Whenever the congregation gets to the El Adon prayer in Shabbat-morning services, my son and I like to sing its up-tempo melody and smile at each other just waiting for the last line –- “Tiferet u’gedulah, seraphim v’ ofanim v’chayot hakodesh.” Why the anticipation? Because our current siddur translates it as “celestial creatures” give glory and greatness. We like that line because it sounds like it comes right out of a Jewish science fiction movie. We imagine earthlings beaming down to a new planet to encounter aliens. And these “celestial creatures” appear not just this once, but several times in the Shabbat morning prayers, generally near the words “kadosh, kadosh, kadosh” (holy, holy, holy). So what’s with these sci-fi characters?

Our new siddur doesn’t attempt to translate these terms, leaving them in the original Hebrew. Instead, it adds a footnote saying that the seraphim and ofanim are among the highest level of angels.

The seraphim are fiery angels with two sets of wings as envisioned by the prophet Isaiah (perfect for sci-fi, no?). It is these seraphim who chant kadosh, kadosh, kadosh in a chorus and whom we imitate when we stand on our tip-toes. The chayot are also winged but are said to have three sets of wings rather than two. The ofanim are wheel-like beings who support the chariot on G-d’s throne, as envisioned by the prophet Eziekel. All of these beings are said to be very noisy – as the words of our siddur say, they make a “rash gadol.” So, if this were a sci-fi movie it would be in Dolby sound!

Most Jews today don’t consider angels to be a large part of Jewish belief and they don’t play much of a role (if any) in Jewish practice. But they are definitely there in the siddur, chumash, and writings. The classic commentator Maimonides said that there are ten levels of angels with the chayot ranked as the highest, the ofanim as second-highest, and the seraphim as fifth.