Angel

Found 8 Search results

1. Of Angels, Pillars and Brothers (Audio)

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman | 25 minutes

   The end of the Parshat Vayetzeh contains significant motifs that parallel the beginning of the parsha. This structure highlights a contrast between Yaakov at the beginning of the Parsha and the person he becomes at the end. Yaakov’s interaction with Lavan shows him the problematic road which he had been following. By the end of the process, Yaakov separates himself physically and psychologically from Lavan.

2. The Final Vision (Part 1)

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   Chapter 10 is dated to the third year of Koresh. The descriptions of Koresh in Yeshayahu and in Ezra imply that he showed kindness towards the Jews and acted as God's emissary. Daniel’s mourning and the angel’s message to Daniel seem to lead to a conclusion that after giving permission to build the Beit HaMikdash, Koresh suspended this permission. Daniel’s vision takes place on the 24th of the month. The 24th of the month comes up repeatedly throughout prophecies in the period of the building of the second Beit HaMikdash.

3. The Final Vision (Part 2)

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   The revelation of God or an angel leaves an impact both on those viewing the revelation and those in the vicinity of the revelation. The angel prophesied four Persian kings – five including Koresh – until the fall of the empire to Alexander the Great and the Greeks. Various attempts are made to reconcile this prophecy with the Sages, who talk of three Persian kings, and with conventional historical research, which talks of ten. The vision Daniel sees describes in minute detail and with great accuracy, the history of Greek rule in Eretz Yisrael. After Alexander the Great, the split of his kingdom into Ptolemy in the south and Seleucus in the North leads to many battles in Eretz Yisrael and ultimately to an internal rift and a spiritual struggle within the Jewish Nation.

4. Angels and Ladders

   Rabbi Alex Israel | 38 minutes

   When Yaakov embarks on his journey of exile to escape Esav’s wrath, he falls asleep and dreams of angels and a ladder, followed by God’s revelation to him. Yaakov immediately realizes that the dream and the location are significant, but do we? This shiur uses traditional parshanut and knowledge of the Ancient Near East to analyze the significance of the angels in Yaakov’s dream.

5. Yaakov's Continued Idealism and Revelation

   Rabbi David Silverberg

6. The Form of Yaakov's Assailant: Scholar or Idolator

   Rabbi David Silverberg

7. God, the Angel, and the Jews

   Rabbi Ezra Bick

   Generally speaking, when we come across a reference to angels in the Torah, we do not necessarily have to engage in an extensive "pshat" investigation. In most cases, the intention of the verse is to basically refer to God, perhaps with the added import that it is a relatively indirect action of God. The word "malakh" means "agent" and angels are heavenly agents for God, closely associated with Him.  

   In Parshat Mishpatim, however, we have a case where the immediate pshat of the reference to an angel is not to associate him with God, but to distinguish him from God. An action takes place with an angel, and because the angel is NOT God, certain consequences are in place. This forces us to pay much more attention to the pshat of what the angel is meant to signify, and why an action of an angel is different than one of God.

8. Short Thoughts about Yaakov and the Angel

   Rabbi Ezra Bick | 10 minutes

   Parashat Vayishlach tells of Yaakov's struggle with a man all night - the famous struggle of Yaakov with the angel. At the end, the angel asks Yaakov to send him off because the dawn is breaking. What is the importance of the breaking dawn?  We take a deeper look at a related midrash about angels, which highlights the idea that everything has its moment and purpose.