Hashem tells the Jewish people,” ,הנה אנכי שלח מלאך לפניך לשמרך בדרך, behold, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way.” The Torah continues by saying that they should listen to this angel and then he will help them conquer the land. There is a similar statement after the sin of the golden calf, where Hashem says He will send an angel to lead them. The Jews get upset and Moshe says, “If You don't lead us we won't go.” The Abarbanel asks, “Here, there was no sin, so why did Hashem want to take away His protection and put them in the hand of an angel? Furthermore, why is there no outcry from the Jews; why doesn't Moshe say anything?
The Malbim answers these questions by saying that there are two types of angels, one who acts on his own without Hashem’ accompaniment and one is acting for Hashem, with Hashem’s guidance, like Hashem is talking and doing through the angel. So, after the eigel when the people sinned, Hashem said it in anger that He wouldn't be with them. That was an angel that wasn't going to be there for their benefit, so they didn't want it. However, here, this angel was sent as an additional protection for their benefit to make sure they would be protected along the way, but Hashem wasn't leaving them.
The Netziv says Hashem is always watching over His people. Nevertheless, most of the time He appoints the angels to take care of things, as it says “I appoint My angel to watch over you.” In our parsha, Hashem was still watching over us but sending angels ahead to watch over us. However, after the sin of the eigel, He took away His personal protection and put us in the hands of the angel.
There is an interesting story which shows that, even now, Hashem is watching over us and is sending angels in different forms to protect us. A Jew tells this story. “I was a taxi driver and had just picked up a passenger. It was a little hot and the man rolled up his shirt sleeve. I saw the numbers tattooed on his arm and was overcome with emotion. When I asked him to tell me his story, he told me that his whole family was wiped out except for a brother that he had heard made it here to Israel. No one knows of him, so he probably died here leaving me alone in the world.”
“At this point, it’s important to know my story. I am a Baal Teshuva, having grown up on a cheloni kibbutz with no connection to religion. There was a huge vat into which all the potatoes went with a huge blender on the bottom that would grind up all the potatoes. My job was to put the potatoes in. One day, I climbed the ladder to dump in the potatoes, lost my footing and fell into this huge vat of potatoes. I screamed, but no one heard me and I knew it was a matter of minutes until I would hit the blenders. For the first time in my life, I turned to Hashem and screamed Hashem help me; I don't want to die! As I am screaming, I see a hand come down from the top of the vat; I grab on and it lifts me out. The first thing I noticed on that hand was the number tattooed on it.
This was the hand of Zalman from the kibbutz. He was saved from the Holocaust but it had made him psychologically unwell, so he never said a word to anyone. I thanked him profusely for saving my life but he just kept walking without a word. His number was forever etched in my memory. Now, when the man in my cab rolled up his sleep, I saw that the number was almost identical to that of Zalman’s. Only the last digit was different. Therefore, when I heard he was looking for his brother, I didn't say anything but started driving to the kibbutz. My passenger was getting a little agitated asking where we were going but I just kept driving. I drove up to the kibbutz, right to Zalman’s door, hoping he still lived there. I get out of the car and bang on the door. Zalman answers and I give him a huge hug. He looks at me like he has no idea who I am. Then, my passenger gets out of the car and comes toward us. He takes one look at Zalman and they embrace in an emotional and long hug! My hunch had paid off. Zalman was my passenger’s long-lost brother! It was the first time I ever heard Zalman speak. I thought to myself, Zalman was sent as my angel from heaven to save my life, so I would live and be his angel to bring him to his lost brother.” There are no coincidences; Hashem has it all planned out; we just have to do our part and be the next guy’s angel!
