Mysteries of the Angel Lailah

From Perl Crane, 8 Years ago, written in Plain Text.

URL http://geopaste.scratchbook.ch/view/29ff1521

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Before You Were Born retells the Jewish myth of Lailah, the angel of conception. According to this midrash, there is an angel, Lailah, who brings the soul and the seed together and then sees to it that the seed is planted in the womb. In doing so, Lailah serves as a midwife of souls. While the infant grows in the womb, Lailah places a lighted candle at the head of the unborn infant, so he or she can see from one end of the world to the other. So too does the angel teach the unborn child the entire Torah, as well as the history of his or her soul. Then, when the time comes for the child to be born, the angel extinguishes the light in the womb and brings forth the child into the world. And the instant the child emerges, the angel lightly strikes its finger to the child’s lip, as if to say “Shh,” and this causes the child to forget everything learned in the womb. Still, the story implies, that knowledge is present, merely forgotten, much like the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious.

This myth also explains the origin of the mysterious indentation every person has on their upper lip. The myth goes on to say that Lailah watches over the child all of his days, serving as a guardian angel. And when the time comes for a person to take leave of this world, Lailah leads him from this world to the next.

I first heard this intriguing tale from my mother when I was a child. I remember running my finger over my lip after hearing the story. It’s the only folktale I remember her telling me. At the time I didn’t realize it was a Jewish story. Many years later I learned that there is a brief reference to Lailah in the Talmud, where Rabbi Haninah says that “The name of the angel in charge of conception is Lailah” (BT Niddah 16b). But the full myth of Lailah is found in Midrash Tanhuma, Pekudei 3, first published in Constantinople in 1522. This myth is a vivid example of how the oral tradition has remained alive in Judaism. Indeed, I have encountered many others who remember hearing this little mayseh when they were young.

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Before You Were Born retells the Jewish myth of Lailah, the angel of conception. According to this midrash, there is an angel, Lailah, who brings the soul and the seed together and then sees to it that the seed is planted in the womb. In doing so, Lailah serves as a midwife of souls. While the infant grows in the womb, Lailah places a lighted candle at the head of the unborn infant, so he or she can see from one end of the world to the other. So too does the angel teach the unborn child the entire Torah, as well as the history of his or her soul. Then, when the time comes for the child to be born, the angel extinguishes the light in the womb and brings forth the child into the world. And the instant the child emerges, the angel lightly strikes its finger to the child’s lip, as if to say “Shh,” and this causes the child to forget everything learned in the womb. Still, the story implies, that knowledge is present, merely forgotten, much like the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious.

This myth also explains the origin of the mysterious indentation every person has on their upper lip. The myth goes on to say that Lailah watches over the child all of his days, serving as a guardian angel. And when the time comes for a person to take leave of this world, Lailah leads him from this world to the next.

I first heard this intriguing tale from my mother when I was a child. I remember running my finger over my lip after hearing the story. It’s the only folktale I remember her telling me. At the time I didn’t realize it was a Jewish story. Many years later I learned that there is a brief reference to Lailah in the Talmud, where Rabbi Haninah says that “The name of the angel in charge of conception is Lailah” (BT Niddah 16b). But the full myth of Lailah is found in Midrash Tanhuma, Pekudei 3, first published in Constantinople in 1522. This myth is a vivid example of how the oral tradition has remained alive in Judaism. Indeed, I have encountered many others who remember hearing this little mayseh when they were young.

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