the wisdom of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Zohar, specifically Parshat Pinchas. It states, "And there is wisdom which is called wise among all types of wisdom." That's a powerful statement! It hints at a deeper understanding, one that goes beyond the surface level.
The Zohar tells us that God has many "nicknames," but these aren't based on God's inherent nature. Instead, they arise from God's creations. It's "...according to the name of their creator that they were going to be created in the future." Our understanding of God is shaped by the very act of creation itself!
This isn't to say that God is changing or evolving. Absolutely not! There’s no innovation or change in God. Rather, from the very beginning, God possessed the power to manifest these characteristics. These characteristics, like mercy or justice, are always relevant to creation, not necessarily relevant to God's own being.
The text uses the analogy of the soul. Just as the existence of the soul reflects God's perfection, so too do these characteristics. "Like this did He create the Soul," it says. And further: "Like this is the Master of the world..., but all of those are to Him like the Sefirot (the divine emanations)...and just like the Master of worlds has no known name..so to the Soul does not have [a name]..."
The Sefirot? These are the ten attributes or emanations through which God reveals Himself. As we find in the Zohar, these are aspects of divine expression, not definitions of God's core essence.
It emphasizes the importance of precision in understanding the creation of the body and soul, and all that depends on it. Because the singular Master, blessed be His name, is beyond our ability to fully grasp, we cannot assign any name or appellation to Him that fully captures Him. A name, after all, implies a limitation.
We can, however, grasp specific characteristics: mercy, rulership, strength, justice, compassion, and even anger. These are the aspects that the prophets, from ancient times to more recent ones, grasped in God, because God granted them this comprehension. And it's according to this comprehension that we name God: merciful, ruler, courageous, judge, and so on.
Now, here's a crucial point: Even though God is without boundary or measure, these characteristics do have limits. We call one characteristic mercy, another rulership, another strength. Each exists within the limit that God willed it to be. In mercy, there is only mercy, and in rulership, only rulership.
But, and this is incredibly important, don't think that these measures define God's perfection. As the text emphasizes, all of this is dependent on God's will. God remains the master and can change all of this. In God's perfection, we cannot measure anything at all. We ascribe these appellations to God because God wants to be understood through them and to act in this way.
So, when we say that God is merciful, we're not saying that mercy is an inherent quality of God's essence, like a personality trait. Far from it! It's impossible to truly know God's essence. Rather, we understand that God desires a characteristic of mercy, a characteristic that is not according to God's Self, but is according to the values of creation and measured in their measurements. Because God wants this and wants to be understood in this way, we call God merciful.
God's complete and true essence, however, remains outside of all these matters. As the text concludes, this is the faith we are obligated to believe in with certainty.
So, what does this all mean? Perhaps it means that our understanding of God is a constant process of refinement. We use the language and concepts available to us to try to grasp the ungraspable. Our names for God are like maps: useful for navigating, but never the territory itself. It is up to us to believe in God with certainty, as we've explained already.
And indeed this matter is well explained in the Midrash of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Raya m'himna [the faithful shepard], Zohar Parshat Pinchas, page 257b), "And there is wisdom which is called wise among all types of wisdom", for in addition to that which was explained in it by those who know the truth according to the ways of the holy ones, behold from the simple meaning of the saying we learned that which I explained to you already above, that the Holy One blessed is He has many nicknames, not based on himself but according to His creations, and this is what they said (there) "...according to the name of their creator that they were going to be created in the future". And indeed they said "according to the name of their creator" is clear, for it is not said that is an innovation in Him G-d forbid, for there is no innovation or change in Him, but rather from the beginning it was in his power to do this, but these characteristics are always only those that are relevant to his creations, not that which is relevant according to Himself. And it said "like this did He create the Soul", and this is that the existence of the Soul reflects His perfection with which it was created; "Like this is the Master of the world..., but all of those are to Him like the Sefirot...and just like the Master of worlds has no known name..so to the Soul does not have [a name]... see there. And it is necessary that you be precise in regard to this matter in order to understand the existence of the body and soul in the manner of their creation and and all that is dependent upon it. Behold the singular Master may His name be blessed, according to his perfection it is impossible to ascribe any name or appellation, for we cannot grasp His perfection, and it is impossible to name that which one cannot grasp, for the name is a limitation in the owner of the name, and that which cannot be completely understood - cannot be limited. And indeed we grasp in His glory may He be blessed specific characteristics, as for example, mercy, rulership, strength, justice, compassion, anger, power, and similar to this, all of the characteristics that we can grasp in Him are from the aspect of his actions, those characteristics that the prophets grasped in Him from the early times to the late, because He may He be blessed gave them this comprehension. And according to this comprehension that they grasped in his Glory, we name Him may He be blessed with these appellations. merciful one, ruler, courageous, judge and others like that. And here, even though He may He be blessed in his perfection with without boundary or measure at all, but these are the characteristics that he wanted, he wanted them in the limit and measure that he wanted; and therefore to one characteristic we call mercy and to one - rulership, and to one characteristic - strength, and to one characteristic - love and so for all of them. And in the characteristic of mercy there is nothing other than mercy, and nothing in rulership other than rulership, and in mercy there is only the measure that He may He be blessed wanted in it, and in rulership only the measure that He wanted, and so for all of them. And do not say because of this that He may He be blessed according to his perfection has these powers in these measures, rather all of this is dependent on his will may He be blessed, and as we explained, the he is the master to change all of this; and just the opposite, in his perfection we may not measure any measure at all. Indeed since he wants to be understood through these characteristics and to act in this way, therefore we ascribe these appellations to him. And do not understand when we said that the Holy One blessed is He is merciful, to say that his essence may He be blessed according to himself is such, like we would say about a person that there is this quality in his soul to be merciful - that it is so impressed upon his temperament, that it will be grasped and its matter understood from it even from one aspect G-d forbid, for this we should not think at all, for it is impossible to know from His matters may He be blessed, that which He is to himself in truth at all. But when we call him merciful, we understand that he desires in one characteristic, which is the characteristic of mercy, a character which is not according to he Himself, but is according to the values of the creations and measured in their measurements. But since he wants this, and he wants to be understood in this way, we call him by this name - merciful. But his complete and straight essence is certainly outside of all these matters. And this is the faith that we are obligated to believe in may He be blessed with certainty, as we explained above already:
