We all need guardian angels – someone to look after us, to be with us, and to keep us going where we need to go. When my children were young, their bedtime routine included a recitation of a Jewish bedtime prayer.
After reciting the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), I adapted a traditional prayer text to say, “May God’s angels, Michael on your right, Gavriel on your left, Uriel in front of you, Raphael behind you, and God all around you, bless you and give you sweet dreams.”
The archangel Michael serves as a protector; Gavriel, whose name is associated with strength and heroism, guards the stereotyped weaker left; Uriel, whose name is associated with light, elucidates the path forward; and Raphael, whose name is associated with healing, repairs damage from behind. We all cherished the feeling of touching each side while saying the words, bringing positive spirituality to the moments before sleep.
Angels appear in the Torah reading for this week on the Jewish calendar. In the opening lines of Genesis 18, God visits Abraham among the oak-like trees of Mamre as Abraham is sitting, recovering from his circumcision. Three “men” appear, who happen to be God’s angels-as-messengers, and Abraham gets up and runs to welcome them. According to rabbinic legend, these three angels are a bookend to three neighbors whom Abraham visited just before his circumcision. This story structure fascinates me.
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 3:1 recounts how Abraham had three loyal friends (elsewhere they are each other’s brothers): Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. In this story, Abraham visits each seeking advice on going through with the circumcision. Aner counsels against citing external enemies; Eshkol counsels against citing Abraham’s health risks; and Mamre counsels trusting in the many proofs of Abraham’s faithful relationship with God. The midrash indicates that God rewards Mamre by naming him in the Torah. Mamre may get preferential treatment, and yet the story tells us about each friend and the different kinds of advice each gives.
The three angels who visit Abraham each have their own message. One angel’s duty is to bear the tidings that Sarah will give birth to Isaac; another’s is to destroy Sodom; and the last’s is to rescue Lot. In much the way Abraham leaves each brother after getting advice, each of these messenger angels leaves after completing their individual tasks.
The lines between friends, neighbors, strangers, guests, agents, and messengers blend together in a relatively short sequence of Biblical events. In between each set of three, though, is that brief moment of Abraham and God together. Rabbinic tradition makes much of God being present as an example of the moral beauty of visiting the sick; God did it, so we should emulate God. I wonder, though, if the cause of God’s presence has more to do with Abraham making space for others.
In a world in which it is so easy to get caught up in our own thinking, Abraham shows us the value of checking ourselves with others. In a world in which it is so easy to remain insular in our virtual and demographic bubbles, Abraham shows us the value of welcoming visitors. In a world where we might want God all around us to bless us and give us sweet dreams, Abraham seems to say angels surround us all the time, we just need to seek them as companions. If we engage with our angel companion, in whatever way we can, we just might find ourselves secure enough to experience so much more–more than metaphorical help, more than our “better angels,” more than spiritual connection. We just might find ourselves living in a community worthy of God’s presence.
About Rabbi Jeremy Winaker
Rabbi Jeremy Winaker is the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hillel Network, responsible for West Chester University, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and other area colleges. He is the former head of school at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington and was the senior Jewish educator at the Kristol Hillel Center at the University of Delaware for four years. Rabbi Winaker lives in Delaware with his wife and three children.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
Comments