Questions About God - Part 1
Q. Why do y’all call God a “He” when He isn’t a form of man?
A. We know that God isn’t a person but we call Him “He” rather than “it” because to call Him “it” would be disrespectful. We use “it” for inanimate objects and “he/she” for sentient beings. God may not be like us but He is certainly sentient. In that He’s more like us than He is, say, a table, which is an “it.”
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Q. If one is only praying in English, can he use the names of Hashem such as Adonai, Elohim, etc., or does one have to say “Lord,” “God,” etc.?
A. That’s fine. In fact, according to some authorities, using God’s Hebrew names even when praying in English would be preferred.
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Q. What does it mean to “know His Name,” as written in Tehillim 91, “and I will elevate him because he knows My Name?” We use His Name all the time, but it looks like there is a special kind of “knowing” His Name, right?
A. Thanks for your question. According to the Metzudas Dovid, that phrase means that a person recognizes God enough to be in awe of Him.
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Q. In Sanhedrin 38b, what does it mean that Rabbi Akiva “desacralized the Divine Presence by equating God with a person?”
A baraita: One throne is for Him and one throne is for David; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Yosei said to him: Akiva! Until when will you desacralize the Divine Presence by equating God with a person?
A. A better translation might be “treat God’s presence as if it were secular,” i.e., by equating it with a human. If someone wrote on their Facebook profile, “I love God and Tony Danza” or “Robert Downey, Jr. and God are both great,” you might not think much about it but if you were anywhere near Rabbi Akiva’s level and you equated God with a human being, no matter how great, you could expect some pushback from Rabbi Yosi! That’s what’s happening here.
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Q. How do we know that Hashem created the world out of kindness? How do we know that Hashem doesn’t lie?
A. The answers to your questions are all in the Torah and the various books of the Prophets, but you’ve created something of a dilemma for yourself. What we know about God is based on (a) observation and (b) what He has chosen to reveal about Himself. The trouble is, if you proceed from the assumption that God is a liar (God forbid!) and the world is a trick of some kind, then we know nothing. So I choose to look at the world and recognize it as the gift that it is, and know that it must have been given to mankind out of kindness. Similarly, we never see God lying to Avraham, Moshe or David but we see His word kept time and time again. I prefer to give God benefit of the doubt based on His track record. I’m not so cynical to assume that He’s playing the “long con.”
Rabbi Jack's latest book, Ask Rabbi Jack, is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.