Your introduction to the Faith of Israel – the fulfillment of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets.
You’re now ready to take your first real steps toward officially joining the People of Israel.
Please read the following and clarify whether you either affirm or take issue with the information provided:
SINGULARITY OF G-D
יחוד השם | Yihud HaShem
1) He is incomparable to anything in creation.
2) All descriptions of Him are relative to our perception of His acts towards us (ie: Merciful), our knowledge of what He is not (ie: not subject to time; timeless), or are figures of speech (ie: G-d is not male or female. “He” is called “He” because “He” is dominant over creation.) The prophets speak in the language of men.
3) He is ONE.
a) We say He is One, but not in a numerical sense – He is not a ‘one’ that can be counted or numbered; Rather, we say He is One so as to discount any thought of plurality within His Being.
b) He is not a ‘one’ in the sense of one species or kind; not a ‘one’ that is composed of parts, or that includes internal distinctions, dimensions, levels of divinity, or that could be divided in any way. His Oneness is unlike any oneness in creation. His is an absolutely indivisible Singularity. His Oneness is neither part of a greater unifying ‘essence’ nor is it a oneness that includes any form of plurality.
c) His attributes are either merely descriptions of how He interacts with creation or are one and the same as His Being itself – not subsistent entities nor eminations (sefiroth) sharing in His Divine essence. He, His Wisdom, and His Life are absolutely one and the same, with no distinction whatsoever. He is His Wisdom and He is His Life.
d) Nothing in creation shares or partakes of His divine essence, neither the soul of the greatest Jew nor the loftiest angelic being. The most perfected of creation is as infinitely dissimilar to His Essence as the lowest of creation. He has no partners in His divinity – no predecessor, son, daughter, or any sort of consort.
e) His Singularity is utterly independent and unique.
4) Factors of creation do not apply to the Author of creation, such as time, change, space, location, size, volume, mass, height, or form. None of these are applicable to He Who authored them all. The Creator is not subject to His creation, and certainly not to any factors to which creation itself is subject. Though He intrinsicly knows all things, though His soverignty and providence fill the universe, and though all creation declare His existence to the extent that we might say He is found in all places – what we mean is that awareness of Him can be attained at any location, His existence is evident everywhere, for He sustains all existence, and the manifestation of His Will within the world we relate to as ‘His Presence’ — but in reality, the Essence of His Being is neither contained within the physical world nor subject to any location. The concepts of spatiality and location do not apply to the Creator of time and space. He is exalted ‘above’ all.
5) He is neither a man nor a body, nor a force or a power in a body – whether a supernal spiritual ‘body’ or a physical form of any type. Though He speak through angels, prophets, or wondrous visions – none capture the Essence of His Being. They are all merely special creations that make known His imminent providence and relate His Will to man.
By clicking ‘I affirm,’ you testify and swear to the Singularity of the G-d of Israel as described herein: I AFFIRM.
If you take issue with any point herein, please click: I DO NOT AFFIRM.
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More information on the Oneness of G-d can be found in the first chapter of Hilkhoth Yesodei ha-Torah: Hebrew / English
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