The Gemara in Shabbat (88b-89a) relates that when Moshe Rabbenu ascended “upon high” to receive the Torah, the angels inquired of Hashem: “Why is there a mortal among us?” Hashem responded: “To receive the Torah.” The angels protested vociferously, claiming that it would be degrading to the Torah for it to be sent down to earth. Hashem commanded Moshe to respond. Moshe proceeded to go down the list of the Aseret Hadibrot, explaining how each one was relevant only to man and not to the angels, hence justifying the Torah’s descent to earth.The first one says “Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzaitichu me’eretz Mitzraim.” This is of course irrelevant to the angels because they were never in Egypt.
“Lo yihiyeh lecha elohim acherim” doesn’t apply to the angels because in their neighborhood only the true God is recognized. The analysis continues and culminates in Moshe Rabbenu focusing on “Lo Tirtzach, Lo Tinaf, Lo Tignov,” explaining that these do not apply to the angels because they possess neither the characteristic of jealousy nor a yetzer hara.
This analysis of Moshe Rabbenu was persuasive, and the angels immediately agreed with Hashem that the Torah be given to B’nei Yisrael. This well known Agadah from the Gemara poses an important question. Did the argument of Moshe Rabbenu stem from the acknowledgement of man’s weakness, or man’s greatness? This depends on how one interprets the dialogue in the Gemara.
When Moshe says to the angels that the Torah is not for them because they have no yetzer hara, he may mean that the angels are on too high a spiritual level for the Torah to be pertinent to them. The Torah was written and the mitzot formulated to give the Jewish people a system through which they could combat the yetzer hara, and live a spiritual life despite the inherent weakness of the human being. The level of angels was something to which we must aspire. Hence the Torah is inapplicable to the angels, who are created spiritually perfect.
Yet there may be an alternate view of the exchange related in the Gemara. In Sefer Nefesh HaChaim, Rav Chaim Volozhiner claims that the Jewish people are actually considered to be spiritually greater than angels. This is because we are commanded to perform mitzvot, the performance of which causes more of God’s divine light to be revealed in the world. The angels, however, do not have this power. If we apply this idea to the exchange in the Gemara, Moshe might actually be arguing that the Torah’s descent to earth is actually an ascent, whereby its potential to be used as a tool for greater spirituality to be brought into the world will be realized.
Along these lines, Rav Soloveitchik, in his essay Ish Hahalakhah (Halakhic Man) compares our physical lives in this world to the spiritual existence of the soul in the afterlife. He writes: “The Halakhah is not at all concerned with a transcendent world. The world to come is a tranquil, quiet world that is wholly good, wholly everlasting, and wholly eternal, wherein a man will receive the reward for the commandments which he performed in this world. However, the receiving of a reward is not a religious act; therefore, halakhic man prefers the real world to a transcendent existence because here, in this world, man is given the opportunity to create, act, accomplish, while there, in the world to come, he is powerless to change anything at all.”
It appears, therefore, that our ability to act, and the potential to raise ourselves and the world to a higher spiritual level is the raison d’etre of being a Jew. This seems to be in direct opposition to the following statement found in the Gemara (Berachot 10b): “Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Chanina said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: When praying (sh’emone esre), one’s feet should be together, as the verse (Yechezkel 1:6) states: ‘V’ragleihem regel y’sharah. (And their legs were a straight leg)’” In his commentary on the siddur, Olat Raya (Vol. 1, p. 262), Rav Kook explains that our legs have two uses. They can be used for the act of walking or the act of standing. When one walks, the legs are usable insofar as they are apart. When one stands, the legs are usable insofar as they are close together. When a Jew attempts through his religious life to achieve spiritual perfection, there are two crucial recurring steps in this ongoing process. There is “walking,” whereby a person takes further steps in his knowledge and spiritual growth, adding to his repertoire of learning, mitzvot, and midot. Then there is “standing,” whereby a person must involve himself in strengthening, intensifying, and internalizing of that which he has gained through the “walking,” so as not to lose what has been gained. In Tehilim (24:3), we read “Mi ya’aleh b’har Hashem, u’mi yakum bimkom kadsho.” Maintaining what one has achieved is just as crucial as the achievement. Rav Kook goes on to say that Torah provides the means through which we “walk,” through which we “ascend God’s mountain,” achieving the next stage in our spiritual growth. Tefilah, by contrast, is when we “stand.” Tefilah is when we have the opportunity to reflect on that which we have gained through Torah and Mitzot, and make it a part of us, so as not to lose it.
It is interesting that the verse cited in the Gemara as the source for keeping our feet together during Sh’mone Esre is referring to the angels seen by Yechezkel Hanavi during Ma’aseh Merkavah. During Tefilah, we view ourselves as angels, because angels do not know of spiritual growth. Their relationship with God is permanently static. Ours is fundamentally dynamic, but even we must sometimes have those static moments, emulating the angels, so as to make the changes and achievements a permanent part of us, obviously to enable ourselves to take the next “step” in our ascent.
