{"id":86926,"date":"2021-01-18T23:28:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T21:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=86926"},"modified":"2021-01-18T23:28:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T21:28:00","slug":"the-original-guardian-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-original-guardian-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"The (Original) Guardian Angels"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Long before Curtis Sliwa founded the anti-crime activist group called The Guardian Angels (1979), the notion was widespread among the principal monotheistic faiths that individuals, groups, and even entire nations had a type of angel\u2014often called \u201ctutelary\u201d angels\u2014assigned to their protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such angels might even be alluded to in the Torah, as in the cases of Jacob\u2019s \u201cangel who redeemed me from all evil\u201d (Gen. 48:16), and the angel God promised to dispatch ahead of Israel to bring them into the land of the Seven Nations (Exodus 23:23). Nowhere, however, is there a more explicit reference to such angels than in our psalm:<\/span><\/p>\n

For He will order His angels to guard you wherever you go. They will carry you in their hands lest you hurt your foot on a stone. You will tread on [lion] cubs and vipers; you will trample lions and asps. (11-13)<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the entire psalm\u2014recognizable on account of its incorporation into the \u201cverses of song\u201d (<\/span>p\u2019sukei d\u2019zimra<\/span><\/em>) of Shabbat morning\u2014has come to serve a \u201ctutelary\u201d purpose through its use in Jewish funerary rites. In the Koren-Sacks Siddur, for example, a general instruction indicates that this psalm is recited \u201cwhile on the way to the grave\u201d (p.1052-3). A more particular, if less observed, tradition has it recited outside the funeral chapel by those who follow the hearse\u2019s initial journey on foot.<\/span><\/p>\n

A piquant wrinkle in this tradition has it recited seven times, taking advantage of the fact that the Hebrew of v.11 has seven words that are used to keep track of its repetitions. This puts our verse in the company of such verses as Psalms 28:9 (see <\/span>our comments there<\/span><\/a>), which is used to keep track of the number of men in a prayer quorum (<\/span>minyan<\/span><\/em>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64961,"id":64961,"title":"is6-angels","filename":"is6-angels.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-angels.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/encountering-the-angels\/is6-angels\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is6-angels","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64960,"date":"2019-10-30 13:14:22","modified":"2021-04-07 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