They say he was so strikingly handsome, he resembled an angel. And his story, well, it begins a bit like a fairy tale.

His parents, you see, had longed for a child for many, many years. His father, desperate to break this barren spell, gave his wife specific instructions. After she visited the mikveh – the ritual bath, a place of purification – she was to be vigilant. If anything unpleasant crossed her path, she had to return and immerse herself again. Only then, perhaps, would she be blessed with a child.

So, she followed his instructions. But each time she emerged from the mikveh, a black dog crossed her path. She returned, she re-immersed, and still, that dog appeared. Imagine her frustration! According to the Midrash Eleh Ezkerah, this happened not once, not twice, but eight times!

Now, the story takes a turn, a truly wondrous one. God, seeing her dedication and righteousness, was deeply moved. So much so, that He sent the angel Gabriel down to earth.

Gabriel, in this telling, took the form of her husband. He met her at the door of the bathhouse, looking exactly like the man she loved. He led her home, and that night, Rabbi Ishmael was conceived.

And that, my friends, is why they say he was as handsome as an angel – because, in a way, he was. The story suggests that Rabbi Ishmael was the child of a human woman and an angel, with Gabriel taking on the appearance of her husband and conceiving a child with her. It's a pretty incredible explanation for his exceptional beauty, isn’t it?

Now, the union of humans and angels is rare in Jewish lore. Very rare. But it's not unheard of. We find echoes of it in the rabbinic interpretations of Genesis 6, that mysterious passage about the "Sons of God" and the "daughters of men." Many understand those "Sons of God" to be angels. As Tree of Souls (Schwartz) points out, there's an extensive tradition linked to this idea, with numerous stories exploring the implications.

What does it all mean? Perhaps it's a reminder that extraordinary individuals can come from unexpected places, from unions that defy the ordinary. Or maybe, it's a testament to the power of devotion and the boundless compassion of the Divine. Whatever your interpretation, the story of Rabbi Ishmael's conception certainly gives us something to ponder, doesn’t it?