Jewish Beliefs: God
Sermon, June 8, 2007
Rabbi Bruce Kadden

It is often said that Judaism is a religion of action, not of belief.  We do mitzvot, sacred acts, both ritual and ethical.  We are much more concerned about what people do than what they think.  We have no official creed or affirmation, nor systematic theology that tells us what we must believe.

Nevertheless, underlying Jewish practice is a set of beliefs that emanate from the Torah and other Jewish texts.  In my sermons this summer, I want to explore Jewish beliefs about such topics as life after death, the messiah, creation, the nature of human beings, the chosen people and the soul.  This evening I want to begin where any discussion of Jewish beliefs should begin:  with God. 

Now, that topic would seem to be enough for a whole course, rather than one sermon, but as much as there might be to say, I think it is possible to summarize the Jewish beliefs about God in one sentence:  “Judaism believes there is one, incorporeal God who created the world, revealed the Torah to the Jewish people, and will ultimately redeem the world.”  Virtually everything that Judaism believes about God derives from that statement.  So let us take a look at each part.

First of all, Judaism believes that God is One.  We affirm that belief every time we say:  “Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad.  Hear, Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One.”  This affirmation was a direct challenge to those in the ancient world who believed in a multiplicity of gods:  a fertility god, an agricultural god, etc.  Polytheism was common in the ancient near east, particularly in the land of Canaan, and the prophets constantly railed against the people for worshipping foreign gods. 

Later, when the Jews encountered Zoroastrianism, the religion of Persia, the monotheism of the Jews contrasted with the dualism of the Persians, who saw good and evil as emanating from two separate sources.  In contrast, Judaism teaches that both good and evil ultimately come from the same source, the one God.  This does not mean that God is directly responsible for every evil act that occurs; that is another matter altogether.  Rather, it means that because God is responsible for creating the world, everything in it can be traced back to God and no other being.

Still later, when Christianity developed the idea of the trinity, Judaism continued to affirm the belief in one God.  Not all Jewish thinkers considered Christianity to be polytheism, but all objected to the idea of viewing God as distinct entities.  Indeed, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam, argued that we should not even say that God is good or God is all-powerful because that separates as certain aspect of God and because it limits God to our notion of good or all-powerful.

The second basic Jewish belief is that God is not a physical being and should not be represented as a physical entity.  This idea is most clearly stated in the second commandment:  “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image which is in the heaven above or on the earth below or in the sea upon the earth” (Exodus 20:4). 

Rabbi Jeff Seinfeld, in an article this week, claims that “the greatest stumbling block to Jewish spirituality in all of Jewish history was...Michelangelo,” specifically his depiction of God as an old man with a long white beard on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Rabbi Seinfeld writes, “The God that Jews have always imagined is an Infinite, unknowable...something. I don’t even want to say “being” because the word “being” like any word, begins to define or limit God and we’re talking about something that is non-definable, not finite, a.k.a., infinite.”

And, of course, any physical representation of God implies that God is finite or limited.  The only book of the Tanach (Bible) we are allowed to illustrate is megillat Esther, the scroll of Esther, because it is the only one that never mentions God.  Our sanctuary contains no statues or images that in any way could be interpreted to represent God.  This belief presents us with a challenge, because it is certainly far easier for Christians to relate to a flesh and blood God than it is for us to relate to a God who we cannot see. 

The rabbis still insist that we can and should imitate God.  They teach that just as God clothed the naked –providing clothes for Adam and Eve—so too should we clothe the naked; just as God visited the sick –appearing to Abraham after he was circumcised—so too should we visit the sick; just as God comforted the mourners –blessing Isaac after his father Abraham died—so too should we comfort mourners.  Just because God is not a physical being does not mean that we cannot imitate God.

Indeed, the rabbis taught that God directly relates to the world in three ways:  as creator, revealer of Torah, and redeemer.  Each of these topics deserves its own sermon, but I want to offer a few comments on each here. 

To say that God created the world does not mean that we reject scientific understandings of the origin of the universe or of human beings but rather that we believe that ultimately God is responsible for all of creation.  Furthermore, Judaism considers human beings to be full partners in the ongoing process of creation. 

To speak of God as creator affirms that there is some purpose and design to creation, some meaning to human existence.  Our problem with so-called intelligent design is not with the concept, which we accept, but with trying to pass it off as science when it is religious and therefore does not belong in the public school classroom.

To say that God revealed the Torah to Israel does not mean that we believe that God literally dictated the entire Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai; some Jews do believe that, but most understand revelation to be an ongoing process beginning with Abraham and Sarah and continuing until this day.  The blessings before and after the reading of the Torah conclude with the sentence:  “Baruch atta Adonai, notein haTorah, blessed is God, who gives the Torah, not who “gave” the Torah, but who “gives” the Torah.  Even the Orthodox affirm that revelation is ongoing, and is reflected in the writing of Responsa, answers to contemporary questions of Jewish law. 

We human beings therefore play an important part in the process of revelation.  But to affirm that God reveals the Torah means that ultimately the teachings which we follow are not simply human creations, but are mitzvot, Divine commandments.  Each time we read Torah, as we will tomorrow morning, we attempt to learn from its teachings and thus participate in the ongoing process of revelation.

And to say that God is redeemer does not mean that we human beings have no role to play in redemption.  Indeed, just as with creation and revelation, we believe that redemption will come about as a partnership between human beings and God.  Some Jews may focus more on God’s role and others may focus more on the human role, but any authentic Jewish view of redemption affirms both human beings and God play a role in the process. 

What is not acceptable is to say that we humans can, alone, redeem the world, that God has no role whatsoever to play in the process of redemption.  Some Jews still await the messiah, others await the messianic age, but what we agree on is that both God and human beings play essential roles in this ultimate redemption.

Elie Wiesel has written, “A Jew can be Jewish with God, against God, but not without God.”  We question, we struggle, we even argue with God.  But ultimately we affirm that there is one, incorporeal God who created the world, revealed the Torah to the Jewish people, and will ultimately redeem the world.

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