Angels
In Judaism an angel is a spiritual entity in the service of
God. Angels play a prominent role in Jewish thought throughout
the centuries, though the exact meaning of the word has been
subject to widely, at times wildly, different interpretations.
A number of numinous creatures subordinate to God appear through
the Hebrew Bible; the Malach (messenger/angel) is only one
variety. Others, distinguished from angels proper, include
Irinim (Watchers/High Angels), Cherubim (Mighty Ones), Sarim
(Princes), Seraphim (Fiery Ones), Chayyot ([Holy] Creatures),
and Ofanim (Wheels). Collective terms for the full array of
numina serving God include: Tzeva, (Host), B'nei ha-Elohim
or B'nai Elim (Sons of God), and Kedoshim (Holy Ones). They
are constituted in an Adat El, a divine assembly (Ps. 82;
Job 1). A select number of angels in the Bible (three to be
precise) have names. They are Michael, Gabriel, and Satan.
Angels can come in a wondrous
variety of forms, although the Bible often neglects to give
any description at all (Judges 6:11-14; Zechariah 4). They
appear humanoid in most Biblical accounts (Numbers 22) and
as such are often indistinguishable from human beings (Gen.
18; 32:10-13; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 13:1-5) but they also
may manifest themselves as pillars of fire and cloud, or as
a fire within a bush (Ex. 3). The Psalms characterize natural
phenomenon, like lightning, as God's melachim (Ps. 104:4).
Other divine creatures appear to be winged parts of God's
throne (Is. 6) or of the divine chariot (Ezek. 1). The appearance
of cherubim is well known enough to be artistically rendered
on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25). Perhaps the most ambiguous
creature is the Malach Adonai, an angel that may or may not
be a visible manifestation of God.
Biblical angels fulfill a
variety of functions, including conveying information to mortals,
shielding, rescuing, and caring for Israelites, and smiting
Israel's enemies. The Book of Daniel includes a number of
ideas about angels that would be elaborated upon in post-Biblical
tests, including named angels and guardian angels, that all
the nations of the world have their own angelic prince, that
angels are arranged hierarchically, and that angels have delimited
spheres of authority.
Jewish sources of the Greco-Roman
period expand on the traditions of angels found in the Hebrew
Scriptures. We especially see the first systematic organization
of Biblical hosts of heaven into a hierarchy of different
castes of angels governing and serving on different levels
of heaven. Zechariah's reference to the seven eyes of God
(4:10) is understood to refer to either seven archangels,
or the seven angel hosts in the seven heavens (I Enoch 61;
Testament of the Patriarchs, Levi).
We also see the resurgence
of a quasi-polytheistic view of the divine order recast in
monotheistic terms. Now instead of having minor gods with
specific spheres of power, lists of angels appear, all subordinate
to God, but each designated with their sphere of authority
(3 Enoch). This is accompanied by a proliferation of named
angels. For the first time we hear of Uriel, Raphael, Peniel,
Metatron, and many, many others (I Enoch, Tobit, IV Ezra).
There also an increasing awareness
of an affinity between angels and mortals. It seems that the
boundary between human and angelic states is permeable. Elaborating
on cryptic passages found in the Bible (Gen. 5:24; II Kings
2:11), it is taught that exceptional mortals, such as Enoch,
may be elevated to angelic status (I Enoch).
A sense of dualism, stronger
than what is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, appears in Late
Antiquity and leads to angels being divided into camps of
light and darkness, as exemplified by the angelology informing
the Manual of Discipline found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The mythic allusion to the misadventures of the Sons of God
in Gen. 6:2 becomes the locus classicus for this belief. Thus
the legend of fallen angels first appears in the pseudo-epigraphic
writings (I Enoch 6, from the section sometimes called the
Book of the Watchers). It is here also we first see the idea
that angels envy humanity. The mythos of fallen angels eventually
becomes a major theological motif in Christianity, but remains
largely in the background in Rabbinic Judaism, exerting far
less influence over subsequent Jewish cosmology (see Demons
and Satan). The belief that angels may be invoked and employed
by human initiates, later a staple element of Merkavah mysticism,
first appears are this time (Testament of Solomon).
Generally speaking rabbinic
literature deemphasizes the importance of angels when compared
with their role in the Apocalyptic and Mystical traditions.
For the first time the idea is suggested that angels have
no free will (Shab. 88b; Gen. R. 48:11). But they do have
intellect and an inner life; they argue and are capable of
errors (Sand. 38b; Midrash Psalms 18:13). Angels exist to
do a single task (BM 86b; Gen. R. 50:2) and exalted as they
may be, angels are subordinate to humanity, or at least the
righteous (Gen. R. 21; Sand. 93a; Ned. 32a; Deut. R. 1).
Still, references to angels
in rabbinic literature are almost as vast as the Hosts of
Heaven themselves. Many divine actions described in Scripture
were now ascribed to various angels (Deut. R. 9; Gen R. 31:8;
Sand. 105b). Contrary to this trend, however, the Passover
Haggadah pointedly denies that angels played any role in the
pivotal event of delivering Israel from Egypt (Magid).
Angelic functions are revealed
to be even more varied and their role in the operation of
the universe even more pervasive. For the first time the figure
of Mavet (Death) in the Bible is identified as the Malach
ha-Mavet (the Angel of Death). The Early Jewish concept of
personal angels, of melachei sharet, and memuneh, "ministering"
or "guardian" angels and "deputies," also
comes to the fore in rabbinic literature. The idea that the
angels form a choir singing the praises of God also captures
comment and speculation by the Sages (Gen. R. 78:1).
While rabbinic writings offer
no systematic angelology comparable to that coming out of
contemporaneous Christian and magical circles, certain parallel
notions can be seen. Thus we learn in Talmud that Michael,
the angelic prince over Israel, serves as High Priest in Yerushalyim
shel malah, the heavenly Jerusalem (Chag. 12b). Legends concerning
the prophet-turned-angel Elijah become one of the most commonplace
angelic tales. Elijah frequently appears among mortals, bearing
revelations from heaven and resolving inscrutable questions.
That all angels (and not just
seraphim and cheruvim) have wings is first mentioned during
this period (Chag. 16a). The size of angels may vary from
small to cosmic (Chag. 13b).
There also emerges a fundamental
disagreement about the nature of angels. Some consider angels
to God's "embodied decrees," elementals made of
fire, like an Islamic ifrit, or from an impossible combination
of fire and water (Sefer Yetzirah 1.7; S of S R. 10; T.Y.
Rosh. H. 58). Others regard them as immaterial, disembodied
intellects.
Unlike the Biblical writers,
the Sages allow themselves to speculate on the origins of
angels. They teach, for example, that angels did not pre-exist
creation, but were formed as part of the heavens on the second
day (Gen. R. 1:3; 3). Another Rabbi posits they came into
existence on the fifth day, along with all winged creations.
In late antiquity angelology
becomes a major element in Merkavah mysticism. Any adept wishing
to ascend the palaces of the heavens and achieve a vision
of the Divine Glory needed to know how to get past the angelic
guardians (usually by knowing and invoking their names) at
each level. Perhaps even more important to this mystical tradition,
angels can be summoned and brought down to earth to serve
a human initiate. Many rituals and practices devoted to this
end have been preserved in the Hechalot writings. Starting
in late antiquity, angels are increasingly related to and
bound up with the everyday life of individuals.
Medieval Midrash reiterates
and further develops earlier teaching about angels, but it
is during this period that individual philosophers start to
offer systematic and idiosyncratic interpretations of angels.
Maimonides, for example, talks about them at length in his
Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yisodei HaTorah (Laws of the Foundations
of the Torah). While he meticulously classifies angelic rankings
(there are ten), in his rationalistic system Maimonides equates
them with the Aristotelian "intelligences" that
mediate between the spheres. As such they are conscious and
govern the spheres in their motion, but in his Aristotelian
context Maimonides is saying they are forms of natural causation
rather than supernatural beings. He also expands his definition
to include natural phenomenon and even human psychology (he
refers to the libidinous impulse as the "angel of lust").
Based on his he concludes there are two types of angels, eternal
and ephemeral, the latter of which constantly pass in and
out of existence. He also denies that angels ever take corporeal
form; the encounters described in the Bible are only the dream
visions of the patriarchs and matriarchs. By contrast other
thinkers, like the German Pietist Eleazer of Worms, adhere
to esoteric and unapologetically supernatural angelologies.
Because of the exalted status of Torah study among Ashkenazi
Jews, rituals for summoning angels, especially angels who
could reveal secrets of the Torah, like the Sar ha-Torah and
Sar ha-Panim (The Prince of the Torah and the Prince of the
Presence), became widely known.
The early Medieval magical
work Sefer ha-Razim catalogues hundreds of angels, along with
how to influence them and to use their names in constructing
protective amulets, throwing curses, and otherwise gaining
power. Zohar, along with continuing the tradition of angelic
taxonomy, sorting them into seven palaces and ranking them
according to the four worlds of emanation (1:11-40), assigns
angels feminine as well as masculine attributes (1:119b).
Visitations by angels were
widely reported among kabbalists. The mystic-legalist Joseph
Caro wrote of his maggid, the genius of the Mishna, who visited
him in the night and taught him Torah ha-Sod, the esoteric
Torah.
The main contribution of Chasidic
thought to angelology was a distinctly anthropocentric, even
psychological, interpretation of angelic nature. Specifically,
early Chasidic masters held that ephemeral angels were the
direct result of human action. Goodly deeds created good angels,
destructive behavior created destructive angels, etc. In other
words, most angels are ontologically the creation, really
a byproduct, of humans rather than God! Thus the balance between
the angelic and demonic forces in the universe is a direct
result of human decision and action.
In the last quarter of the
20th Century, there has been renewed interest in angels is
evidenced throughout the Jewish community.
Magical uses: The names of
angels have apotropaic properties and frequently appear on
amulets, magical inscriptions and formula. In the bedtime
ritual Kriat Sh'ma al ha-Mitah, the angels Michael, Gabriel,
Uriel and Raphael are invoked for protection through the night.
Angels have areas of specialization and can be summoned to
assist mortals in these areas, such as learning and memorizing
Torah.
Greek: angelos, messenger.
Hebrew: Malach, Irin, Cheruv, Seref, Ofan, Chayyah, Sar, Memuneh,
Ben Elohim, Kodesh.
| Authors Details: Rabbi
Geoffrey W Dennis. Web
Site |
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