Shakai & Original Intention

In his post on the malach Metatron, Reb HaQoton writes:

The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 3b) writes that before the destruction of the Holy Temple, Metatron was charged with education all Jewish children in Torah.

He links this to the midrash in Niddah 30b, further suggesting that:

Perhaps he is the famed angel who, according to Niddah 30b, teaches babies all the Torah and wisdom possible and pinches them on their lips to create a Philtrum and make them forget all their learning right before they are born.

This is important to consider because, as Reb HaQoton further notes:

Although Metatron exerts some power over the physical world, he does not have the ability to forgive human sins as HaShem does, for he is a mere messenger of G-d. Therefore, according to the exegesis of the Talmud about Exodus 23:21, HaShem warns the Jews not to confuse Metatron with Himself. Nonetheless, some did not heed to this warning.

In my mind, it is clear then, that one way to distinguish intellectually the source of some "power" acting in the physical world - be it directly from Hashem or through the malach Metatron - is hinted at in the story of the meeting of Rabbi Yishmael Ben Elisha with Metatron as describe in the Talmud (Brachot 7a), where he directed this prayer directly to Hashem:

May it be Your will in front of You that Your mercy should conquer Your anger and that Your mercy should be revealed amongst Your attributes, and that You shall act with Your children using the attribute of mercy, and You should treat them to a greater extent than their judgment.

Hashem would have the ability to act (Shakai) in response to this prayer. Metatron would not. Why did Elisha Ben Avuyah become a heretic as a result of his trip through the PaRDeS? He asked Metatron for mercy thinking it was Hashem and Metatron couldn't deliver it in the context of sin's presence among the nation. Thinking Hashem to be merciful, this lack of mercy was evidence in the mind of Ben Avuyah that Hashem did not "exist" (for lack of a better descriptive word).

Importantly, in my own case and given that it has been posited that a malach is responsible for teaching one Torah in the womb, I must reiterate my words as written in A Mystery Of Consciousness:

There were no malachim (angels) in my memories, only you and I and others we have known, know and will know.

There were no malachim, and thus, I remain connected to the memory of my preincarnate "existence".

Moreover, as I have written in Gemara:

The two-letter hebrew root, mem-tet, symbolizes the archangel Metatron in Jewish mystical literature.There are 3 three-letter hebrew roots derived from this two-letter root, mem-tet. They are:

שמט shin-mem-tet - (remove support [1])

מלט mem-lamed-tet - (move fast and escape [1])

מוט mem-vav-tet - (totter and yoke [1])

The first two three-letter roots pertain to the psychological situation where one is dependent upon angelic support for the mystical experience of the divine chariot. It is written [Zohar I, 97b; III, 118a] that the 4 angels Gavriel, Michael, Rafael and Uriel support the divine chariot. Consequently, should one of the angels withdraw support, the chariot would collapse. Should the chariot collapse, one would need to move fast to escape the harmful repercussions of that event.

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But, there were no malachim in my memories. What can this mean? As the Arizal has written on the Torah:

The original intention was for humankind to be conscious of G-d's Unity much more directly.

Consequently, no angels need apply. And in my case, they didn't.

Footnote:

[1] Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark

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