|   MESORA |

 

 

Who is God?

What can we know about Him?

 

RABBI MOSHE BEN-CHAIM

 

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How can we safely and assuredly accept truths and reject falsehoods? First, it is crucial that we patiently think about ideas for ourselves, not trusting others, or defending notions because respected individuals shared them; this disease has infected many for too long. One’s reputation or massive followers cannot validate falsehood, even Moses made errors. And when two Rabbis have contradictory views, be they from previous generations or from today, one or both of them must be wrong. But they cannot both be right. We must be careful not to allow respect to trump reason. That is a corruption of the mind. If two people argue whether or not God exists “inside” the world, one view is wrong. You must be convinced of this, otherwise your mind is disengaged and you will learn nothing. You must use reasoning to determine who is correct and who is wrong. You must identify contradictions and gain the courage to disagree with anyone when your mind sees error. You must trust your mind. This is why God granted each one of us the faculty to think, and to arrive at proofs. God does not wish us to blindly follow others, but to think into matters carefully and arrive at our own conclusions.

We must also realize when we don’t know something, and then persist in investigation and thought, until we prove or reject an idea conclusively. Do not let laziness win out over your pursuit for truth. Do not let the fear of arguing with others and their rejection of you be any concern when seeking truth. Rabbi Israel  Chait said, “There’s no playing politics when seeking truth.” Meaning, there are no niceties: we must be ruthless when seeking truth, and our counterparts must have the same honest allegiance.

You must also be able to agree to a truth, even when your emotions find it disturbing. Do not allow your emotions to dilute or obscure truths.

We must also veer from resisting truth when they conflict with our cherished beliefs.

If you follow this essential, rigid and diligent path, you will learn what is real and reject what is false.

 

When is something true? Maimonides taught that truth conforms to 1 of 3 tests: 1) It is God’s word, 2) its is witnessed through our senses, or 3) reason dictates it must be so. 1) God’s word is Bible, Torah, Prophets and Writings. 2) Our senses see a car, or hear a jet; we know the car and jet to be real. 3) Seeing a book or a home, we know an author or builder exists, even without meeting them. But without God’s authority, physical evidence or reasoned conclusions, we do not accept any matter as true. For this reason we reject other religions, we do not accept space aliens as proven, and we don’t accept skyscrapers are accidentally formed.

 

How do we apply this to knowing what God is?

 

Moses asked God to teach him His true nature. God replied, “Man cannot know Me while alive” (Exod. 33:20). But Moses knew God existed, as did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Leah, Rachel, Aristotle, Einstein and all wise people.

 

What can we know about God?

 

As our prayers state, we refer to God as the creator of the universe. He is not Earth’s “energy,” nor is He “in” the universe: both are physical properties. Energy and physical existences are all creations. Thus, God is not “energy,” and God is also not “in” the universe, since before the universe was created, God existed. Thus, He exists separate from the physical, spatial universe, and therefore He does not occupy space or location, which are physical. Space is a creation. God exists without space. Just as an idea does not occupy space, yet it exists, God too does not occupy space. God is not “here or there.” He exists in a way we cannot grasp while alive. This might be a more difficult challenge for people who wish to force God into our 3-dimensional space. They cannot imagine something outside of our 3 dimensions, and therefore corrupt their view of God, by suggesting He exists inside the world. Some people go so far as to claim that there is a part of God inside every human. Again, motivated by human need, this view is also corrupt.

 

As God created all that is physical, God is not physical. He has no place. We cannot know what He is. But we know He is the cause of all that exists, and that means there is no other power; He is the “only” cause for everything that exists. Blow after blow during the 10 Plagues, all Egypt’s gods were inanimate and silent. All peoples’ gods were—and are—silent; no people ever experienced metal or ivory idols move, act or communicate with them.

 

All existences require God’s will to continue existing. God’s creation does not dictate continued existence. After God created you, you continue to exist only as He also wills your continuation. Being created does not demand continued existence.

 

From God’s Torah, we learn that God is perfectly just, that He knows all, including every person’s actions and thoughts, as with Cain. We learn that God punishes man for his sins, and rewards those that are close to Him; He saved the Jews from Pharaoh. God is merciful, as He canceled His planned destruction of Ninveh when those Assyrians repented wholeheartedly (Book of Jonah).

We know that God favors charity and righteousness, as these were Abraham’s traits which God praised (Gen. 18:19). God also records Rebecca running to serve Eliezer at the well, endorsing kindness.

 

What is God? He is the cause of the universe, Who is not physical, Who is not “in” the world, and Who designed Earth for man’s benefit. He is the cause of everything, Who wishes man to have the most enjoyable existence through engaging wisdom and morality. We don’t know why God created what He did, but we can know what He created, and what His will is for mankind: Torah. We can appreciate the great potential we each have due to God’s kindness and His will that we possess a soul, an intellect, that can find the greatest enjoyment in the pursuit of His wisdom, as seen in Torah and in the universe. God is the only Cause of the universe Whom we must praise and thank.