Yom Kippur and Our Angel

“Come let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” 1
In this single, terse, statement God reveals the first stirrings of the primal being called the Adam. Deliberately, the Text tells us that this Adam-being was modeled after God’s image. There is much discussion throughout the epochs about what this means. For those who say that we are crafted in an image or likeness, what kind of image do we reflect? A physical likeness? A freedom of mind that other creatures do not enjoy? Rashi, the medieval rabbinic genius, says that the uniting factor between people and God is the fact that we speak. The subject of how we resemble God has generated a lot of discussion, and a lot of heat, throughout the ages. Another outstanding, unanswered question is: To whom is God speaking? Not clear.
The verse quoted above seems to implicate another being. After all, who is the “us?” Who is God talking to? Some interpretations believe that the use of “us” is like the royal “we.” This may be true. Some other, more ancient sources indicate that the “us” is God talking into His counsel. These were an earlier creation, the Angels. When God declares that man is to be created by an “us,” the Holy One is involving His chief counselors in the highest spheres.
Who or what are the Angels? Like the rest of the universe, the Angels were cast into being by a Divine decree. Like the water and luminaries; like the animals and the foliage the Angels were brought into existence by the Word of the Almighty.
On the second day of Creation God made a “firmament.” It is not clear what this firmament is except that it is some sort of boundary. In Hebrew rakia, is the firmament which became the boundary between the upper and lower universe. This is not a physical division like that air that separates water from the sky; it is a split of dimension. The rakia maintains a barrier between the physical realm and the other which lies just beyond out tactile senses.
According to Rabbi Acha ben Jacob, there is only the barest hint of a division between the upper and lower realms. Rabbi Acha tells us that the rakia, the point of separation, is as “narrow as a hair’s breadth.” 2 The once seamless universe was thus separated by this thin veil that spread across the cosmos. What was the purpose of the rakia? Why did God need to create it on the second day? That was the same day that the Holy One brought Angels into existence. The Master wanted to ensure that those celestial beings did not interfere with the life that He was about to bring out of the earth. Angels were to inhabit the upper sphere while humanity lived in the lower sphere.
In fact, one of the early sages of the Second Temple era indicted that such diametrically opposed creation was necessary. “God made one as the other,” he said quoting Ecclesiastes. 3 In other words, everything that God created has its mate, complement or opposite. The most obvious example in the Creation tale is the Man and Woman. Before the emergence of the Woman the Man is destitute. The Bible tells us that he search throughout creation to find the complement to his soul but he could not locate a “helpmate against him.” 4 Note that the Man does not seek companionship. The Adam converses with the animals of the Garden. The come to him. He names them. Yet, nothing comes close to finding his true opposite. Only when the Adam finally sees the “helpmate against him” does the man become whole. The two creations balanced one another. Each creation has its counterpart. “The Garden of Eden had Gehenom.” “The mountains have the hills. The oceans have the rivers.” 5
Two universes were created and divided. The rakia, firmament, was the barrier that kept them from intermingling. The lower universe is our universe. The upper universe is the dominion of the celestial creations. Even though the rakia is thread-thin it acts as an effective barrier to limit our vision and keep us focused on the physical realm.
The Hebrew word for Angels is melakhim. That is the same word for messengers. In fact, the Angels are the faithful messengers of the Almighty. Doing His bidding, the melakhim are dispatched by the Master. They frequent both universes as they rush to complete His will. As the Angels forever carry messages, they are true, devoted and loyal servants of God.
One day each year we draw proximate to the border of the rakia. Our soul becomes elevated. One day each year we closely resemble the inhabitants of the upper reaches. It is our great opportunity to cross the firmament. Yom Kippur. The great day of awe.
The Me’am Loez quotes the Angels on high as lauding the Jewish people on Yom Kippur. The Angel looks out over the sea of people garbed in white, their tallitiot (prayer shawls) draped over their shoulders crying out for forgiveness and mercy. “On this Day humanity is not far removed from the angelic beings,” an Angel begins.
“Just as we Angels pay no heed to our dress, wear no shoes, so too, Israel on this day stands before You in like manner.”
“Just as the Angels do not eat or drink so the people of Israel neither eat nor drink.”
“Just as the Angels wait upon the Lord and do not sit so Israel does not sit and remains attentive throughout the long day.”
“Just as there is no squabbling between Angels so there is peace among Your people.”
“Just as Angels are free of sin so Israel is clean of all sin today.”6

On this Day of Atonement the counsel of the Angels is validated. God asked them for their advice at the inception of the universe. “Come let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” He uttered to His Ministering Angels. When we come before God contrite, trembling, hungry and in need of forgiveness we rise to a grand level of holiness. “Little lower than Angels.”




1Genesis 1:26
2 Hagiga 15a
3 Ecclesiastes 7:14
4 Genesis 2:21
5 Hagiga Ibid
6 Aharay Mot