“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Daniel 9.24 NIV
While producing and uploading the video, Rabbi Avraham Feld sent out a new email, which is posted unedited under these presentation slides out of the Daniel 10-12 Presentation, available in our TorahClub.com in the Un-Lock Daniel Study Course in English.
From: Avraham Feld <returnisrael@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 27, 2020 at 8:53 PM
Subject: Hashem Is Not Physical
To: OvadYah Avrahami <ovadyah777@gmail.com>
Logic and Torah clearly hold G-d as One,, infinite, eternal,, perfect,. all knowing. all powerful and not the opposite. Physical things are broken into parts, not ONE. They are created,. finite, and limited to the opposite of the Almighty. As soon as you posit a multiple godhead, where does one's power and knowledge begin and the others end. All physicality is subject to imperfections.G- D is not imperfect, NOT limited. not finite...The Torah and logic show that the Almighty is above and yet here and near,a physical thing cannot be in two places at once! Again we run all verses through 23,000 plus background of verses to get a fix on the within context meaning..The vast and grand context.. All Written Torah started as Oral Torah until Moshe was told on two handful of occasions to write that particular teaching down.The Almighty had spoken to him hundreds of times..Along with the writing came its accompanying explanations, understanding,details. definitions.and parameters!!!!..This is the way it was and is for about 3,350 years, of celebrating Torah, lining and willing to die for the transmission process,divinely mandated ( Deut 17, Deut. 33, Deut,, Gen. 49 etc). "Unto Whom Will You Liken G-d?" His Non-corporeality... We shall believe that this One [G-d] whom we referred to, is not corporeal, nor is He a force within a corporeal entity, nor will He be affected by any physical occurrences,such as movement,or rest, or dwelling, neither innately, nor by chance occurrence.
There-fore did the Sages, remove from Him any association with concepts of joining and separation, and they said, "There is Above, neither sitting nor standing,
neither separation nor standing together. There is no "separation," i.e., and no " joining together,"i.e.- as it says,"They shall press upon the shoulders of the Philistines," that is, they will press "upon their shoulders," because they are joined to them[ through common boundary].
The Prophet said, "Unto whom will you liken G-d?' and, 'Unto whom will you liken Me, that I shall be equal? saith the Holy One.' Yet, were He corporeal, He would be similar to other corporeal entities. And wherever it may be found in the Holy Scriptures that He is described in physical terms, such as walking, standing, sitting, or speaking, it is to be interpreted in an allegorical sense. As Chazal said, 'The Torah Speaks in the language of human beings.`` The Sages spoke about this in great length.
The third principle is expressed in the following verse. " Take therefore good heed unto yourselves, for you saw no manner of form, on the day that the L-rd spoke to you in Chorev out of the midst of the fire. " This means, you did not perceive Him to have any form whatsoever, for, as we have noted above, He has no semblance of corporeality whatsoever.
In his Mishneh Torah, Maimonides elaborates greatly upon this principle. He emphatically points out that the Torah categorically repudiates any thought of corporeality, which entails the attribution of any kind of form or likeness to the Creator. Behold it is explicitly taught in Torah and the Prophets that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not corporeal. As it says, For the L-rd, your G-d, He is G-d in heaven above and on the earth below. Yet, [quite obviously], a body cannot be in two places at the same time. Maimonides goes on to cite here the verses in Deuteronomy and in Isaiah, which we have already cited above/ In the preceding halacha, the Rambam points out that the concept of G-d's in corporeality is inextricably interwoven with His eternity, His omnipotence, and His oneness, since anything, which is corporeal can be none of these, for all matters is finite and divisible, and its power is therefore, finite and restricted, as well. Allegorical Anthropomorphical Designations
The Rambam goes on to explain that where the Torah employs anthropomphical expressions, such as "beneath His feet," " the hand of G-d,"
these expressions are never to be taken literally, but only allegorically.
These allegorical designations are used in the Scriptures, so that we, as human begins, whose comprehension is finite, might more readily comprehend His attributes. However, man can never comrejand the true essence of G-d, for this is what the Almighty meant when He informed Moshe, "You cannot see my countenance, for man shall not see Me and live. " Thus, even Moshe Rabbeinu, master of all Prophets, concerning whom it says, Mouth to mouth do I speak with Him, manifesting and not in riddles, and the glory of G-d does he behold, was informed that he could not comprehend the true essence of G-d, since he was a temporal being.
It is in this allegorical sense, the Rambam observes further, that the Prophets indicated that they "saw" the Almighty in prophetic visions, and He appeared differently to them, during different prophetic revelations. Thus, Moshe Rabbeniuu envisioned G-d
And [G-d] rested on the seventh da, or - And they shall make unto Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, are all to be understood as metaphors, and not in a literal sence. It goes without saying, too, that whenever the Jew prays before the Almighty- as well as at all other times, of course - he may never think of G-d in terms of any cororeal form whatsoever, but rather only as the Creator, who is entirely unfathomable and who is unparalleled in His essence and in His unique Oneness, by any other being whatsoever.
The " Shir haKavod"- Song of Glory
This concept is very beautifully expressed in the
which is recited upon conclusion of the Shabbos Mussaf service.
I will relate Thy glory,
though I have not seen Thee;
I describe Thy with metaphors,
though I have not known Thee.
How then, indeed, can the jew know his G-d? He can know Him through His deeds and through His attributes, which are revealed to us in the Torah, and in the sometimes mystical, elusive references of the Prophets.
Through the hands of thy Prophets, the mystical utterances of Thy servants, Hast Thou shown, in metaphors, the glory of Thy majestic splendor.
Attributes of the Creator
Thus, we know G-d, in both a positive and a negative sence, through His multifasceted miracles and His myriad works of creation;
through various facets of His interaction with His universe, as well as through the words of His Torah and His Prophets, who have revealed some of His attributes to us- both negative and positive.
In a positive sense, for example, Torah teaches us that G-d is omnipotent, that He is uniquely One, and that he is eternal.We are likewise provided with an insight into the
absolute omnipotence of the Creator through the act of Creation itself; through the magnificent event of Revelation, at which time the Almighty revealed Himself as G-d of the universe and asserted His supreme majesty over all creation; and again during Exodus, when He manifested both His omnipotence and His Divine Providence, as He led His chosen people out of bondage in Egypt with countless miracles; in defiance of all " natural " law.
Among the negative attributes of the Almighty which the Torah teaches us, are that He is not more than one; nor is He corporeal, nor does He bear a likeness to any being at all, as noted above. of course, without the guidance of Torah and prophetic Revelation, we could hardly presume to fathom the mysteries of the Creator. it was for this reason that Moshe beseeched the Almighty to apprise him of His ways and His attributes,
Now, therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, let me know, I pray Thee, Thy ways, that I might know Thee, so that I might find grace in Thy sight.
Emulating the Creator
Whereupon, the Almighty revealed to Moshe His Thirteen Attributes, which are recited by Israel with great fervour and intensity during the Ne'ilah service on Yom Kippur, and on other special occasions. It is these attributes, moreover, which the Sages teach ue to emulate when they remark, "just as the Creator is merciful and compassionate, so, too, shall you be merciful and compassionate," it is in this way, that, by knowing the attributes of the Eternal, we can, as Moshe said, " Find favor in Thy eyes, " for we can then train ourselves to emulate Him, and to "walk in His ways"
Thus, through Torah we know that G-d is uniquely One, and that He is Eternal. We know that He is omnipotent and omniscient, through His works of creation, through the miracles of the Exodus, and through Revelation, when no being dared to contravene or oppose Him as He performed His miracles in the defiance of all natural law, and as He proclaimed His G-dliness and His mastery over all creation. Through Torah, too, we know that He is not corporeal, nor does He bear likeness to any other being or entity whatsoever. Through Torah and through the words of His Prophets, we likewise know that he is all-merciful and compassionate, and that He is the very essence of truth and holiness
The Shir hakavod renders beautiful poetic expression to numerous mystical references of the Prophets concerning the Almighty
Thy greatness and Thy power,
They traced in Thy mighty works.
INCORPOREALITY
They imaged Thee,
but not as Thou really art;
They described Thee,
according to Thy deeds.
They depicted Thee
in countless visions;
Thou art One,
despite all comparisons.
They envisioned in Thee Both old age, and young age. With the "hair of Thy head" Now aging, now youthful. "Ani Ma'amin": The Third Principle This Third Principle is expressed succinctly in the Ani Ma'amin rendition of the Shloshah Asar Ikkarim.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed is His Name, is not corporeal, nor do any corporeal attributes apply to Him, and that there exists nothing whatsoever that resembles Him.
Rav Yaakov Emden observes that this includes the fact that the Creator, of course, in no way resembles the Malachim, either.
And in Yigdal, the poet says,
He has no bodily form,
Nor is he corporeal.
Beyond all comprehension, Is His holiness.
A Holocaust Narrative
"We Must Rejoice!"
How did the jew of the Holocaust offer himself up- body and soul- in sanctification of the Name of His unfathomable Creator?
Flabush,1942. A group of the defiant Chasidic youths who were known as Matti-sovtzis, after their young leader, matti Gelman, were adamant in their refusal to cower before the Nazis, or to concede even an iota of their religious practices before the Nazi decrees. Seventeen of these youths were finally captured and brought before the ruthless, bloodthirsty commandant Goethe, their beards and payos to be removed. This infuriated the ruthless commandant. When he heard they were Tulmand students, he cried out in rage, "Ho, Talmudistin! I will give them one-half hour to arrange their final prayers," little did he, or anyone else, for that matter, imagine how these seventeen youths would spend their last half hour on earth.
They were led to the slaughter grounds. As they stood before their graves, they asked one another for mechilah - for forgiveness for any offence they might have committed towards one another. One of the youths began to speak briefly
"The main thing, " he told his chaverim, "is that we must rejoice, for we are privileged to die for Kiddush HaShem -for Kiddush HaShem!" he immediately took the hand of another youth, and they began to rejoice together. "We must rejoice," he called out to each of his friends. Whereupon, they began to sing and dance with exceedingly great fervor, as though they were on fire/ Their payos flew out in the wind, and for the full half hour, they danced wildly, exultantly - totally oblivious to their surroundings/ A hardened Kapo, who later wept when he recalled this event, said,
"They danced and sang, and I thought I would go out of my mind on the spot. That youths might go to their deaths as though they were going to a dance," ...At the end of the half hour , when the Nazis' shots rang out, they sprang dancing into the pit.
"They Were Angels, Not Human Beings!"
( Collected from R.T.Singer )Christian ( Trinitarian ) Commentators on Genesis 1:26
G.J. Wenham "Christians have traditionally seen [Genesis 1:26] as adumbrating [foreshadowing] the Trinity. it is now universally admitted that this was not what the plural meant to the original author." Word Biblical Commentary on Genesis, Word Books, 1987, P.27. The NIV Study Bible us...our...our. G-d speaks as Creator-King, announcing his crowning work to the members of His heavenly court (see 322; 11:7; Isa 6:8 see also 1 kings 22:19-23; job 15:8 Jer 23:18 ) Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 1985,p.7. The Ryrie Study Bible Us... Our. Plurals of majesty. Chsrles Caldwell Ryrie (Dallas Theological Seminary), Chicago: Moody Press, 1978, p.9. Liberty Annotated Study Bible "The plural pronoun us is most likely a majestic plural from the standpoint of hebrew grammar and syntax" Jerry Falwell (Executive Editor), Lynchburg: Liberty Univ., 1988, p. 8. Keil and Delitzsch "The plural" We was regarded by the fathers and earlier theologians almost unanimously as indicative of the trinity: modern commentator, on the contrary, regard it either as pluralis majestatis... No other explanation is left, therefore, than to regard it as pluralis majestatis..."Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on thr Old Test., peabody: Hendric., 1989, Vol. 1, p. 62. Genesis 1:26-27 And God said , "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." So God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him... 1 Kings 22:19 Micah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne with all the host of heaven standing around Him on His right and on His left. Isaiah 6:1-2,8 In the year that the king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, High and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Seraphims stood above; each one had six wings... Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?:
Jeremiah 22:26 But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or hear His word? Jeremiah 23:18, 22 But which of them [false prophets] has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear His word?... But if they had stood in My council they would have proclaimed My words to My people and would have turned them from their evil ways... Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also with them. Job 15:8 Do you listen in on God's council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? 26. -Let us make Man. This preamble indicates that Man was created with great deliberation and wisdom. God did not say, " Let the earth bring forth, "as He did with other creatures; instead, Man was brought into being with the deepest involvement of Divine Providence and wisdom ( Abarbanel).
targum Yonasan paraphrases: "And God said to the ministering angels who had been created on the second day of Creation of the world, Let us make Man.' " When Moses wrote the Torah and came to this verse ( let us make), which is in the plural and implies that there is more than one Creator, he said: "Sovereign of the Universe! Why do You thus furnish a pretext for heretics to maintain that there is plurality of divinities?" "Write!" God replied."Whoever wishes to err will err ... Instead, let them learn from their Creator Who created all, yet when He came to create Man He took counsel with the ministering angels"(Midrash). Thus God taught that one should always consult others before embarking upon major new initiatives, and He was not deterred by the possibility that some may choose to find a sacrilegious implication in the verse. The implication of God's response, "Whoever wishes to err,' is that one who sincerely seeks the truth will find it; one who looks for an excuse to blaspheme will find it. Throughout the chapter, God brought all things into being with an utterance, but He created Man with His own hands,as it were (rashi)/\ In His image, In the image of God. Among all living creatures, Man alone is endowed- like his Creator- with morality, reason and free will. He can know and love Godand hold spiritual communion with Him; and Man alone can guild his actions through reason/ It is in this sense that the Torah describes Man as having been created in God's image and likeness (Rambam). Male and Female. although Eve was created later (2:21),she and Adam were created on the same day(Rashi)/ Although all living creatures were created male and female, this fact is specified only in the case of human beings, to stress that both sexes were created by God in His likeness (R' Hirsch)l, -- Regards & Blessings, Avraham Feld Director Kol HaTor