When Yishayahu experiences revelation in our haftara for Parshat Yitro, angels feature prominently in his vision of the divine realm, surrounding the throne upon which G-d sits while bestowing words of praise – “The world is full of your glory,” they declare – words we say in the daily recitation of Kedusha. The angels exist in a world that is perfect and flawless, where they can declare with certainty that G-d’s glory is manifestly present in every corner of reality.
It is for this reason that Yishayahu feels so uncomfortably out of place in the heavenly abode. As he shares with the angels, “Woe is me; I am lost! For I am a man of impure lips, and I live among a people of impure lips; yet my own eyes have beheld the Sovereign G-d of hosts” (Yishayahu 6:5).
Coming from our tainted and flawed world, the prophet feels unworthy of the perfect vision of the angelic chorus, until an angel purifies his lips to allow him to speak in the name of G-d.
This discrepancy between human and angelic perspectives plays a central role in Chazal’s account of the giving of the Torah, albeit in an entirely different vein. While no angels appear in the Torah’s version of the story, our Sages recount that at Sinai too, Moshe encounters conflict between himself and the angels.
But in Moshe’s case, that discrepancy highlights why G-d must hand over the Torah to the Jewish people. The angels, noticing Moshe’s arrival in the heavens, protest the divine plan to give the Torah to Moshe. They challenge G-d: How could so sacred a text, a reflection of the divine mind, be given to human beings? Yet rather than respond, G-d invites Moshe to address Him and the angels himself:
Master of the Universe, the Torah that You are giving me, what is written in it? G-d said to him: “I am the Lord your G-d Who brought you out of Egypt from the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). Moses said to the angels: Did you descend to Egypt? Were you enslaved to Pharaoh? Why should the Torah be yours? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? G-d said to him: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Moses said to the angels: Do you dwell among the nations who worship idols that you require this special warning?
Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: “Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it” (Exodus 20:8). Moses asked the angels: Do you perform labor that you require rest from it? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? “Do not take the name of the -ord your G-d in vain” (Exodus 20:7), meaning that it is prohibited to swear falsely. Moses asked the angels: Do you conduct business with one another that may lead you to swear falsely?
Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Moses asked the angels: Do you have a father or a mother that would render the commandment to honor them relevant to you?
Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? G-d said to him: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal” (Exodus 20:13) Moses asked the angels: Is there jealousy among you, or is there an evil inclination within you that would render these commandments relevant? Immediately the angels agreed with the Holy One, Blessed be He, that He made the right decision to give the Torah to the people, (Shabbat 88b).
Sure, up in the heavens there is a perfect domain, an angelic realm where all is pure and flawless. But that’s not what the Torah is for. The Torah is meant to guide us here in our world, where we are sinful and fearful and jealous, where we have complicated relationships and layers of pain and endless confusion. We are not angels. We humans were never meant to live in the heavens, and neither was the Torah. Even if our prophets can envision the heavens, our job is to face the life we’ve been given here on earth.
The gaping abyss between the heavens and the earth feels especially wide nowadays. The current hostage/prisoner swap entails decisions none of us would ever have wanted to make.
How do we balance the imminent threat to the lives of our brothers and sisters in captivity with the prospect of harm to any or many of us when convicted murderers go free?
How do we weigh the terror of the hostage families and the grief of the bereaved families, along with the swirl of anguish, fear and uncertainty each and every one of us holds at this juncture?
We face questions that angels could never dream of, challenges that seem to obscure the glory of G-d that we continue to believe, despite everything, fills the earth. And it is precisely for these moments that we have been gifted the Torah; to offer us guidance in the face of crisis. I dare say that even in moments in which belief is difficult or impossible the Torah remains a road map directing us toward the values by which we wish to live.
And in so doing, may we be blessed by the words spoken by Yitro in our parsha: “If you do this – and G-d so commands you – you will be able to bear it; and the entirety of this people will return to its place in peace” (Shemot 18:23).
