Angels
In the heavenly spheres, the malachim/angels are singing before God. They take turns in singing, day and night, with different kinds of praise, depending on their specific spiritual status. The Hebrew word Malach means “messenger” and it explains so well the function of angels. They are messengers of God. In Jewish tradition an angel is a spiritual being, created to perform certain tasks. Each angel has only one task and has no free will! They can only do what they are commanded to by their Creator. We remember the story when Jacob was fighting with an angel. After a long fight through the night, the angel finally begged Jacob to let him go “for the dawn has risen”. The Midrash explains that the angel was in a hurry to go and sing before God. It was his turn to do so at daybreak. The main purpose of the angels is to sing the praise of God.
The angels are countless in numbers and we know some names from the Tanach, the Hebrew Bible. The archangels of high rank are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. In the “Bedtime Shma” we pray for their protection. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, OBM, used to sing this prayer, The Angel Song. We also know about other angels called Reziel, Metatron and Laila. Lesser known are Sandalfon, Zagzagael and Suriel.
There are angels of life and death and angels of countries. Some angels carries our prayers to God, some are in charge of birth and pregnancies. The angel Laila is a very interesting angel. He is in charge of conception. A few weeks ago we read in the weekly Torah portion (Tazria) about women giving birth. The Midrash went deeper into the miracle of childbirth and explained “behind the scenes”, how it happens when a child is going to be born.
In the heavenly spheres, God tells the angel Laila to go to Gan Eden/The Garden of God/Paradise and bring Him this specific soul. Laila does as God commands and brings Him the soul, but the soul starts to complain. ” I am pure and holy, attached to your holiness. Why do I have to enter a human body?” God then explains that the earth is beautiful, although filled with tribulations, on earth the soul has a chance to fulfill its purpose. God convinces the soul to unite with the seed for which it was destined. The angel Laila who brought the soul to God, wants to know
“What will be the fate of this unborn child?” At this point God is revealing everything. Will it be male or female, healthy or sick, rich or poor, how the baby will look like and who will be it’s future spouse.
There is one thing God is not revealing. He does not tell if this person will be righteous or wicked. For this God provides “free will.” According to what was given to him or her, each person decides how he lives and behaves in the world.
An angel is appointed to the fetus through the pregnancy and he is teaching him all the Torah and wisdom in the world. The angel is telling the fetus “Be righteous, don’t be a wicked person.” When the child enters the world
the angel touches the upper lips of the baby and it forgets everything it learned. The touch creates a vertical deepening above the upper lip. The knowledge received is absorbed in the subconscious mind and can be revived anytime during the lifetime. It is the spark of godliness in every human being. When a person later in life is confronted with the truth, he recognizes it and is drawn to it.
That is the wonderful story of the beginning of human life. We are created with free will, making us higher than the angels. Angels are bound to do God’s will and can do nothing else. They are created to sing praise at certain times. We can praise God whenever we want. They are created to perform only one task for each angel. We can multitask and we are free to form our destiny, every moment of our lives. Free will gives us enormous power. With words and actions we create the life we have in front of us. May God send Michael to my right, to help me with loving kindness. Gabriel, to my left, to give me strength. Uriel, in front of me to lighten up my path and Raphael walking behind me, to heal and to protect me from harm.
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Inspired by The Midrash, through Rabbi Moshe Weissman
