Q:
Why did Yaakov Avinu say המלאך הגואל אותי מכל רע when it was in fact Keil Shakai who redeemed him? There’s a difference between a malach and Keil Shakai, I would imagine.
A:
Why did Yaakov Avinu say “the malach redeemed me” if it was Hashem?
Let me explain something. The Rambam says a principle that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does things by means of sheluchim, by means of malachim.
It means all kinds of malachim. Sometimes the wind is a malach; עושה מלאכיו רוחות — He makes His malachim winds. Everything is a malach.
You know, Hakadosh Baruch Hu could give us food without anything. He could cause food to appear at our door without any preparation at all. Why does He make food come out of the earth? Because He wants us to learn certain things, certain lessons. And so it’s done by means of a malach. The earth is a malach, the winds are malachim, the rains are malachim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu does things by means of agents. And therefore, Yaakov Avinu was just saying the truth. He said that Hakadosh Baruch Hu always sent His malach to help him always. Always by means of various malachim.
You’d be surprised who the malachim are. You have to know that when it came to the story of Yosef, eishes Potiphar was a malach that did a tremendous benefit for him. The wife of Potiphar was a malach. If she didn’t start up with Yosef Hatzaddik, he would never be in that prison. But because he was in prison, he was poser chalom for Pharoah’s servants and that’s why Pharaoh called him to be poser chalom. And then because of that Yosef became later the leader of all Mitzrayim. If eishes Potiphar would not have bothered him, it never would have happened. So the wife of Potiphar was a malach. Hashem sent her for that purpose that she should tempt Yosef and be angry at Yosef because he didn’t yield to her, and so she accused him, and she threw him into prison, to מקום אשר אסירי המלך. For serious crimes people were put there and Yosef was waiting to be executed.
While he was waiting, he was poser chalom for the sar hamashkim and for the sar haofim, he gained a reputation of being a poser chalom. And when Pharoah had dreams they called Yosef in and he explained Pharoah’s dreams. And Pharaoh was so happy, he took off his ring, put it on Yosef’s finger, and he said, “You are now a ruler over the entire Mitzrayim.”
Who made him ruler over Mitzrayim? Eishes Potiphar! Eishes Potiphar was a malach! She was a malach. Hashem has many malachim.
And therefore, Yaakov Avinu said “Hashem sent his malachim and they rescued me.”
(February 3 2000)
Q:
Last week the Rav explained that Yaakov said המלאך הגואל because a malach is an agent, a shaliach for Keil Shakai. So if a malach is just a shaliach for Hashem why did Yaakov Avinu ask that the המלאך הגול אותי – the angel who redeemed me, יברך את הנערים – he should bless the children? Why did he ask the malach to bentch the ne’arim rather than Keil Shakai?
A:
When Yaakov asked the malach hagoel to yevarech es hane’arim he was asking Hakadosh Baruch Hu to bless them through the malach.
Now Yaakov was an anav and since a malach came to him and spoke to him —he didn’t have a direct message from Hashem; it was through a malach—so he didn’t have the nerve, the boldness, to say “Hashem should bless them.” And therefore he said instead “the malach that blessed me should bless the children.”
Now, if Hakadosh Baruch Hu had spoken to him directly to tell him that He’d be with him and protect him, so he could say to Hashem, “You should bless my children too.” But Hashem didn’t speak to him directly. He spoke through a malach.
Now, why did He speak through a malach, that’s the first kasha. Why did He speak through a malach is a different question. But the malach blessed him. And because the malach blessed him, therefore he asked the malach to bless his children.
(February 10, 2000)
