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Nature of G-d

Answered by Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt

Question

Is G-d conscious of what He does (in our sense of the word)? Is G-d’s will as free as is ours (Can He choose among possibilities)? Or may He change his own rules?

Answer

In truth we do not know much about God. In the words of Maimonides, “If I knew Him I would be Him”. To understand is to define, to define is to attribute characteristics. We only understand things by their details. The infinite, by definition, has no details. If God is male He is not female, and thus lacks something. Which can not be!

While God relates to man in a specific way (going mitzvot brings us closer and aveirot brings us further), we still do say that Mitzvot are what God is and Aveirot are what God is not. God, for example, is not an esrog, even though shaking one on Sukkot connects us to our source.

We believe, however, that God can not make Himself physical. God can not perform “deicide” (suicide). He can not limit his Infinity in any way. That is all we know.

But we do experience God! Ah, that is the key. Our soul is metaphysical, and through our soul we can experience what we can not understand! The soul connecting “understands” without the details. So, in short, through our learning the details in Torah and performing its mitzvot, our soul is free to connect to its Source, to our Source, to God.

Be well,
Yaakov Rosenblatt

Follow-up questions (2)

Question

Cannot God do anything, is He not omnipotent? If he can create life out of nothing, can He not make Himself a physical body?

Thanks for the note. According to Judaism, God is limited by his own Infinity. He can not commit “dei-cide”. He can not make Himself mortal. He can not catch a cold. And he can not be affected by anything external to Him. He is “IT”.

Answer

That is, we don’t know what God is, but we do know what He is not. He can not be divided, he has no physical expression. Yet, we can relate to Him, to the Infinite, through our souls.

Regards,
Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt

Question

Didn’t God reveal Himself to Abraham in the form of a man before He destroyed Sodom?

Answer

Not at all. G-d is present everywhere and at all times, yet we blithely go about our business oblivious to His presence. To Avraham however, G-d’s presence was revealed, not in any physical manifestation but in a mental manner that Avraham had become sensitive to.