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Questions About G-d
1) Who is G-d? What is G-d’s
name?
2) How do we know He exists?
3) How can we gain awareness of G-d? How can we have a relationship with
Him?
4) I believe that G-d made the world, but not that He continues to be
involved.
5) Does G-d really care whether I switch a light on/off on Shabbat? Have
three drops of milk in my chicken soup etc.?
6) Why does G-d need us here? Why did G-d create us if He doesn’t need
anything?
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G-d has many
different names. We cannot know G-d in His essence;
we can only know His manifestation on earth. We interpret this manifestation
as His traits (mercy, wrath, kindness) or as His actions. We give different
names to each one of these, so that we can tune into the specific dimension
of G-d’s manifestation more perceptively.
Different languages have different vocabularies
to discuss the areas which that culture is rich in. Eskimos have different
names for different types of snow. The Turks have a separate name for eldest
brother, indicating that that is a completely separate category of sibling
in their mind. Biblical Hebrew is rich in spiritual words, because that is
what is important to we Jews. This allows us to think more richly and
accurately in this area. No wonder then, that we have many different names
for G-d.
It is always possible to
believe that G-d does not exist, but it is unlikely. If we investigate the
world as good scientists, we will see that G-d is the best explanation for
the facts that we see around us. There will always be other explanations as
well. The question is how closely they fit the facts. For example, we know
that the Big Bang began from an infinitely dense point of matter. But who
created this matter? We could cook up some explanation, or we could say we
do not know, or we could say G-d. The same goes for the anthropic principle,
or the fact that the four basic forces of nature are one, or how life first
began, etc.
In all cases G-d seems to be the most natural, likely answer (though not the
only possible answer) to explaining the facts at hand. This scientific
approach short cuts the endless philosophical explanations that theology and
metaphysics have engaged in for thousands of years.
RELATED:
Is There
A Creator In The World?
It is one thing to know that G-d exists. It
is another thing to know Him. The former is the G-d of the scientists,
abstract and removed. The latter requires passion. Like all relationships, a
relationship with G-d requires continuous work. Like all relationships, even
when we feel close to G-d, if we let up on the investment, we begin to feel
a distance.
One of the first steps to
knowing G-d is G-d awareness – seeing G-d in nature, noticing His
Providence, seeing the hidden miracles. Now, if He is involved with nature,
surely He is intimately involved with us. He sets up, in minute detail,
every challenge we face, and responds to every thing we do.
But, we need to go beyond
observing into engagement. Engagement means that we talk to G-d, that we ask
Him for things, that we study what He has to say in His Torah, that we
respond to what we know He wants from us, and that we feel loved and wanted
by Him. He is on our side and by our side.
Judaism is a fabulous tool
for feeling that G-d is with us, close and caring, everywhere we go. We will
begin to notice His Hand in everything we do and in everything
which surrounds us - nature, the stock exchange, the eyes we see with and
the clothes we wear.
The way Judaism does this
is by giving us various entrées in the form of prayer, Torah study and
mitzvos. Each one of these connects us to G-d in a different way, allowing
for a full, rounded relationship. The Torah formula is a very nurturing,
very exact, very wise way of getting close to G-d. After all, it is the
formula He Himself gave to us.
This approach gives us the
best of both worlds. It allows the comforting explanation of where we came
from, with no resultant responsibilities. It is also a sad, lonely,
intellectually abstract belief, the G-d of the philosophers.
It is hard to understand why G-d would do such a
thing – why He would bother to create a world and then back out. Certainly,
if He is capable of creating us, He is capable of looking after us. Why
would He want it any other way?
In Judaism, greatness lies
in the details. And so it does in nature or technology. A computer missing
one tiny microchip probably won’t work at all. Try tuning into a radio
station close but not exactly on the station. The result is an awful lot of
noise. Try baking a cake at 450 when it was supposed to be baked at 400.
Instead of a tasty dish we get a burnt cinder.
Spirituality is the same.
Harmonizing ourselves with spirituality requires that we tune in exactly to
the right station. It requires a focus on details. The devil is in the
details, as they say, but so is the spirituality. This is how G-d made His
world and He therefore cares very much about the details. It makes sense
that if G-d made the physical world that way, He also made the spiritual
world that way.
And why did He create it
so? Because the real test for us is not whether we can do something heroic
and get a medal. We are all capable of running to help the little, old lady
who fell down in the street. The heroic moment brings the best out of most
of us. But, can we sustain this sensitivity and relating day in and day
out.? We are all capable of smiling some of the time. The great person
always smiles when it is appropriate. We all have a great pray – maybe when
we really need something. The great person prays like that three times a
day. He/she is always patient when he/she needs to be, always connecting
with the pain and the joy of others, never overeating. Oh yes – greatness is
in the thousands of little everyday realities. And that’s just what G-d is
looking for.
Certainly, G-d did not
create us because He needs us. Being that He is perfect, there is nothing
that we can add to Him or give to Him. ------ No, G-d created us for us –
in order that He could share of His perfect goodness with us.
This concept we will explain in greater
detail in the section entitled the Messiah and the World to Come, under the
question, “What is the Purpose of Existence.”
more on:
Is There A Creator In The World?
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