Moses, the great leader, the man who spoke to God face-to-face, had just learned he wouldn't be entering the Promised Land. The people, witnessing this, were devastated. They wept, they mourned, they poured their hearts out in the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, begging God to answer Moses' prayer. Their cries, the Legends of the Jews tells us, rose all the way to the Throne of Glory (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 3:329).
But here's where things get… complicated.
According to the legend, it wasn't a straight shot to the divine ears. Instead, a veritable army—one hundred and eighty-four myriads, to be precise—of angels, led by the powerful Zakun and Lahash, descended and snatched away the words of the supplicants! Why? To stop them from reaching God.
Imagine that for a moment. Your heartfelt prayers, intercepted. It feels almost… dystopian, doesn’t it?
Now, the angel Lahash, bless his heart, seems to have had a change of heart. He tried to restore the prayers, to let them reach their intended destination. He attempted to aid Moses, perhaps understanding the gravity of the situation.
But Samael, often associated with the Adversary, found out. Talk about a workplace dispute gone cosmic! Samael, according to Ginzberg, fettered Lahash with chains of fire and dragged him before God. The punishment? Sixty blows of fire and expulsion from the inner chamber of God. All for trying to help Moses against God's "wish."
The implications of this are heavy. Was it truly against God's will to let the prayers through? Or was this a test, a cosmic drama unfolding with the fate of Moses, and perhaps the entire nation, hanging in the balance?
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
The people of Israel, seeing their prayers thwarted, witnessing the harsh treatment of the angel who tried to help, turned to Moses. Their words are heartbreaking: "The angels will not let us pray for thee." (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 3:329). It's a moment of utter despair, a feeling of powerlessness in the face of immense, unseen forces.
This story, found in Legends of the Jews, based on earlier midrashic sources, isn't just a strange anecdote. It's a powerful reminder that prayer, even when sincere and heartfelt, can face obstacles, both earthly and… well, heavenly. It forces us to confront the possibility that our pleas might not always be heard, or at least, not in the way we expect.
But perhaps, and this is just a thought, the very act of prayer, the striving to connect with the divine, is what truly matters. Even if there are angels intercepting, even if there are cosmic politics at play, the intention, the vulnerability, the sheer act of reaching out… maybe that’s enough. Maybe that's where the real power lies.