name Lailah and the role of the angel strongly indicate feminine characteristics.
Lailah, the angel’s name, likely derives from a rabbinic discussion in B. Niddah 16b, where conception is described as taking place at night. There the name of the angel in charge of conception is identified as “Night” (lailah). This angel takes a drop and places it before God. B. Niddah 30b adds important details about the formation of the embryo and the role of Lailah. It explains that a light shining above the unborn infant’s head lets the child see from one end of the world to the other. At the same time, the angel teaches the unborn child the Torah. But as soon as the child is born, the angel strikes it on the upper lip, causing the infant to forget all he has learned. The full myth of Lailah and the formation of the embryo is found in Midrash Tanhuma Pekudei 3. For more on the tradition of guardian angels in Judaism, see “Guardian Angels,” p. 202.
According to Rabbi Menashe ben Israel in Nishmat Hayim 2:18, God breathes the soul into a person at conception, much as He did with Adam, when He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Gen. 2:7). This appears to be an alternate explanation for the version portrayed in the myth of Lailah, where the angel orders the soul to enter the seed.
Sources:
B. Niddah 16b, 30b; B. Sanhedrin 96a; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Pekudei 3; Zohar Hadash 68:3; Sefer ha-Zikhronot 10:19-23; Be’er ha-Hasidut 1:216; Aseret ha-Dibrot 79; Avodat ha-Kodeah, Introduction; Nishmat Hayim 2:18; Anaf Yosef on B. Niddah 30b; Amud ha-Avodash 103b; Avkat Rahel in Beit ha-Midrash 1:153-155; Likutei ha-Pardes 4d-5c; IFA 4722, 18976.
Studies:
Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, note 20, vol. 5, pp. 75-78.
241. THE ANGEL OF THE COVENANT
Whoever has the sign of the circumcision sealed in his flesh will not descend to Gehenna. When a man brings his son into the covenant of the circumcision, God calls upon the angels and says to them, “Come and see what my sons are doing in the world.” At that time Elijah, the Angel of the Covenant, swoops down to earth in four leaps. For this reason, a chair must be prepared in Elijah’s honor, and one should say, “This is the chair of Elijah.” If this is not done, Elijah does not dwell there. Then Elijah ascends on high and testifies before God about whether or not a man has circumcised his son.
The covenant of circumcision (b’rit) is performed on Jewish boys on the eighth day after their birth. The ceremony includes a chair identified as the chair of Elijah, and Elijah is believed to be present at the ceremony. For this reason, Elijah, who was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind in 2 Kings 2:11, is identified as the angel of the covenant.
This ritual of the b’rit derives from Abraham’s circumcision in Genesis 17:24. This is considered the most elemental rite in Judaism, and it was (and in most Jewish homes still is) unthinkable that it would not be performed. This covenant was believed to provide God’s protection for the child, who is believed to be in danger from the forces of evil until the ritual of the circumcision is performed. See “Abraham’s Vision of God,” p. 331.
Sources:
Zohar 1:93a.
242. HOW RABBI ISHMAEL WAS CONCEIVED
Rabbi Ishmael, the High Priest, was so handsome that he was said to resemble an angel. His mother and father had been childless for many years before he was born. Rabbi Ishmael’s father told his wife to pay close attention when she left the mikveh, the ritual bath. If anything unpleasant crossed her path, she should return to the bathhouse and immerse herself again. Then, perhaps, she would succeed in having a child.
The next time his wife left the mikveh, a black dog crossed her path. She returned and reimmersed herself, but again the dog crossed before her. This happened eight times, and each time she reimmersed herself. God was so moved by her righteousness that He sent the angel Gabriel to earth. Gabriel took the form of her husband, and met her at the door of the bathhouse. He led her home and that night Rabbi Ishmael was conceived. And he was as handsome as his father, the angel Gabriel.
Here the High Priest, Rabbi Ishmael, is said to have been the child of an angel and a human, with the angel Gabriel having taken on the appearance of his father and having had sexual relations with his mother. That is given as the explanation for Rabbi Ishmael’s great beauty.
The union of humans and angels is very unusual in Jewish lore, but there is an extensive tradition linked to the rabbinic interpretations of Genesis 6, concerning the Sons of God and the daughters of men, where the Sons of God are identified as angels. See the series of stories concerning this myth, pp. 454-460.
Sources:
Midrash Eleh Ezkerah.
243. THE ANGEL OF FRIENDSHIP
Everyone has a light burning for him in the world above, and everyone’s light is unique. When two friends meet, their lights above are united, and out of that union of two lights an angel is born. That angel has the strength to survive for only one year, unless its life is renewed when the friends meet again. But if they are separated for more than year, the angel begins to languish and eventually wastes away. That is why a blessing over the dead is made upon meeting a friend who has not been seen for more than a year, to revive the angel.
According to the Talmud (B. Berakhot 58b) two friends who have not seen each other for a year say the blessing: “Blessed is He who revives the dead.” The explanation for this strange blessing is that an angel comes into existence when two people become friends, but the angel dies if they go more than a year without meeting. This tradition about the Angel of Friendship has been attributed to Reb Pinhas of Koretz, Reb Shmelke of Nicholsberg and Reb Abraham Joshua Heschel of Apta.
Another tradition about the creation and transformation of angels is attributed to Reb Pinhas of Koretz: “Every good deed turns into an angel. But if the deed is imperfect, so is the angel. Perhaps it will be mute. What a disgrace to be served in Paradise by such an angel. Or it might have an arm or leg missing. And these imperfections can only be repaired by the repentance of the one who brought the imperfect angel into being.” This kind of transformation is known as tikkun or repair, and it is parallel to the mystical cosmology of the Ari, where every good deed is said to raise up a fallen spark.
The theme of good deeds in the transformation of the angels is common in kabbalistic and Hasidic lore. The key passage is Mishneh Avot 4:2: “He who does a mitzvah acquires an advocate. He who does a sin acquires an accuser.” This notion is further developed in Exodus Rabbah 32:6: “The angels are sustained only by the splendor of the Shekhinah, and you are their means of sustenance,” meaning that a good deed creates an angel. Rabbi Hayim Vital confirms this meaning in Sha’arei Kedushah, where he writes that “the diligent study of the Law and the performance of the divine commandments brings about the creation of a new angel.” This serves as an explanation for the existence of the maggidim, the angelic figures who are said to visit sages a
nd bring them heavenly mysteries. Joseph Karo (1488-1575), author of the Shulhan Arukh, the code of Jewish law, was famous for being visited by such a maggid. See “The Angel of the Mishnah” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 112-113.
Another source echoed here is found in Ma’asiyot Nora’im ve-Nifla’im concerning the gaon Rabbi Yehezkel of Prague (1713-1793). He was said to have stated that “The angels that are found in the upper world were created by the deeds of the Tzaddikim.” Note that Reb Pinhas has the angel that comes into being as a result of friendship, or, by implication, love, function as a symbolic child. This expands the circumstances for the creation of an angel to include angels created by human interaction.
Sources:
B. Berakhot 58b; Orhot Hayim 1:82b; Sefer Ta’amei ha-Minhagim; Devět Brán.
244. GUARDIAN ANGELS
Each person is given a particular guardian angel, according to his ways. A righteous man who speaks the truth is assigned an angel who goes along with him in the ways of the righteous and helps him to speak the truth.
When a man makes himself act like a saint, willing to suffer, he is assigned an angel who goes along with him in the way of saints and helps the man to accept all suffering.
If, on the other hand, a man behaves like one of the wicked, lying and deceiving, he is assigned an angel who goes along with him in the way of the wicked and leads him on to more deceit.
And if a man follows a middle way, he is assigned an angel who follows that same path, as it is said, Render to each man according to his way (Jer. 27:10).
Some say that every man has two guardian angels, representing the Yetzer ha-Ra, the Evil Inclination, and the Yetzer ha-Tov, the Good Inclination. And these angels who accompany a man testify before God about his acts.
There are multiple myths about guardian angels in Judaism, as well as a rabbinic debate about whether each person has one or two guardian angels. The position of Maimonides in Guide to the Perplexed is that every person is accompanied by two angels, one on the right side and one on the left . Eliyahu Zuta explains that the nature of a person’s guardian angel is a mirror of that person, and can lead the person on to good or to evil. The notion of an angel luring a person into evil is strange, and seems to be intentionally avoiding the use of demons. Usually angels are not distinguished by their individuality, but this myth suggests that they share the same strengths and weaknesses of those they guard.
Here the verse from Jeremiah 27:10, “I give to every man according to his ways,” is interpreted to mean that God gives them an angel.
See “The Sabbath Angels,” p. 315. See also “The Angel of Conception,” p. 199, about the angel Lailah, who plays a role very much like that of a guardian angel.
Sources:
B. Ta’anit 11a; B. Shabbat 1196; B. Hagigah 16a; 2 Enoch 19:5; Eliyahu Zuta 3:176; Zohar 1:144b, 1:165b, 1:191a, 2:41b-42a, 3:106a; Maimonides, Guide to the Perplexed 3:22.
Studies:
Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, vol. 5, note 20, pp. 75-77.
245. THE MIGHT OF THE ANGELS
God’s angels are mighty, but they are not the equal of God. So great is the size of the angels, that the distance from heaven to earth is no more than the palm of an angel. Proof of the might of the angels is demonstrated by the fact that one of them stretched forth his hand from heaven and grasped Ezekiel by a lock of his hair, as it is said, He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by the hair of my head (Ezek. 8:3). This teaches us that there is no limit to God’s ministering angels. How much more so, then, is there no limit to God.
This brief myth attempts to convey the great size and power of the angels, while emphasizing that the angels themselves are still subject to God. Since the size of the angels is so gigantic—with the palm of an angel as big as the distance from heaven to earth—the immense size and power of God cannot even be imagined.
From a mythological perspective, this myth attributes the kind of size and power to the angels that other gods have in Babylonian or Canaanite or Greek mythology, but, at the same time, it attempts to reinforce the monotheistic concept that the angels are still subject to God’s will.
Sources:
Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Bereshit 5.
246. THE ANGEL OF LOSSES
There is an angel who watches over people, even in the dark. This is Yode’a, the Angel of Losses. He watches lives unfold, recording every detail before it fades. This angel has servants, and his servants have servants. Some of these servants are angels, and some are not. Each of the angels carries a shovel, and they spend all their time digging, searching for losses. For a great deal is lost in our lives.
Every Tzaddik is a servant of the angel Yode’a, for even a Tzaddik who searches after lost things is himself sometimes lost. Then it is necessary to search in the dark, in the realm of the unknown. And with what do you search in the darkness? With the light of the soul. For the soul is a light planted in the Tzaddik to seek after whatever has been lost.
What kind of light is it? Not a torch, but a small candle. Yet even so, with it you can search inside deep wells, where darkness is unbroken, peering into every corner and crevice. It is necessary to be guided by that light, small though it may be.
This is a teaching of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. Rabbi Nachman appears to have invented this angel, Yode’a, the angel of losses. Much like Reb Pinhas of Koretz, Rabbi Nachman was highly aware of surrounding spirits. For Reb Pinhas these were often angels. See, for example, “The Angel of Friendship,” p. 201. Here too Rabbi Nachman recognizes an angel that is invisible to all the others. In this case it is an obscure angel that he finds, the Angel of Losses. This angel, along with his servants, searches for what has been lost. The kind of work that this angel does is clearly linked to the myth of the Ari, for the second phase of this myth concerns gathering the scattered sparks. These are not unlike the losses that Yode’a collects, for the sparks too have been lost. “Yode’a” means “to know.” Thus the angel’s name reflects its purpose, which is to recall all that has been lost. See “The Shattering of the Vessels and the Gathering of the Sparks,” p. 122.
Sources:
Be’er Hasidut 1:189.
247. THE ANGEL TZADKIEL
It is the angel Tzadkiel who dresses each soul that enters Paradise in a garment of great purity, woven by the Bride of God. So too was Tzadkiel the teacher of Abraham. It was he who taught him the ways of wisdom.
For the first year after the Ari died, Rabbi Hayim Vital never dreamed of his master. In time he began to fear that the Ari was angry with him or thought him an unworthy disciple. Hayim Vital confided these fears to Rabbi Yehoshua Albuv. Rabbi Yehoshua told him that he knew a holy name that could invoke the angel Tzadkiel, and that this angel could reveal to him the reason for the Ari’s absence. But this angel could be seen only in a mirror.
Rabbi Yehoshua taught the secret name to Hayim Vital. For the next week he fasted and immersed himself in the mikveh. Then, on the fifth of Av, the yahrzeit (anniversary) of the death of the Ari, Hayim Vital stood before a mirror and pronounced the holy name. All at once there was a blinding light in the mirror, and Hayim Vital shut his eyes. And when he opened them, he was barely able to make out a presence in the mirror. And as his eyes adjusted to that great light, he recognized that it was indeed an angel.
The angel spoke first and said: “I have come at your command. What is it you wish to know?” And Hayim Vital replied: “Tell me first who you are.” And the angel revealed that it was Tzadkiel.
Then Hayim Vital asked the angel for help in contacting the Ari in the World to Come, for since his death the Ari had been silent. And Hayim Vital also asked if he had somehow sinned and was therefore unworthy of the Ari’s presence in his dreams.
In reply Tzadkiel said: “Know that the holy Ari has prepared a place for you in Paradise, at his side, along with Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai. For you are a true Tzaddik in the eyes of God. Yet there is one sin that holds the Ari back from visiting you in the worl
d of dreams.”
And Hayim Vital asked: “What sin is this?”
The angel said: “In your life, you are perfect. But you have not done enough to see that others truly repent, to make the coming of the Messiah possible. Until you accept the burden of being a Tzaddik and bring others to repentance, the Ari will hold back from visiting you. But if you accomplish this, he will guide you in your dreams as he did when he was in this world.”
Then Hayim Vital swore that he would do everything to make others aware of the power of repentance to hasten the End of Days. And when the angel had witnessed this vow, he vanished from the mirror and was gone. So night and day Hayim Vital devoted himself to fulfilling his vow, and before the year was out the Ari began to visit him in his dreams, and once more became his guide.
Here the figure who assists Hayim Vital is Rabbi Yehoshua Albuv. Hayim Vital also seeks the help of Rabbi Yehoshua in invoking Elijah in another story in Shivhei Rabbi Hayim Vital, p. 91.
Hayim Vital was very interested in the mystical process of invoking angels. Here he invokes the angel Tzadkiel, who is mentioned many times in the Zohar and early kabbalistic texts, including Sefer Yetzirah. Tzadkiel is identified as a companion of the angel Gabriel. He is also identified as the good angel in the famous legend of the two angels who follow a man home from the synagogue (B. Shab. 119b). See “The Sabbath Angels,” p. 315.
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