The nub of the problem

If you look at books on Judaism you’ll find very little about G-d. This seems to be quite odd from a non-Jewish perspective. Christians have whole books about God: from the nature of the Trinity to the nature of the incarnation and God’s relationship to humanity in Jesus. Not so for Jews. In fact the flourishing of writings about G-d from a Jewish perspective occur in two specific contexts. Firstly, though, why so little about G-d? Judaism tends to focus on the covenants that G-d established with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. These covenants, especially the covenant at Sinai with the people of Israel, focus on G-d’s promises and Israel’s responsibilities in fulfilling the covenant. Hence, Jews tend to focus on what they should do to fulfil the covenant as opposed to speculating about the nature of G-d.

All Jewish thinking about G-d starts in the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The Torah is more significant than the Prophets or the Writings as a source for Jewish understanding about G-d. Anybody who has read the Hebrew Bible, though, will realise that it does not present a systematic view about the nature of G-d. On the contrary the picture of G-d is quite confusing. This is because the Hebrew Bible was compiled over a period of five hundred years with some traditions going back over a thousand years.

So what can be said about G-d from the Hebrew Bible? Well, there is only one G-d who is the creator of the universe, our world and us. This G-d enters into relationship with human beings and has expectations of us. These are universal expectations, the Noahide Code. G-d also chooses a nation to be a witness to G-d in the world, this is Am Israel (the People Israel) they do this by fulfilling the commandments in the Torah. G-d also appears tender and loving and at the same time jealous and vindictive. Jews lived with this tension until challenged by Greek thinkers and later by Christians and Muslims.

Two contexts for Jewish theology

As stated above there are two contexts in which Jewish thinking about G-d has developed. The first context is when Jews have been challenged to explain their beliefs about G-d to others. The second context is when Jews have faced persecution; often these contexts have coincided. The first real Jewish thinker who tries to make sense of G-d to others, Jews and non-Jews, is Philo of Alexandria (c20 BCE to 40 CE). Philo tries to defend the Jewish Scriptures to the Greek world, the world of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Philo sees G-d as the One who ‘speaks’ and it is through the Word that the world is created. For G-d to speak G-d must have a mind and the world, and us, reflect something of that mind of G-d. Philo sees G-d as transcendent and has having two supreme powers: goodness and authority. As we are made in the image and likeness of G-d we too share these powers.

Other notable Jewish theologians are Maimonides (1135 – 1204 CE) and Nachmanides (1194 – 1270 CE). They became Jewish theologians because they had to defend Judaism in light of their encounter with Christianity and Islam. The most famous philosophical work of Maimonides is the Guide for the Perplexed. The Guide attempts to present Judaism according to a rationalist model and in it Maimonides develops what is sometimes called a negative theology. Such a theology states that G-d is so different from what we are that what we can say about G-d is extremely limited. In fact it is easier to say what G-d isn’t (negative). But Maimonides does say some things about G-d in his Thirteen Principles of Faith in his commentary on the Mishnah Sanhedrin:

• G-d exists and our existence is dependent on G-d
• G-d is ONE and is indivisible
• G-d is pure spirit and has no body
• G-d is eternal – without beginning or end
• G-d reveals the Self
• G-d knows what we think and do
• G-d judges our actions and will reward and punish them
• G-d has the power to resurrect the dead

In many Jewish prayer books (Siddurim) these Thirteen Principles are included in full and they have been turned into a hymn often sung on Shabbat (Yigdal).

Perhaps the most infamous Jewish theologian was Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677 CE) who tried to re-think Jewish ideas about G-d in terms of the emerging Enlightenment. In the end he was expelled from the Jewish community where he lived because he seemed to suggest that G-d is the world’s soul, making him a pantheist or panentheist. More worryingly he argued that Good and Evil have no real meaning.

Perhaps the greatest and most neglected Jewish theologian was Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakuda (c1000 CE), his great work The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart deserves reading and rereading and gives one of the best systematic presentations of theology in action of any Jewish writer.

The second context for Jewish thinking about G-d is persecution. This might at first appear odd but it makes sense in terms of the Jewish belief that the Jews are G-d’s chosen people. If the Jews are G-d’s chosen people and are faithful to the covenant by keeping the commandments why do they face persecution? The response to this is Jewish mysticism, often referred to as Kabbalah. It is impossible to underestimate the influence of the Kabbalah on Jewish thinking and practice but its most important contribution has been to Jewish thinking about G-d.

The Kabbalah isn’t one single set of ideas or school of thought but it develops in response to the lived experience of Jews. It has its roots in the apocalyptic writings in the Hebrew Bible, such as Daniel – who is not a prophet in the Jewish Biblical tradition. As such the Kabbalah is a dynamic mix of the Biblical and Rabbinic tradition with Neo-Platonism. This works out in a number of ways. Firstly, G-d’s creation is perfect and is possible because G-d contracts (tzimtzum) the Self to enable the universe to exist. A cosmic accident occurs which causes our world to emerge, a world of mixed spirit and matter. G-d gives us the Torah so we can start to piece our world back together. By keeping the commandments we bring G-d into the world and the cosmic accident is repaired. We will know it is repaired when the Messiah comes and the world is perfected. Hence, our actions have cosmic consequences and therefore if we are faithful in keeping the commandments our lives have meaning and purpose, even in persecution. Perhaps the most important Kabbalistic thinker was Isaac Luria (1534 – 1572 CE) and his work has been developed in the Chassidic tradition by Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745 – 1812) the Baal HaTanya, among others.

One way that this has developed Jewish thinking about G-d results in the reflection on the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. A Kabbalistic teaching is that when the Temple was destroyed the Tiferet (Glory m.) of G-d was separated from the Shekhinah (Presence f.) of G-d. Now the Shekhinah wanders the earth with the lost as one of the lost. The only time this isn’t true is when the candles are lit in the home on a Friday evening and the glory of G-d is apparent to all. In this act of divine copulation souls flood the world and as a result righteous souls are born when a husband and wife are united.

So what does this tell us about G-d? Firstly, G-d is One but contains both male and female aspects. If humans are made in the image and likeness of G-d we are only fully human when we are united as male and female. Secondly, there is virtually nothing about any opposition to G-d. Whilst Satan is mentioned in Jewish sources Satan is not the source of evil. It is G-d who is the origin of all and ‘all’ includes evil. The Kabbalistic tradition refers to this as the Sitra Achra – literally the ‘other side’ of G-d.

Jewish thinking about G-d was further challenged by the Holocaust and provoked much debate about where G-d was in the camps. Writers of note have been Eliezer Berkovitz, Milton Steinberg and Irving Greenberg amongst others.

So what?

If you’ve followed the argument so far you might feel more confused than when you started. This confusion might arise out of thinking that Jews haven’t really done any thinking about G-d since the Bible. In reality Jews have only really had to develop their thinking about G-d when they’ve been challenged by others to do so or by their experience. So what can be said? Here are some pointers:

1. G-d is not definable, we can use human language but it will always be limited.
2. The Biblical tradition, supported by the Rabbinic tradition, uses language about G-d which is contradictory because G-d cannot be rationalised by human thought but G-d created all that is whilst remaining uncreated.
3. G-d is transcendent, totally other, and eternal. Everything that exists exists only to the extent that G-d exists. We are contingent beings and our meaning is dependent on G-d.
4. G-d is immanent, open to us as One who desires to enter into covenant but that implies responsibility on both parts.
5. We can’t always make sense of G-d or our world or our experience.

In the end Jews will probably never develop a theology to compare with Christianity or Islam because they are much more concerned on how to live a life in faith with the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, my G-d and the G-d of my fathers.

Note: Many Jews substitute the English word ‘God’ as ‘G-d’ in order to avoid any disrespect. A document containing the holiest Name should not be destroyed, so a potential difficulty can be avoided if the name of God is not used. For other Jews this is not so important, particularly if God’s Hebrew name is not being used.