Does Judaism believe in Fallen Angels?

Question

I'm Jewish myself, fluent in Hebrew, I know about my religion, and I know that Judaism believes in angels, but I always ask myself what about FALLEN angels?

I'm confused here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel
In theTanakh (Hebrew Bible) Section.

And by all means, if Judaism does believe in Fallen Angels, can those fallen angels, fall for there own personal reasons to earth?

I know this question will be not open for answering at some point.. SO if you do have an answer for me (but when this is closed), then please email me it at: [e-mail]

Thanks!

Answer 1

Nope- no such thing. In Judaism only human kind have free-will, no other creature has the ability to differntiate between good and evil and to make a choice on what path to go. An angel when it is sent into the world always has only ONE job it can do at a time, thus why three angels appear to Abraham, each one has a specific job to do and one angel could not have done all three jobs. For an excellent discussion on angels, Ramban on the section of the Angels appearing to Abraham is excellent- he also quotes the understanding of the Ibn Ezra and Rashi as he disagrees with much of what they state.

The midrash quoted above, is seen as authoritative by some poskim, but most reject it (it is discussed when the "nefillim" are mentioned) since it would contradict many other midrashim and learnigs from remesh (allusion) and sod ("secret" - in the modern era more commonly referred to as Kaballah, but the term sod is commonly used by the rishonim)

Answer 2

In general, angels don't have free will, and therefore cannot become fallen.

There is a sort of "fallen angel" back story to an enigmatic phrase in Genesis 6:2. The verse in question is about the "sons of God" marrying the "daughters of man".
Say the rabbis:

God saw that Noah's generation was getting to be really, really bad. (This was some time before the Flood). Two angels, Shamchazai and Azael, said, "We were against the creation of man from the beginning, and, well, we told You so! Wipe 'em all out and start over."
God said, "So what would be the purpose of the universe if there were no people in it?"
The angels said, "Us angels, of course."
God: "If you had bodies, you'd be worse than they are."
Angels: "Nuh uh. If we had bodies we'd be simply angelic! Just let us live on earth and You'll see."
God: "If you must..."

So Shamchazai and Azael go down to earth, and waddayaknow, they eventually end up sleeping with all the "daughters of man". Score one for the human race.

It's not exactly fallen angels in the sense the Christians use, since they got permission to go slumming. On the other hand, I can't think of a situation where the term "fallen" would be more appropriate.

Answer 3

Let me try to help. First, Judaism does have an angelology that includes angels and what one might term "demons". However, as noted, they are all extensions of G-d's will. The angels (and especially demons) are a much, much smaller part of Jewish theology than in the Christian tradition. The purpose of the demons--which are delineated only in Kabbalistic texts--is an attempt to understand the nature of evil. They really come out of, rather than cause, evil. If this sounds a bit obtuse, it is--again, it's just not something that Judaism dwells on. There is no casting out of demons, no demonic possession, really none of that.

Answer 4

I am not a Jew nor do I follow Judaism, so I can only guess. If you read (what we Christians call) the New Testament, You will know what it says about this subject. It tells of how an angel, whose name was Lucifer, tried to usurp G-d's (use this in deference to your beliefs) position. He convinces 1/3 of the angles to follow him (this is when they 'fell'). These angels were thrown out of heaven to earth - they didn't fall.

I don't know how creatures without a free will chose to disobey G-d and rebel, but they did.

G-d bless Israel and give her peace.

Answer 5

Judaism DOES believe in fallen angels. Kabballistic texts such as the Zohar mention them. Of notable example are Uzza and Azael, who provided the evil prophet Bilaam with valuable information.

Answer 6

The wiki is a bit off. We believe in angels, but angels are only extensions of G-d's will. They do not have free will, and can only perform one task that G-d gives them.

Peace

Answer 7

No. The fallen-angel myth, though based on a (heavily over-interpreted) OT passage, is exclusive to Christianity.

Answer 8

Angels do not have free will, they can only obey.