The Wounded Angels of Sin

Rav Tzvi Hirsch once remarked that he wished he could see the angels and klippos (forces of impurity) created from the sin of a Jew. He explained that he believed such a being would be wounded and pitiful, full of blemishes. The klippos created through the sins of the truly wicked are whole, healthy and strong, but those created by a Yid are weak and sickly. The reason is that even when a Jew sins, he does not do so wholeheartedly. The evil inclination forces him, and so the act is done only half-heartedly, under compulsion, and it creates a weak angel. Afterward the Jew surely repents, crying and doing teshuvah. This blinds the angel. As he continues with teshuvah and regret, he claps his hands in despair, strikes his forehead in remorse, beats his chest with his fist as he says the viduy (confession), and slaps his thigh. These gestures smash the body of the angel, breaking its hands and feet and cutting off its head. All its limbs are broken, and from head to toe this klippah is left crippled.