Led by an Angel

The idea of being ‘led,’ ‘guided’ or ‘touched’ by an angel has become a cliche. Movies and TV programs have spread and trivialized the idea of angelic intervention in the most banal circumstances. Angels would have to be pretty petty to influence the outcomes of baseball games (Angels in the Outfield). But in this week’s Torah reading we seem to encounter an endeavor worthy of these Divine emissaries.

Here’s the verse: Note that I am sending a MALACH to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you (Shmot 23:20).

There are a plethora of suggestions about how to parse this verse. The basis for many approaches to this matter is the fact that the word MALACH can mean things other than angels. This is not the first verse where our Sages debate the use of this term. Famously, when Ya’akov Avinu sends MALACHIM to Esav (Breishit 32:4) there is a debate about whether these were human or Divine agents. 

So, too, in our verse there are authorities who opt for ‘angels’ and even go as far as to identify the specific angel (MichaEl is the most common suggestion). And there are those in this camp who see this as a prediction of the encounter of Yehoshua with an angel (again generally identified as MichaEl) before the battle for Yericho (Yehoshua 5:13-15).

On the other hand, there are numerous scholars who again opt for human agents of God. Some suggest that this is a specific reference to Yehoshua himself. While the Da’at Z’kenim suggests that our verse is a prophecy of the great redemption for which we still anticipate, and the MALACH is ELIYAHU HANAVI.

The reason that we have so many different ideas for identifying our MALACH in this verse is because of another announcement made to Moshe about the Jews: Now go and lead the people to the place I told you about; my MALACH will go ahead of you (Shmot 32:33). 

In this later verse, we are discussing the aftermath of the Sin of the Golden Calf. Most commentaries see the introduction of a MALACH to lead the Jews as a punishment for the Sin. If that’s true, then what is going on in our verse which takes place before the Sin?

That reality explains why there is so much debate over the nature of the MALACH in our verse. One of the most clever explanations is given by the Malbim:  I have explained in the Book of Shoftim concerning the MALACH that appeared to Gidon, that sometimes a MALACH is a SHALIACH without the Master around, but other times the MALACH speaks for the Master, who is still present. After the Sin, the MALACH was alone, but here God is with the MALACH. 

Before I explain the approach which I believe best fits the situation here in Mishpatim, I want to share a profoundly inspiring idea proposed by Rav Yisrael Lifschitz (1782-1860). Rav Lifschitz is best known as the Tifferet Yisrael (containing Yachin and Boaz) for his wonderful commentary on the Mishne.

Rav Lifschitz suggests that the MALACH, ‘the ‘angel’ refers to the natural order of the world. God informs the people that they have a responsibility to work within nature, be it in the context of farming or war. God then warns the people: ‘Beware of him and obey his voice, because he(‘it’ or nature) will not forgive your sins’ (23:21)…that God directs the people to work with the laws of nature and not to sin against them. The verse refers not to religious iniquity but to a refusal to accept the natural order. The nation cannot simply rely on righteous behavior but must use human planning and effort within the natural framework in order to succeed. ‘My name is in him’ hints at the fact that the numerical value of Elokim, eighty six, equals that of HATEVA. God had placed His stamp of the natural order and does not rush to change it.  

Wow! I love that idea. Our relationship with TEVA (nature) is as binding upon us as our relationship with Torah, because they both are creations of God! We must always work with nature (and I might add ‘science’), because nature isn’t like God who forgives and loves us. Nature just happens and we are liable to severe consequences when we cross ‘Mother Nature’. 

As much as I love that idea, I don’t think that it’s P’SHAT in our verse. On the other hand, Rav Ya’akov Medan of Yeshivat Har Etziyon presents a cogent view of our verse, which I do believe is the literal meaning of our passage. 

He suggests that God has to introduce this idea of the MALACH or intermediaries between God and us before the Jews leave the shadow of Har Sinai, because we are expected to live our lives according to Torah and Halacha, and that’s hard to do when we live our lives far from the miracles of the Desert and of Mt Sinai.

We are being informed that God is not absconding; God will continue to provide HASHGACHA for the Jews, but it will be more hidden, less obvious than the miracles of Egypt, the Sea, Mt Sinai and the Midbar. That’s what a Torah life is about. We live meaningful lives while working, marrying, having children, while learning Torah, going to Shul and following Mitzvot. 

At the end of the covenantal ceremony at the foot of Mt Sinai, God is ushering us out from the shadow of Har Sinai into the realities of the ‘real world’. But we must never think for even an instant that God isn’t watching and caring. There is always a Divine Agent or MALACH keeping track of and following our progress.

I think that’s what’s going on at this moment in Jewish history. Yes, we will be on our own most of the time to fight our wars and produce our food, but God will monitor us constantly with his own version of CCTV, called a MALACH.