In Parshat Mishpatim, we meet a mal’akh (what’s often translated into English as “angel”).
“Behold, I am sending a mal’akh ahead of you… then I shall be the enemy of your enemies, and I will oppress your oppressors.” (Sh’mot 23:20,22)
The Kadosh Barukh Hu gave one of His mal’akhim the task of helping Israel conquer our land. The text doesn’t provide the name of this mal’akh, but our sages reveal it to be “Mattatron” – derived from the fact that his position is behind the Divine Throne of Glory (“mata” means “behind” & “taron” means a “chair”).
The fact that a mal’akh is sent on this mission is surprising.
In Parshat Ki Tisa, after the nation was forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf, the Creator told Moshe that “I will send a mal’akh in front of you, and I shall drive out the Canaanite” (33:2).
Moshe objected here, saying that he did not want a mal’akh but rather HaShem Himself to lead Israel.
“But you did not tell me whom You would send with me.” (33:12)
“If Your Presence does not accompany us, do not bring us forward from here.” (33:15)
Moshe even said that if the Creator didn’t lead the nation Himself, the people would not be interested in advancing to Eretz Yisrael.
But here, in Parshat Mishpatim, Moshe didn’t react to the news at all.
On Sh’mot 23:20, Rashi comments that “Moshe was told that the people would sin [with the Golden Calf] and that the Divine Presence would be withdrawn.”
According to this view, a mal’akh accompanying the people was simply one of many possible alternatives.
But the Ramban offers a different explanation, teaching us that the mal’akh in Parshat Mishpatim is different from the one mentioned later in Parshat Ki Tisa.
According to the Ramban, the term mal’akh is fluid and doesn’t always refer to a created messenger. Sometimes, it refers to a specific manifestation of the Creator’s own glory—the Sh’khina (Divine Presence).
Before the sin of the Golden Calf, the “mal’akh” promised was the Sh’khina itself—the highest form of Divine providence.
But after the sin, the Creator threatened to withdraw His Presence and send a “regular” messenger (a created mal’akh) instead. Sending such a mal’akh would be a sign that the Kadosh Barukh Hu is upset with Israel, and that He no longer guides the nation directly but only through an intermediary. This is what Moshe refused, demanding that the Creator Himself lead Israel as before.
The mal’akh in Parshat Mishpatim , before the sin, is one that is linked to the “face” of the Creator as in the verse, “A mal’akh from before Him (literally: a mal’akh of His face) saved them, out of His love and mercy” (Yeshayahu 63:9).
This specifically refers to the Kadosh Barukh Hu directly guiding His nation. This is a type of mal’akh that is desired both by the Creator and by the nation as a whole. And that is what Moshe meant when he said, “If Your Presence does not accompany us” – he wanted contact with the mal’akh “close to the Divine Presence.”
And this explains why it is written, “Do not rebel against him… for My name is within him” (23:21). The sages took this to mean “Do not replace Me with the mal’akh.”
Do not become confused between the mal’akh and HaShem, as it’s important to differentiate between the Creator and His messengers.
The Torah therefore warns that even the mal’akh who is called by His own name – “for My name is within him” – must never be considered a replacement for the Creator, as was done by those at the end of the Second Temple period who deified a man whom they thought to be an angel.
Just as He redeemed us with the aid of a “mal’akh of His Presence,” let us hope that the full verse from Yeshayahu quoted above will be fulfilled: “A mal’akh from before Him saved them, out of His love and mercy. In His mercy He redeemed them and took hold of them, and He carried them forever.”
Translation by Dr. Moshe Goldberg
