Nephesh\nHachaim 1:10<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given all of the above concerning our makeup and\ncapacities, it\u2019s reasonable to wonder whether angels are loftier than we are or\nwe\u2019re loftier than they. And while that had been debated by some of the\ngreatest among us for a very long time 1 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim surmises that in\nfact both <\/em>conclusions are right for different reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On one level, he argues, angels are indeed loftier than\nwe are by their inherent makeup, great holiness and wondrous comprehension. For\nwhen it comes to those things, there\u2019s simply no comparison 2<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On another level, though, we\u2019re loftier than they, given\nour ability to elevate and link together the various celestial worlds,\ncapacities, and lights, which no angel could ever do 3<\/sup>. And that\u2019s\nbecause each angel is a separate entity which thus can\u2019t link all of the worlds\ntogether while we — with all of our soul elements — incorporate all of them so\nwe can4<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, angels can\u2019t even elevate, connect, and link\ntogether one world with the one above it since they don\u2019t incorporate or\ncombine with them. They can\u2019t even ascend or connect to the world above themselves,\nand they\u2019re thus said to be \u201cstationary\u201d while humans are depicted as being \u201cin\nmotion\u201d 5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only human beings 6<\/sup> can elevate, link\ntogether, and join all celestial worlds and lights by our deeds, given that we\nincorporate them all. In point of fact, angels themselves are only elevated and\nmade holier by dint of human actions given that they, too, are incorporated in\nhuman beings 7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But our soul elements only enable us to elevate and\nconnect the celestial worlds and ourselves after we\u2019d have come into the\nmaterial world 8<\/sup>. After all, it was only after G-d breathed life\ninto Adam in this world that he became animated 9<\/sup> and was also the animating\nforce of all worlds 10<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This also touches on Jacob\u2019s vision of the ladder,\nincidentally 11<\/sup>, which we\u2019ll explain in Ch. 19 below. For it was only\nthe bottom <\/em>of that ladder — that animating force of life upon which\n\u201cthe angels of G-d were ascending and descending\u201d — that was set upon the\nearth and manifests itself in our bodies 12<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 <\/sup>Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Sa\u2019adia Gaon and Rambam especially\ndelved into this, based on conflicting Torah verses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim cites Zohar Chadash<\/em>, Bereishit <\/em>(15b-16a)\nin reference to angels being transcendent and ethereal, and their enjoying a\ngreater degree of comprehension than we do; and Ibid. 28b. Yet Midrash\nRabbah <\/em>(Bereishit<\/em> 17:4) illustrates how man is wiser<\/em> than the\nangels. But \u201cwisdom\u201d refers there to brilliant insight into applied, practical\nmatters, while \u201ccomprehension\u201d applies to insight into ethereal, G-dly matters\n(see Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah <\/em>3:8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n See the Gra\u2019s comments to Sifra\nD\u2019tsniusa <\/em>37d [Likut<\/em>] regarding Moses\u2019 exceptional degree of\ncomprehension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n R\u2019 Chaim cites Zohar 2:129b in reference to their being\nholier than we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 <\/sup>Yet see 1:5 above about the high source of our souls,\nwhich would also place us on a higher level than the angels. Apparently R\u2019\nChaim\u2019s aim here, though, is to accentuate our unique abilities to affect the\nworlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim cites Eitz Chaim <\/em>40:10, which depicts\nangels as a single element of the world it dwells in, while we — given our\nsouls and all of its divisions — incorporate all <\/em>worlds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s interesting there, though, is the fact that the\nAri refers to righteous <\/em>Jews (tzaddikim<\/em>) specifically as those\nwho are higher than angels. This statement thus harkens us back to the point\nmade in the two previous chapters about the unique powers of the select few rather\nthan of all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim cites Isaiah 6:2 and Zechariah 3:7. See Ma\u2019amarim\n<\/em>10 (end).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/sup> R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s\nlanguage here indicates that all<\/em> of us can do that, which would seem to\ncontradict the point we made in note 4 above. But we contend that he\u2019s saying\nthat while each one of us is potentially<\/em> capable of such actions, only\nthe select few actually bring such things about in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim cites Eitz Chaim <\/em>28:4. This citation also\nrefers to righteous <\/em>Jews alone being higher than angels (see note 4 above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8 <\/sup>See 1:12 below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9 <\/sup>See Genesis 2:7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10 <\/sup>See 1:4, 6 (also see R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s final note to 1:6) above.\nAnd see Sha\u2019arei Kedusha <\/em>3:2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 11<\/sup> See Genesis\n28:2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n R\u2019 Chaim cites Zohar 3:123b here —\nwhich refers to all <\/em>Jewish souls. But his point once again seems to be\nthe one we suggested in note 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12 <\/sup>That\u2019s to say that only the lowest aspect of the\nanimating force of life manifested itself in Jacob because humans can only do\nwhat we\u2019re capable of doing when we\u2019re in the material world. This also sets us\napart from angels, who aren\u2019t ordinarily connected to the material world; for\nit\u2019s our very connection to the physical world as well as the spiritual worlds\nthat enables us to unite all worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As to the question whether\nnon-righteous Jews are loftier than angels or vice versa, R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s opinion\nwould seem to be that while non-righteous Jews are not as great as the select\nfew who have actualized their potential, the former are still more exalted than\nangels all the same simply because they have the potential<\/em> to be great given\nthat they\u2019re forever \u201cin motion\u201d and can ascend (or descend, G-d forbid) while\nangels will always remain \u201cstationary\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (c) 2019 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feel free to\ncontact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ———————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rabbi\nFeldman’s new annotated translation of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag\u2019s \u201cIntroduction to\nthe Zohar\u201d is available as \u201cThe Kabbalah of Self\u201d on Kindle here<\/a>. His\nannotated translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> and his\nannotated translation of Rabbeinu Yonah\u2019s “The Gates of Repentance”\nis available here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He has also\ntranslated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The\nDuties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rabbi\nFeldman also offers two free e-mail classes torah.org entitled \u201cSpiritual\nExcellence<\/a>\u201d\nand \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d that can\nbe subscribed to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nephesh Hachaim 1:10 1. Given all of the above concerning our makeup and capacities, it\u2019s reasonable to wonder whether angels are loftier than we are or we\u2019re loftier than they. And while that had been debated by some of the … Continue reading