Dopers - for the second time in two years, my wife’s boss has given us, as a Hannukah gift, an angel-decorated item. She’s Catholic. I wasn’t brought up in a religious home, (unless atheist is considered a religion), although my wife was. And neither of us knows if angels apply in any way to Jewish custom. I don’t think I’ve ever heard references to them, or even to heaven, in any Jewish conversations or at services. So, what’s the straight dope?
Well, all the angels in Christian tradition who have names have Hebrew names - Michael, Gabriel - and angels do appear in the Hebrew scriptures. What the modern Jewish take on angels is, I don’t know, but you won’t have to wait long for someone who does.
That there is reference to angles in the Bible is irrefutable, although it’s mostly in the prophetic books and is subject to much debate and interpretation because the terms used are very vague. However, there is a much stronger reference to not making images (in the Commandments), so from my viewpoint the boss is using something not exactly “kosher”.
The concept of “heaven” does not appear anywhere in the 5 books of Moses, which are the core of the religion. The idea of some form of afterlife, with reward and punishment, arose very late in Jewish thought, about the same time as Chritianity was starting, which account for the similarities.
For an excellent non-scholarly read on most aspects of Judaism, you cannot do better than “This is My God” by Herman Wouk. He’s an outstanding writer, has very good knowledge of his subject and doesn’t have a drum to beat.
Thank you. I have that book - haven’t looked at if for years.
There are references to angels in Jewish prayers. Some of the examples that I can think of include a reference to the angels Michoel, Gavriel, Rafael and Uriel in the bedtime Shema, as well as a refence to the angel of rain in the prayer for rain said on Shmini Atzeres.
Angels also appear many times in the Torah. Some examples off the top of my head include the three that visit Abraham (Genesis 18) and destroy Sodom and Gommorah (Genesis 19), the ones Jacob met on the way back to Israel and the one he wrestled with. There is also the one that God sent to lead the Jews in the wilderness (Exodus 24) and the famous one in the story of Bilaam.
However, while there can be little doubt that Judaism acknowledges angels, they are not a big part of Jewish thought and having images of them is not usual. I can’t think of a single Jewish home I’ve seen with angel figurines, etc.
Zev Steinhardt
Rafael the angel appears in the Jewish writings that Christians call the Apocrypha and is included in most Catholic bibles. I don’t the the Jewish Bible/OT names any other angels, but they certainly appear in several places and are usually called “messenger of God.” One example that jumps to mind are the “messengers” that God sends to Abraham, who tell him that his wife Sarah is going to have a child.
Ah, so maybe it’s just the imagery of angels that rightly feels foreign to me. The beautiful ladies with wings, sometimes with halos, which I associate with holy people and the new testament, are something quite different from the angels in the OT. Maybe those were more like sub-gods, like the angel of rain, for example.
As others have noted, angels do appear regularly in Jewish scripture. However, when they do, they’re invariably on practical missions for God, and they aren’t cute or cuddly!
Strictly speaking, so are the angels who appear in the New Testament- but over the years, angels have become a staple of Christian art, both the sublime (Italian Renaissance masters often painted angels) and the ridiculous (the sickeningly adorable angels you see in statuettes and calendars at low-rent Christian book and souvenir stores). For that reason, when a Jew sees angels in a piece of art, he thinks “Goy stuff!”
So, while there’s nothing inherently WRONG with giving an angel-themed gift to a Jew, I certainly don’t think it’s advisable. If a Christian friend of mine were planning to give such a gift to a Jew, I’d ask her to think again.
At the same time, if the gift-giver in this particular case is a nice person that you believe MEANT well by giving you that gift, the right response is a polite “Thank you,” through clenched teeth. But obviously, you’re under no obligation to keep it, let alone display it in your home.
All verses quoted from the Revised Standard Version:
Gen 16:7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
Gen 16:9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.”
Gen 16:10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”
Gen 16:11 And the angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish’mael; because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
Gen 19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth,
Gen 19:15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”
Gen 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Gen 22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”
Gen 22:15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
Gen 24:7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
Gen 24:40 But he said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house;
Gen 28:12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
Gen 31:11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’
Gen 32:1 Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him;
Gen 48:16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
Ex 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
Ex 14:19 Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
Ex 23:20 "Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.
Ex 23:23 "When my angel goes before you, and brings you in to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Per’izzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jeb’usites, and I blot them out,
Ex 32:34 But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them."
Ex 33:2 And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Per’izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb’usites.
Num 20:16 and when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.
Num 22:22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him.
Num 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into the road.
Num 22:24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.
Num 22:25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against the wall, and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
Num 22:26 Then the angel of the LORD went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.
Num 22:27 When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with his staff.
Num 22:31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
Num 22:32 And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me;
Num 22:34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again.”
Num 22:35 And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
OK - the Jewish angels were sub-gods and gofers. Not the kitsch statuary that we keep getting. And the Mrs. already did the clenched teeth bit. Of course, that approach last year may have prompted the repeat gift scenario this year. None the less, we thank you all.
But the other thing to remember is that in Genesis there is often a sort of confusion about just what sort of being is described. For instance, Jacob wrestles with an “angel”. But is it an angel, or is it God? One explanation is that these angels are remnants of a polytheistic tradition. But sometimes these verses explictly state that someone encounters an angel, only to imply that they have actually encountered God. I think another explanation is that “angels” aren’t exactly entities, but more like the manifestion of God’s will…his metaphorical arms and legs.
Translation of the Hebrew “Malach” ( îìàë - mem lamed aleph chaf) is ambiguous. It can be angel, but it can also be messenger. The Hertz Pentateuch explains it like this
Hey, the word “angel” is just the Anglicization of the Greek word “angelos”, which means messenger.
The visual portrayals of the winged people is just artistic liscence.
Coming soon (in a few weeks): a Staff Report on angelology, in Christianity, Judaism,and Islam.
The idea of angels having wings dates back to Isaiah and Ezekiel’s visions.
I’d say it goes back further than that. The cherubs on the Ark’s cover in Exodus are described with Porsei K’nafayim (“their wings spread out…”).
Zev Steinhardt
Whether there are angels in the Bible or not, they are certainly not part of celebrating the Festival of Lights. My advice is to accept the gift gracefully, in the spirit it was given. Depending on the sense of humor of the boss’s wife (not to mention the boss), I’d try to resist saying, “Hey, just the thing to go on top of our Channukah Bush!”
I thought Jewish angels had six wings of fire and were covered with eyes–that is, the angels who weren’t wheels (as in “'Zekiel saw the wheel/way up in the middle of the air”). I thought the anthropomorphic depiction of angels (stern yet friendly white guys in white robes with haloes) was Christian.
In addition, I might add the kedushah, which although it doesn’t mention the angels by name certainly alludes to them. (“sarfei kodesh” = holy serafim, in the mussaf kedushah). There is also the matter of rising on one’s toes during certain verses of the kedushah, which is supposed to be in emulation of the angels (someone correct me if I’m wrong) And then there is the Shalom Aleichem hymn on Friday nights which talks about angels.
You are absolutely correct, JHW. However, the kedusah prayer certainly qualifies even when the sarfei kodesh aren’t mentioned, since the verses mentioned there come from the prophecies of Ezekiel where angels are mentioned.
You might also add that the custom of standing with one’s legs together while saying the Amidah prayer is also in emulation of the angels as well.
Zev Steinhardt