A Fallen Angel

Avraham Tzvi Schwartz

A person is not an animal with a potential to be an angel. Rather he is an angel that has fallen to the level of an animal.[1]

"I said of you," King David would sing, "you are gods; all of you, children of the Upper One..." Each one of us is an angel, a divine being.

"But," he continues, "... as people, you will die."[2] If we do not make the effort, if we do not detach ourselves from our animal drives, we lose all that is divine within us -- all that is eternal. We must work to be all we really are.

  Two Ways

The rewards and riches the Other Side promises us are the same rewards and riches Hashem wants to give us. What's the difference between the two of them then?

The Other Side wants us to chase after our pleasure, with desperation, exasperation -- the exasperation of having no one to rely on besides ourselves. Therefore, to achieve our ends, we even mislead others a little; we even cheat and steal.

Hashem however, wants us to achieve our ends in straight, honest ways, and with a full trust in Him -- the trust that only Hashem can give us our hearts' desires.

If we want to succeed in a real way -- a healthy, eternal way -- we have to pick Hashem's route.