BEING ABOVE THE ANGELS

Topic: Kabbalistic Concepts

In the Story of Creation it says, “The Creator created us for the purpose of achieving the same abilities that the Creator has; just as the Creator has control over nature, so, too, are we meant to come to that state.

There is a beautiful and powerful teaching from Rav Avraham Azulai, one of Rav Berg’s favorite kabbalists. Rav Avraham Azulai wants to tell us the secret of miracles. He says we should know that the way to connect to the Light of the Creator is by awakening a strong desire to be connected. Through awakening a desire to be connected to the Light of the Creator by both doing the spiritual work and awakening the desire for the spiritual work, a person uses the soul over the body and the spiritual over the physical, and is therefore meant to come to the state of what Rav Ashlag calls devekut, unification of our soul through our spiritual work and through the removal of ego. And the person then elevates to a state where the entire world is underneath him and the spiritual work is above him. He comes to a state where he does in this world what he desires. He comes to a state where he is above.

And then Rav Avraham Azulai goes a little bit deeper. What runs this world? The concept of angels, which the kabbalists and the Zohar speak about. What makes the sun rise and the oceans flow? The angels they are controlled by. A person who does the spiritual work as it's meant to be done, and achieves this level of connection to the Light of the Creator, comes to a state above the angels, and then he can tell the angels, and therefore, nature, what to do. Because a person who's truly doing the spiritual work ultimately comes to a state where he or she is above the angels. The angels control nature, but we can get to a state where the angels are literally under our hands, as Rav Avraham Azulai says, to do what we tell them to do. And this, he says, is the secret of how one can create miracles. It is also how, ultimately, Mashiach will come and darkness will be removed from this world, because when enough of us get to a state where we're above the Angel of Death, above the negative angels, then we can tell them, “You have to stop. You can't do this negativity anymore. You can't bring this death anymore.”

Let's understand what Rav Avraham Azulai is saying and why it's so important to have this consciousness during this time. The kabbalists teach that the month of Nissan, the month we are in, is the time in which the angels are reinstated in their place and given the Light and ability to do their work for the year; the angel of the ocean is given his job again, the angels of the moon and the sun are given their positions again, and so on.

Therefore, what do we ask for? We ask that we at least be given the possibility to get to a state where we are above the angels. Because again, as Rav Avraham Azulai says, this is the secret of miracles. When an individual develops and grows so much that he gets to a state above the angels, then he can tell the angels of sickness, challenge, difficulty, and so on, to go away. This is the time, as the kabbalists teach, when the angels are being put in their place, and therefore, the time when we have to ask to at least have the potential through our spiritual work this year to elevate above them, and, as such, be able to control them.

In asking ourselves how far we are from achieving that level of connection to the Light of the Creator where we are totally above the angels, we need to know it's not a zero sum game, it's not that we’re either here or there. It's a process. And if we are honest with ourselves, we know it’s not possible to leave this Shabbat and be completely above all the angels. Therefore, what we ask for on Shabbat Vayikra is two things. One, during this time, when the angels that control nature are being put in their place, we ask to be given at least the potential to be able to ultimately go above them and control them.

And second, which should happen right now, is to be given a little bit more control over them than we had before. We might not be able to influence them 100% of the time, but maybe 10% or even 15% of the time. Every one of us is at a different state, a different level, and we have to remember the reason our soul is in this world, the purpose of our spiritual work, is to ultimately come to that state, as Rav Avraham Azulai says, where we are above and have control over those angels. That's where we ultimately need to get to, and that Light and consciousness shines right now.

Yet, we know, being honest with ourselves, that we’re not there yet and it's not possible for us to leave this Shabbat with the totality of that gift… but, we can ask for a little bit more control. Again, we might not be able to rule over every single one of the angels or the totality of nature. But we can ask to be given a little bit more control over nature, something we can definitely get on this Shabbat.

This is what's available to us, and I think, I hope, for most of us, it is an exciting possibility. And as we said, we have to have the consciousness of where we ultimately need to reach - the state where Avraham Azulai says we have complete control and are above the angels, telling them always what to do. That is the level of what we call Mashiach, the level of Gemar HaTikun, the End of the Correction. But what we want to ask for on Shabbat Vayikra, and what is definitely available to every single one of us, is that as the angels are being reinstated, we receive a little bit more control over them.

The Light of the Creator wants to give us this gift, but we have to be conscious of it and ask for it. On Shabbat Vayikra, through our connection, consciousness, and desire to gain a little bit more of that control, we have the opportunity to get one step closer to the ultimate state for which our soul came into this world.