Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

This past week in our Shabbat-morning study, we embarked on a discussion about the role of angels in Judaism. As a text for our study, we are using A Gathering of Angels: Angels in Jewish Life and Literature, by Rabbi Morris B. Margolies, my rabbi when I was growing up here in Kansas City. Our engaging discussion moved us toward an initial notion of the angels within each of us.

What reservoir of angels can we call on to strengthen our steps? Put another way, what internal emotions do we draw from in making decisions whether to do good for others or to act only in our own self-interest? This all raises further questions regarding the balance of obligations in our covenant with G-d, and how we employ the concept of angels to connect more closely to at least a conceptualization of G-d, if not G-d as a concrete reality.    

In this time of great challenge and thanksgiving, may we draw on our better angels to better our community and our world, and to bring meaning, stability and comfort to our own lives.