Daf Yomi, Marriage Counseling, Psychotherapy, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Torah and Psychology
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses various idolatrous intentions that constitute slaughter as pagan sacrifice and forbidden. One such example is slaughtering for “Michoel the great ministering angel.”
This is an intriguing point. It is not as if Judaism does not believe in the entity. Michoel the great ministering angel is one of the few angels mentioned by name in Tanach (Daniel 10:13), and serves as an interlocutor on behalf of Israel (see Daniel 12:1 and Esther Rabbah (7:12), and Megaleh Amukos Balak 16.)
The distinction here is that the person in our Mishna worshipped Michoel as a deity, which rendered his actions idolatrous. Yet, this is not as simple as it seems because there are three prayers within our liturgy that seem to be addressing themselves to angels as opposed to God Himself.
The three prayers are:
Sholom Aleichem, which is sung every Friday night at home before Kiddush. This piyut is of unknown authorship. However, it is clearly based on the aggadah from Gemara Shabbos (119b):
“It was taught, R. Jose son of R. Judah said: Two ministering angels accompany man on the eve of the Sabbath from the synagogue to his home, one a good [angel], and one an evil [one]. And when he arrives home and finds the lamp burning, the table laid and the couch [bed] covered with a spread, the good angel exclaims, ‘May it be even thus on another Sabbath [too],’ and the evil angel unwillingly responds ‘amen’. But if not, the evil angel exclaims, ‘May it be even thus on another Sabbath [too],’ and the good angel unwillingly responds, ‘amen.’”
This prayer, written in Hebrew, seems to be imploring the angels of the above aggadah to bless the home.
Then there is Machnise Rachamim, a prayer recited at the conclusion of Selichos imploring the angels to bring the supplications to God. This prayer is already found in the Siddur of Saadia Gaon.
And finally an odd prayer that has fallen into disuse, Hiskabdu Mekubadim, which is based on Gemara Berachos (60b):
“One who enters a bathroom says to the angels who accompany him at all times: Be honored, honorable holy ones, servants of the One on High, give honor to the God of Israel, leave me until I enter and do my will and come back to you. Abaye said: A person should not say this, lest they abandon him and go. Rather he should say: Guard me, guard me, help me, help me, support me, support me, wait for me, wait for me until I enter and come out, as this is the way of man.”
The fundamental problem with all three of these prayers is that these petitions are directed toward angels, not God. Gemara Yerushalmi (Berachos 9:1) states: “For the Holy One Blessed be He is not like other flesh and blood authorities. Should a man be in distress he shall not call out to the angel Michael or Gabriel, rather says God, ‘He should cry out to Me and I shall immediately respond.’”
In fact, Shu”t Chasam Sofer (O.H. 166) does not recommend saying machnise rachamim, but to not appear as flouting the custom, he would say an extra long tachanun prayer, so it would not be noticed. Rav Hayyim Volozhin (Keter Rosh, 93) also was not in favor of reciting machnise rachamim or even the prayer he called “Barchuni L’shalom” (which is our Shalom Aleichem.)
Maharal (Nesiv Avodah 12) states that Machnise Rachamim “is not a fit prayer.” He also comments on the custom of praying by the graves of tzaddikim as allowing the soul of the tzaddik to join in praying along with us, but not that we would beseech the tzaddik to pray for us. He points out that one human can request of another human to pray for him, but may not request the same of a spiritual entity. To justify the custom of reciting the Machnise Rachamim prayer, Maharal suggests that it is not a prayer at all, but rather a command to the angels to bring the human prayers before God. Based on this he recommends a slight grammatical change in the text from hachnisu (“bring” in the Hebrew form as a request to bring), to yachnisu (“bring” in the Hebrew form as a directive, more accurately translated as “you shall bring.”)
Shita Mekubetzes (Nedarim 56a) addresses a similar issue regarding honor that is shown to a particular angel in charge of the welfare of a home. There were certain customs that recognized this angelic entity but it wasn’t prayer but rather recognizing a Godly emissary, similar to the Chair of Eliyahu Hanavi at a bris. In other words, we are allowed in some way to channel or activate angels that bring blessings but not pray to them.
In the final analysis there is a continuous psychological tension between feeling a need for a supplicant and intermediary versus direct connection with God. The need for a Beis HaMikdash or sacred objects, while obviously not idolatrous in a technical sense, is nevertheless also about a human need for something concrete. It is defined legally in halachic parameters by various poskim but exists phenomenologically regardless.
sponsored by https://empowermentaftertrauma.com/
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
Free resource for couples/families:
Over 80 lectures on heathy communication, marriage and sexuality from a Torah perspective Click here
If you liked this, you might enjoy my Relationship Communications Guide. Click on the link above.
Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com