The Torah portion of Vayeira begins with the story of the three angels who visited Avraham Avinu in the guise of men.
According to our sages, these angels were Michoel, Gavriel, and Refael. The Midrash adds that Michoel stood in the middle, Gavriel was on his right, and Refael on his left. This is in keeping with the teaching of our sages that when three people are traveling on the road, the teacher (or the most important one) should be in the middle, the greater (of the students) should be on his right, and the lesser one on his left.
Angel of Healing
Refael’s mission was to heal Avraham from the wound of his Brit Milah. Refael is the angel associated with healing as his name indicates (Refael means “healed by G-d).
Why Not Use the Stone of Healing?
The Talmud says that Avraham had a precious stone which hung around his neck which sick people would look out at and be cured. (This power was transferred to the sun after Avraham’s passing.) As such, Tosfot questions why Avraham didn’t simply gaze at this stone and cure himself. They explain that since Avraham’s pain came from the brit milah which was a command of G-d he didn’t wish to cure it in a miraculous way. The healing which Avraham received via the angel Refael wasn’t considered supernatural as he is the angel in charge of natural healing as well.
Went to Save Lot
Although one angel cannot perform two missions, in this case Refael went from healing Avraham to save Lot from Sodom. These missions are considered synonymous since they both involve saving a life. Some explain that an angel may be sent on two missions if those missions are in different locations.
According to the Talmud it was the angel Michoel who went to save Lot. The original mission of Michoel to inform Avraham that Sarah would have a baby and the new mission of saving Lot are both acts of kindness and could therefore be carried out by the same angel. Despite this, Michoel was unable to also heal Avraham as healing is solely in the domain of Refoel.
Why Not Use Separate Angels?
Since G-d has no lack of angels, the commentaries question why Refael had to be sent to save Lot and this couldn’t be accomplished by a different angel. They explain that, had Lot not been saved, Avraham’s healing process would have been negatively affected as Avraham would have been devastated by the death of his nephew and his nephew’s family. As such, saving Lot was considered a continuation of the mission to heal Avraham.
Did Two Angels Save Lot?
One verse indicates that two angels were involved in saving Lot from the city (“The men held his hand... and they took him and placed him out of the city”). While another verse indicates that only one saved him (“And he said, ‘Run for your life!’”). The commentaries explain that as long as Lot was in the city, the angel Gavriel could not complete his mission to destroy it, so he participated in saving Lot. But once Lot was safely out of the city, it was only Refael who took care of him from that point on.
Saving Lot Became Possible through Avraham’s Words
The first Gerrer Rebbe points out that, according to the Midrash, Lot was saved in the merit of the fact that King David would be his descendant through Ruth, the Moabite. The Talmud says that the reason Moabite women are allowed to marry into the Jewish people is because they are not to be blamed for their people not greeting the Jews who were leaving Egypt with bread and water since it is not the way of women to “go out” (and assist strangers in public). The idea that women should remain (somewhat) secluded from communal affairs is learned from Avraham who informed the angels that Sarah was “in the tent.” As such, at first Refael’s only mission was to heal Avraham since at that time there was no point in saving Lot since, seemingly, Ruth would be unable to marry into the Jewish people. At the end of this mission, after Avraham declared that Sarah “is in the tent,” it became clear that the Moabite women would be allowed to marry into the Jewish people and that King David could therefore be born from Ruth. As such, a new mission was designated for him – to save Lot and make sure that Ruth would be born.
Meaning of the Name
The Midrash points out that the name of G-d is found within the names of the angels, e.g., Michoel, Gavriel, Refael, Uriel. This means that the energy which the angels receive from G-d enables them to fulfill their missions.
Names of the Angels Came from Babylonia
According to the Midrash, the Jewish people learned the names of the angels from the (non Jewish) Babylonians while they were in exile and began using those names from that time on. This includes the names of Michoel, Gavriel, and Refoel that are mentioned above as well as Uriel, Nuriel, Yurmaki (the angel of hail), and the names of other angels that are known.
Although angels have no essential names, these names describe the regular missions of these angels. This is why the Torah doesn’t mention the names of the angels in our Torah portion nor anywhere in the Tanach except in the books Daniel and Zechariah, both of which were written after the Babylonian exile, because those names weren’t in use during the earlier times of the Jewish people.
In the Book of Tuviah
Although the name of Refael isn’t mentioned in the Tanach, it is mentioned in the apocryphal book of Tuviah which was composed during the era of the Second Beit HaMikdash.
May we merit that G-d “order His angels to guard us wherever we go!”
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom Umevorach!
Copyright 2025 by Rabbi Aryeh Citron
