{"id":39100,"date":"2018-09-02T11:53:33","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T08:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=39100"},"modified":"2022-03-27T23:28:28","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T20:28:28","slug":"humans-and-angels-how-can-we-tell-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/humans-and-angels-how-can-we-tell-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans and Angels: How Can We Tell the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[452,523],"acf":{"old_id":"39100","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38047,"related_cahpter":"37","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"By paying attention, and responding with concern to people around us, we also have the potential to be a messenger","content":"

It\u2019s hard to know what was in Jacob\u2019s mind when he sent Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks (Genesis 37:11), because just one verse earlier the Torah explicitly notes that he was aware of the jealousy and tension between them: \u201cSo his brothers were wrought up at him, and his father kept the matter in mind.\u201d It\u2019s even less clear whether Joseph was aware of the risk because he seems rather oblivious to the sensitivity of the situation. In any case he answers his father, \u201cHere I am\u201d and goes off towards a destiny-changing encounter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph doesn\u2019t find his brothers easily because they aren\u2019t in the Nablus region as expected but rather they are farther from the Hebron Valley, in Dotan. The commentator Rashbam understands this is as a credit to Joseph who does not want to return to his father without completing his task. At precisely the right moment right person sees him wandering, asks what he is looking for, and is indeed able to give the correct answer. The coincidence is so amazing that Rashi claims, \u201cIt was Gabriel,\u201d an angel. However, Ibn Ezra stubbornly insists on reading the verse, \u201caccording to its simple meaning, a passerby.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But what if there is no disagreement between them? Perhaps the passerby is an angel?<\/span><\/p>\n

The word <\/span>malach<\/span><\/em> in the Bible is a messenger, earthly or heavenly. Jacob himself saw heavenly angels in his dream of the ladder reaching to heaven (Genesis 28:12), and later sent clearly human messengers to his brother Esau (Genesis 32:4). At what stage did Jacob realize that man he wrestled at the Ford of Jabbok was an angel (Genesis 32:22-30)?<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we tell the difference?<\/span><\/p>\n

Did the passerby on the way to Nablus know that he was a divine messenger or understand the role he played in carrying out a divine plan?<\/span><\/p>\n

That seems unlikely but he was aware of his environment. He saw Joseph wandering, he approached him, he asked, and he helped. Most likely, he never knew the outcome of his actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the message here is that each of us can serve as an angel or divine messenger. By paying attention, and responding with concern to people around us, we also have the potential to be a messenger of the divine. But we might never know it.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":39171,"id":39171,"title":"shutterstock_158927855","filename":"shutterstock_158927855-e1535903821717.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_158927855-e1535903821717.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/humans-and-angels-how-can-we-tell-the-difference\/shutterstock_158927855\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shutterstock_158927855","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":39100,"date":"2018-09-02 15:56:12","modified":"2022-03-27 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