Weekly Dvar Torah: Angels? Big Deal!

A conversation between Moshe and the angels.

When Moshe came up to heaven to receive the Torah, the angels turned to G-d; what is a human being doing up here in heaven?

G-d answered, he came to receive the Torah.

They asked, You have this beautiful treasure stored up here in heaven for many generations, even before the world was created, and You want to give it away to a man of flesh and blood? What value does this weak human have that You care for?

G-d turned to Moshe and said; why don’t you respond?

After reassuring Moshe that he shouldn’t be afraid of the angels, Moshe said; “Master of the universe, this Torah that you are giving to me, what does it say? I am your G-d that took you out of Egypt, were you angels ever in Egypt? Were you enslaved by Pharaoh? Why should you get the Torah?

“Furthermore, it says in the Torah, you should have no false G-d’s, do you dwell amongst the idol worshiping nations that you need to be warned not to follow their lead?

“It says that you should honor your father and mother, do you have parents?

“The Torah says, you should not kill, you should not commit adultery, you should not steal, do you angels have jealousy amongst you? Do you have an evil inclination?”

As soon as the angels heard this, they consented that G-d was doing the right thing, and they showered Moshe with many gifts.

Now this is a very interesting debate, the angels are challenging G-d for giving the Torah to weak creatures who are incapable of keeping the Torah, and Moshe responds by highlighting all the human weaknesses to explain why the Torah belongs to them?

It would make a lot more sense if Moshe would explain how only humans have the positive qualities to be able to keep the Torah, instead of showing how they are challenged at every angle from keeping the Torah.

So, what was it that the angels heard from Moshe that convinced them that their argument was faulty and that these weak humans are indeed the most qualified candidates to be the recipients of the Torah?

The angels argued very simply, we are angels, and we are most qualified to toe the line and follow every dictum of the Torah without a problem, after all we are angels.

Moshe told the angels, precisely this is the reason why you are the wrong candidates for the Torah.

If G-d wanted angels, He had plenty of them in heaven, and everything about the Torah would be angelic, but the Torah from the very first commandment is not angelic at all.

The Torah that G-d wants, is a Torah that relates to lowest of the low, an immoral place like Egypt, a vicious ruler like Pharaoh, people that struggle with killing and theft, people that are driven by evil, and by adhering to the Torah and overcoming all temptations, and elevating even the lowest of the low, this is what G-d has in mind with the Torah.

It is precisely not the strengths and good character of the human that qualifies him for the Torah, but rather the challenges and weaknesses that possess him, that make him the perfect recipient of the Torah.

The biggest compliment one can give a person is to call him an angel, this means that he is perfect and at his best behavior and could do no wrong, but this is nice as a compliment, but to be an angel is made for angels.

This is not why hashem created the world, this is also not the reason why Hashem gave the Torah, Hashem is looking for creativity, for growth, for overcoming challenges, just like in life in general we honor heroes when they overcome obstacles and they become champions and heroes, so too Hashem created a world that challenges everything the Torah says, and the Jews heroically challenge the world and champion the Torah instead.

For angels, G-d has the heavens, but He created a world which manifests itself through difficulties and challenges, and He put there humans who will work hard to overcome them and succeed.

All good things that we value are born out of challenges, and creativity produces the best results.

This is what Hashem wants from this world, and when the angels argued for the Torah because they are angels, Moshe told them, exactly this is the reason why you don’t qualify, and they understood.

Let’s receive the Torah with the understanding that it’s all about us overcoming our frailties, and this way we will justify the greatness of human-beings over the angels, because this is what Hashem wants.

Have a heroic Shabbos,
Gut Shabbos, Gut Yomtov

Rabbi Yosef Katzman