לא על ידי מלאך, “Not by means of an angel.” We are not redeemed by the work of an angel.
In the midrash section of the haggadah, towards the end of the interpretation of a series of verses, the Haggadah proclaims twice that it is God and only God who redeems us – first, lo al yedei malakh, “not by means of a ministering angel, nor by a fiery angel nor by a messenger, but the Holy One blessed be, bekhevodo uve’atzmo, in God’s own Glory and Essence” and then, in the next paragraph, ani velo malakh, “I, and not a fiery angel . . . I, and not a messenger . . . it is I and no other.”
In the IFS model, each person is understood to have many parts – let us call them angels – and those parts are often trying to do what I think of as the work of redemption. They are struggling mightily and with dedication to bring a sense of security and peace to the inner system through their many stratagems – worldly success and achievement and approval, relentless perfectionism, control, anxiety, and self and other criticism and aggression (the fiery angel) – and all these functions are important, but the thing is: none of them ultimately bring us redemption; none of them bring us peace and wholeness. They are all circling around the same human plane which can never bring relief, stuck in a never ending loop that does not ultimately succeed. Which is why remaining on this plane often also brings despair and hopelessness. There is truth to this hopelessness – we indeed cannot achieve redemption through our parts’ efforts.
Albert Einstein famously said: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” We have to jump out of one level of consciousness to a higher plane, the divine plane.
Efes biltekha go’aleinu liyimot hamashiach, we say in Shabbat morning prayers, “there is no other messianic Redeemer than You.” Ultimately, if we are to achieve true redemption, if we are to enter into and taste the messianic freedom and peace we yearn for, while still in this world, there is only one Source that can help us; it is the Higher Power that resides both outside us and inside us, in the form of Self. Only in that place of eternity and spaciousness, of unconditional commitment and love, and of ever renewing energy and strength, can we and our parts achieve peace, wholeness and fulfillment.
None of the other strategies will work long term. Yes, for a brief time, it may seem that we have filled the need for approval through our parts’ accomplishments or we may feel a bit of security knowing the doors are locked, but the hole and the fear, they open up again at a moment’s notice; we are like hungry ghosts, restless and unfulfilled. The only enduring solution is to jump into the plane of the divine, to allow some other force to enter the scene.
What this feels like is a letting go of human effort combined with an invitation or opening to something larger to come forward inside you. Lo al yidei malakh, “not by means of an angel,” can become a mantra. There are many such angels inside us who mean well and are doing their best, and will step in automatically to “do the job.” Many of us have very well developed strivers; when they hear there is a task to be done, even a spiritual one, they step up to the plate. Noticing them, noticing the presence of an angel – sacred, yes – but not the Source, we sense some agenda, some forcing or fearful or controlling energy, we honor them and ask them to step aside to allow for a non-efforting energy, for the ultimate Source to come forward and do the work. We cannot be healed or redeemed by anything less. Lo al yidei malakh. Not by means of an angel, but by the Holy One’s Essence Itself, bkhevodo uve’atzmo. It is for You alone that we wait.
This process involves a continual, progressive stepping back, going deeper and deeper into ourselves. Each time we uncover a new level of “angel,” we take one more step back; we offer to include this angel, too, in the embrace of the Ultimate Redeemer, making the space a little bigger inside until all is included, until we have stepped far enough inward to touch the place of the divine, the only “I,” I and no other, that can bring us healing and redemption.
