It's like staring into the night sky – you see the stars, but you know there's so much more you can't see.
That's kind of how we grapple with understanding God.
Da'at Tevunot, a work of Jewish philosophy, touches on this very challenge. It tells us that even when we think we understand God's actions, we're really only grasping their consequences. We see what God does, but not how God does it. And that "how" is the crucial part that remains beyond our reach.
Think about it. We ascribe characteristics to God: knowledge, memory, compassion, even anger. But Da'at Tevunot is quick to point out that these aren't our knowledge, our memory, our compassion projected onto God. It's not like God remembers things the way we do or gets angry in the way that we do. Rather, God's actions are on a completely different plane, performed in a manner "incomprehensible or known to us at all." We only perceive what God wants us to perceive.
It's not just about positive attributes either. Even actions that seem to stem from lack or deficiency – those aren't limitations for God. If we needed to accomplish something, we might struggle with limitations. But God? God simply says, "Let it be," and it is. As Da'at Tevunot puts it, God's way is "hidden and not grasped by us at all."
There's a powerful example in the Torah. The Sages, in Torat Cohanim, specifically parshat vaYikra, Dibura d'Nedavah (chapter 2:10), discuss the voice of God in the Tent of Meeting. Remember that? "The voice of haShem in power..." (Psalms 29:4). Moses heard it, but the rest of Israel didn't. That’s not because they weren’t listening, but because God dictated who would perceive that voice. That powerful image illustrates that even divine communication can be filtered and tailored.
Why is this the case? Because God is omnipotent. There are no rules that bind God, no laws or boundaries that restrict God's will. God can do anything God wishes.
Therefore, we can’t compare God’s actions to our own limited ones. We are bound by space, time, and our own imperfections. God, on the other hand, is entirely unbounded.
So, what does this all mean? It means embracing the mystery. It means acknowledging that our understanding of God will always be incomplete, filtered through the lens of our own human limitations. It's a humbling thought, isn't it? But perhaps it's in that very humility that we can find a deeper, more meaningful connection to the Divine. Maybe the point isn’t to fully grasp God, but to recognize the vastness that exists beyond our grasp.