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Do angels have Freedom of Choice?

by Rabbi Yossi Marcus

  

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Generally we say that only human beings have freedom of choice and that angels just do what their told. They have no evil inclination, so they wouldn’t want to do anything wrong even if they did have the choice.

But, we do find that certain angels were punished, which would imply that they do have freedom of choice.

For example, the Talmud1 relates that Elijah the prophet once revealed to Rabbi Judah the Prince that if Rabbi Chiya and his sons would pray simultaneously the Messiah would arrive. Rabbi Judah then called a public fast day and during the prayer service ordered Rabbi Chiya and his sons to lead the service. (On a fast day, three people lead the services.) When they reached the prayer of “He restores life to the dead,” an allusion to the Messianic era, the world shook. A voice was heard in heaven: “Who revealed secrets in the world?”—referring to the secret of how to bring the Messiah. And the reply was: “Elijah.” Elijah was then brought and administered sixty lashes of fire.” This story seems to imply that Elijah, an angel, has freedom of choice and can incur punishment by choosing wrongly.

angels in general do not have free choice
Furthermore, the Talmud2 relates the story of four sages who entered heaven by reciting G-d’s ineffable Name. Only one of them emerged unscarred from the experience. One died; another went crazy; and a third became an apostate. Why did this last one become an apostate? He saw the angel Matat who had permission to sit while recording the merits of Israel. He said, “Hasn’t it been taught that in Heaven there is no sitting…and no weariness? Perhaps [G-d forbid] there are two divinities in Heaven?” Matat was then ejected and administered sixty blows of fire.

The exact meaning of these stories aside, they seem to imply that angels do in fact have free choice and can therefore be punished.

Some commentators maintain that these “punishments” should not be taken literally and they are merely metaphoric. However, Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, a 19th century mystic, says that although angels in general do not have free choice, the two angels mentioned in the above stories, Elijah and Matat (who was originally Enoch), were actually humans who had ascended to heaven and became angels. So even in their celestial state they still maintained their human capacity to choose.3

Footnotes

  • 1. Talmud tractate Bava Metzia 85b
  • 2. Talmud tractate Chagigah 14b-15a
  • 3. Source: Mi Camocha 5629 (end).
TAGS: angels, angel

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Talmud
Usually referring to the Babylonian edition, it is a compilation of Rabbinic law, commentary and analysis compiled over a 600 year period (200 BCE - 427 CE). Talmudic verse serves as the bedrock of all classic and modern-day Torah-Jewish literature.
Judah
1. The fourth son of Jacob and Leah. He was blessed by Jacob to be the leader of the tribes. Consequently, the Davidic royal dynasty is from the tribe of Judah. 2. The southern part of Israel which was occupied by the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and always remained under the reign of the kings from the tribe of Judah.
Elijah
A legendary prophet who lived in the 8th century BCE, and saved the Jewish religion from being corrupted by the pagan worship of Baal. He never died, he was taken to heaven alive. According to Jewish tradition, he visits every circumcision and every Passover Seder table.
Lubavitch
Also known as “Chabad,” Lubavitch is the name of a Chassidic Group founded in the 1770s. “Lubavitch” is the name of the Belarusian city where four of the Chabad Rebbes (leaders) were based. Today, the movement is based in Brooklyn, New York, with branches worldwide. Two of the most fundamental teachings of Chabad are the intellectual pursuit of understanding the divine and the willingness to help every Jew who has a spiritual or material need.
G-d
It is forbidden to erase or deface the name of G-d. It is therefore customary to insert a dash in middle of G-d's name, allowing us to erase or discard the paper it is written on if necessary.