This is a question that has plagued thinkers and mystics for centuries, and Da’at Tevunot, or "Understanding of Discernment," grapples with this very idea.
The text points out that we, as humans, naturally attribute characteristics to God. We call Him merciful, gracious, powerful. We use these words, these descriptions, based on the rules and laws that we perceive in the world around us. These are the ways God, blessed be His name, seems to interact with us, His creations. But are these descriptions truly befitting of His essential self?
Da’at Tevunot argues that they aren't. All these actions, all these seemingly personal attributes, aren’t actions that God does in the way a person does, according to their nature and power. Rather, they are all matters that were willed from His will, done according to the value of the creations He wanted to create, and according to their power alone. It's a subtle but crucial distinction.
This idea is explained by the sages in many places, we are told. The core belief we need to hold is that God's existence is known to us with certainty. It's intrinsically compelled. But His essence? That's an entirely different matter. His essence is impossible for us to grasp at all. And not only is it impossible, it's even forbidden!
As the sages already said in Chagigah 11b, "One who looks at four things, it would be appropriate that he had never come to the world." And similarly, in Chagigah 13a, "With that which is mysterious to you do not inquire...you should have no dealings with hidden matters." These are powerful warnings against trying to penetrate the unknowable.
In general, anything that the human mind can grasp and describe is, by definition, not God's essence. He is far too lofty, too exalted from any thought or reasoning. He has none of the matters that are in His creations, not from the great or from the lowly. Even the greatest perfection in His creation would be a deficiency with regard to Him. Think about that for a moment.
Everything found in creation – the good and the negative, the deficiency and the perfection – all of it is new, caused to exist by God through His will. These things exist only according to our value and our matters, not according to His value and His matter.
This is why the text cries out, quoting Isaiah 40:25: "And to whom shall you compare me and find me equal says the Holy One?" There is simply no comparison.
So, where does this leave us? Are we left in a state of perpetual ignorance? Perhaps not. Perhaps the point isn't to understand God's essence, but to appreciate the wonder and mystery of His existence. To recognize that our understanding is limited, and that true wisdom lies in accepting that limitation. Maybe the very act of trying to understand, while ultimately futile in grasping His essence, deepens our awe and appreciation for the divine.
It’s a reminder that faith isn't about having all the answers. It's about embracing the questions, and finding meaning in the spaces between.