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Angels and Rabbis

The rabbis of the Talmud were concerned about the idolatrous practices of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans who dominated the Jews at the time. Therefore, they downplayed the role of angels. However, during that time, around the 2nd century, the Sefer Yetsirah or Book of Creation was written. It contained the enumeration of the "Ten S'firot of Nothingness" and the doctrine that G-d is manifested in 3 worlds. The third world is called "yetsirah", the world of formation (1.8, p.65)." The world of Yetzirah is referred to in Kabbalah as the world of angels (2.10)." There are ten individual classes of angels in the Yetzirah: Chayot Hakodesh, Ofanim, Er'elim, Chashmalim, Seraphim, Malachim, Elohim, B'nai-Elohim, the Cherubim, and the Ishim.

The medieval Jewish philosophers treated the belief in angels in a more rationalistic spirit. One of these philosophers, the Rambam, (Moses ben Maimon or Maimonides), declared that angels are created by G-d and "with whom G-d consults before taking action (2.5)." Furthermore, the Rambam divided up the ten classes of angels into ten levels. The Rambam included the "Levels of Angels" in the Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah (The Laws of the Basic Principles of Torah), chapter 2 verse 7. The "Levels of Angels" in the "Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah" (The Laws of the Basic Principles of Torah) can be found at:
http://www.btzedek.com/scholarship/scholar001.html or at http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker/MadaYHT.html

The highest level consists of the Chayot Hakodesh (the Holy Chayot), then come the Ofanim, the Er'elim, the Chashmalim, the Seraphim, the Malachim, the Elohim, the B'nai-Elohim, the Cherubim, and the Ishim. G-d is above all the ten levels, thus angels are underneath God's throne. The Chayot, the Ophanim, and the Erelim are the angels that Ezekiel saw in his vision of the Divine Chariot. The Ishim are the angels who spoke with the Prophets and appeared to them in prophetic visions. Ishim are the closest to that of the intellect of Man.

These levels correspond to the "s'firot emanations". I found a chart that showed this correspondence at: http://www.astralcitadel.com/Angels/Planetary_Angels.htm. Using this chart, I created a table that shows the levels of the angels with the corresponding s'firot, with the specific archangel, the attributes of the angels, the archetypes (based on Carl Jung's theories) these angels are personified by, and the days of creation. The s'firot have been represented in many ways. The one that makes the most sense to me is showing them in concentric circles which can be found at Ayn Sof Kabbalah Community Connections.

The most powerful proof of the role of angels is found in Jewish Prayer.