Shuvu Banim International - Rabbi Eliezer Berland

“MOSHE SENT ANGELS FROM KADESH TO THE KING OF EDOM” (BAMIDBAR 20:14) “KNOW THAT THROUGH SPIRITUAL FORCES CREATED FROM THE LETTERS OF TORAH THAT ONE INNOVATES, THESE FORCES ARE ACTUAL ANGELS… AND THEY PUNISH THE WICKED, IN THE ASPECT OF ‘FOR HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS FOR YOU… UPON THE LION AND VIPER YOU SHALL TREAD…’ (LIKUTEY MOHARAN 20) THE REBBE SAYS THAT THROUGH EVERY LETTER OF THE TORAH, YOU CREATE ANGELS! THESE ARE ACTUAL ANGELS! THESE ARE NOT “LIKE” ANGELS, OR AN “ASPECT” OF ANGELS, AND NOT “AS IF” THEY WERE ANGELS, BUT REAL ANGELS. THE REBBE SAYS: KNOW! FROM EVERY LETTER THAT COMES FROM YOUR MOUTH, ANGELS ARE CREATED – ACTUAL ANGELS! AND THEY GO OUT AND FIGHT AND PROTECT AM YISRAEL. When you speak words of Torah, you create angels, and these angels go out and fight for you. Here there’s some hardship, some problem, some trouble befalling the Jewish people, and these angels go and fight! From every letter, an angel is created. From every letter a person utters with holiness and purity, an angel is created! From every statement, every word in the Torah, angels are created – a great army of angels! “Hashem made a declaration, the heralds are a mighty army” (Tehilim 68:12) – battalions of angels are created! Multitudes of angels, millions of angels! And these are the angels that accompany us every moment! These are the angels that go with us and protect us, as it is written, “For He will command His angels for you, to protect you in all your ways.” And you need to believe in this with complete faith!! You need to believe that from every letter you say, an angel is created – and this is called emunat chachamim (faith in the Sages). Because what do the letters of GeMaRA stand for? Gavriel, Michael, Rafael, and Uriel – this is “Gemara (גמרא).” At my right is Michael, at my left is Gavriel, before me is Uriel… When you say letters, you create angels. If you said another word, there is the camp of Gavriel. Another word – the camp of Michael. Another, the camp of Rafael, Uriel… You said another word, you added more angels to the camp of Michael, to the camp of Gavriel, Rafael, Uriel – with every word, you create angels. WHEN PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE IN MOSHE, HOLINESS DIMINISHES, AND THE POWER OF THE ANGELS IS WEAKENED “Moshe sent angels to the king of Edom… Edom replied to him, ‘You shall not pass through me, lest I come against you with the sword.’ All of this was due to the diminishing of holiness” (Likutey Moharan 20). The Rebbe says in Lesson 20 that the angels that Moshe sent after the sin of the “Waters of Strife” were weak angels – sick, lame, crippled, and blind angels. The angels that Moshe sent were created after the Jewish people sinned in the Waters of Strife and didn’t believe in Moshe. Even though those angels were created from the pure utterances of Israel, their holiness was reduced. Because when people don’t believe in Moshe, when they don’t believe in the Tzaddik, the holiness is diminished, and it is impossible to create from the letters strong, might angels. Not like the angels that Yaakov Avinu sent to Esav – “Yaakov sent angels before him.” When Yaakov sent angels to Esav, all Esav’s 400 mighty men fled! The angels came to Esav and began to strike him as was necessary. He said to them: “Stop!” They replied, “Who are you that we should leave you alone? On whose merit should we leave you?” He replied, “I am the son of Yitzchak!” That didn’t help, and they continued striking him. He said to them, “I am the grandson of Avraham.” This also didn’t help. He said, “I am Yaakov’s brother!” They said to him, “If you are Yaakov’s brother, if you are the brother of the Tzaddik, then you are one of us.” They asked him, “Why didn’t you say you were Yaakov’s brother to begin with? You would have been spared all those blows. If you are Yaakov’s brother, you are a good friend of ours. You even deserve kisses!” Yaakov Avinu succeeded in creating strong angels, mighty angels that made things happen in the world. A person needs to create strong angels such as these that will go and make things happen in the world, angels that will go and roam the world and carry out all that needs to be done. WHEN A PERSON SENDS AN ANGEL, IT WILL CERTAINLY HIT ITS TARGET Every word in the Torah is an atom bomb! Every word of prayer or Tehillim is a missile. Even more than an atom bomb! If a person utters a letter in holiness and purity, it’s even more than an atom bomb. Every letter in the Torah is an angel. When you said a letter, you sent an angel from your mouth, and an angel is more powerful than an atom bomb! Because, when you send an atom bomb, who knows if it will strike its target or not? But when you send an angel, it will certainly hit its target! From every letter, angels are created, and these angels fight for us. They will fight for us against the wicked. They will fight for us against terrorists. “Mashiach will conquer the whole world without firing a single bullet” (Siach Sarfei Kodesh 2-2-67). Mashiach will conquer the entire world without a war – all through prayer! All through Torah! This is the “avodah (Divine service)” now. You don’t need rifles! You don’t need pistols! You don’t need anything! When there is Torah and prayer, you don’t need anything else. Now you only need to create angels. You need to learn and pray in holiness and purity. You need to guard your eyes. The more a person guards his eyes, the stronger each angel created from his learning and prayer will be. This angel will go and fight the gentiles, the terrorists, the heretics, the wicked. And according to the holiness of the person, so are the angels that are created. Everything is according to the holiness! Therefore, the entire avodah now is not to stop learning Torah, not to stop saying letters, not to stop creating angels!