Three angels "dressed", as it were, as human beings visited Avraham Avinu on the third day after he circumcised himself at 99 years of age. When they finished their "visit" and went to S'dom, we only find that only two angels actually made that trek. Rashi explains that every angel can perform only a single mission, and that each mission is executed entirely by a single angel. Therefore, three angels were needed for the visit to Avraham Avinu; one to heal Avraham Avinu, one to deliver the good news that Sara Imeinu would be bearing a son the next year, and one to destroy S'dom. Only two were needed in S'dom; one to destroy the S'dom and one to save Lot.
Why the angel whose mission it was to destroy S'dom needed to also visit Avraham Avinu is beyond the scope of this TftD (grist for a future TftD). There was one angel who both visited Avraham Avinu and also went to S'dom: Rafael. I was careful not to write "and continued on to S'dom", because (as Rashi has told us, quoting Chazal), each angel has only one mission and each mission is assigned wholly to one angel. How then to we see Rafael in both places? In fact, there is a much bigger question. We learn from Yaakov Avinu's fight with another angel that an angel's name is nothing more nor less than his mission. How then can there be an angel with a permanent name at all?
There are four archangels that we mention before the bedtime Sh'ma: Michael, Gavriel, Uriel, and Rafael. I wrote once before about how Rafael was able to have two missions. There I gave a technical reason; the nuts and bolts of how it works. With the naming of my new grandson, Rafael Simcha, I have had some thoughts about the deeper meaning of Rafael's missions.
It is hard to find a cure for some diseases... the common cold and cancer being two. Why? Because there is no "common cold germ" nor single cause of cancer; those terms are really just umbrella terms of categories of diseases that have 100s of variants. There is no such thing a cure for cancer or a cold; each one needs to be addressed on its own terms and context. Each requires a unique and innovative approach.
Rafael Simcha is not named for anyone in particular; he is his own person with a fresh start. My daughter and son-in-law joked that all the other names were taken. I think what they meant that there are lots of people doing all sorts of very good jobs, but the world right now needs healing more than ever. That explains Rafael; what about Simcha? R' Henoch Liebowitz, ztz"l was wont to say: You need two things in this world, faith and a sense of humor. I love the name Rafael Simcha; as is his name, so should he be.
Why the angel whose mission it was to destroy S'dom needed to also visit Avraham Avinu is beyond the scope of this TftD (grist for a future TftD). There was one angel who both visited Avraham Avinu and also went to S'dom: Rafael. I was careful not to write "and continued on to S'dom", because (as Rashi has told us, quoting Chazal), each angel has only one mission and each mission is assigned wholly to one angel. How then to we see Rafael in both places? In fact, there is a much bigger question. We learn from Yaakov Avinu's fight with another angel that an angel's name is nothing more nor less than his mission. How then can there be an angel with a permanent name at all?
There are four archangels that we mention before the bedtime Sh'ma: Michael, Gavriel, Uriel, and Rafael. I wrote once before about how Rafael was able to have two missions. There I gave a technical reason; the nuts and bolts of how it works. With the naming of my new grandson, Rafael Simcha, I have had some thoughts about the deeper meaning of Rafael's missions.
It is hard to find a cure for some diseases... the common cold and cancer being two. Why? Because there is no "common cold germ" nor single cause of cancer; those terms are really just umbrella terms of categories of diseases that have 100s of variants. There is no such thing a cure for cancer or a cold; each one needs to be addressed on its own terms and context. Each requires a unique and innovative approach.
Rafael Simcha is not named for anyone in particular; he is his own person with a fresh start. My daughter and son-in-law joked that all the other names were taken. I think what they meant that there are lots of people doing all sorts of very good jobs, but the world right now needs healing more than ever. That explains Rafael; what about Simcha? R' Henoch Liebowitz, ztz"l was wont to say: You need two things in this world, faith and a sense of humor. I love the name Rafael Simcha; as is his name, so should he be.
Comments