God in Judaism

In Judaism, God has been conceived in a variety of ways.^[1] Traditionally, Judaism holds that the national god of the Israelites—that is, the god of Abraham, Isaac and Israel—delivered them from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah.^[2]^[3]^[4] Jews traditionally believe in a monotheistic conception of God ("God is one"),^[5]^[6] characterized by both transcendence (independence from, and separation from, the material universe) and immanence (active involvement in the material universe).^[3]

God is conceived as unique and perfect, free from all faults, deficiencies, and defects, and further held to be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and completely infinite in all of his attributes, who has no partner or equal, being the sole creator of everything in existence.^[3]^[7] In Judaism, God is never portrayed in any image.^[8] The Torah specifically forbade ascribing partners to share his singular sovereignty, as he is considered to be the absolute one without a second, indivisible, and incomparable being, who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to him.^[3]^[7] Thus, God is unlike anything in or of the world as to be beyond all forms of human thought and expression.^[3]^[7] The names of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible are the Tetragrammaton (Hebrew: יהוה, romanized: YHWH) and Elohim.^[3]^[9] Other names of God in traditional Judaism include Adonai, El-Elyon, El Shaddai, and Shekhinah.^[9]

According to the rationalistic Jewish theology articulated by the Medieval Jewish philosopher and jurist Moses Maimonides, which later came to dominate much of official and traditional Jewish thought, God is understood as the absolute one, indivisible, and incomparable being who is the creator deity—the cause and preserver of all existence.^[3]^[7] Maimonides affirmed Avicenna's conception of God as the Supreme Being, both omnipresent and incorporeal,^[7] necessarily existing for the creation of the universe while rejecting Aristotle's conception of God as the unmoved mover, along with several of the latter's views such as denial of God as creator and affirmation of the eternity of the world.^[7] Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal yet also transcendent and able to intervene in the world,^[9] while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is an impersonal force or ideal rather than a supernatural being concerned with the universe.^[1]^[3]

^ ^a ^b Tuling, Kari H. (2020). "PART 2: Does God Have a Personality—or Is God an Impersonal Force?". In Tuling, Kari H. (ed.). Thinking about God: Jewish Views. JPS Essential Judaism Series. Lincoln and Philadelphia: University of Nebraska Press/Jewish Publication Society. pp. 67–168. doi:10.2307/j.ctv13796z1.7. ISBN 978-0-8276-1848-0. LCCN 2019042781. S2CID 241520845.
^ Stahl, Michael J. (2021). "The "God of Israel" and the Politics of Divinity in Ancient Israel". The "God of Israel" in History and Tradition. Vetus Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 187. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 52–144. doi:10.1163/9789004447721_003. ISBN 978-90-04-44772-1. S2CID 236752143.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Grossman, Maxine; Sommer, Benjamin D. (2011). "GOD". In Berlin, Adele (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (2nd ed.). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 294–297. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199730049.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-975927-9. LCCN 2010035774.
^ "Jewish Concepts: God". Jewish Virtual Library. American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE). 2021 [2014]. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
^ Hayes, Christine (2012). "Understanding Biblical Monotheism". Introduction to the Bible. The Open Yale Courses Series. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 15–28. ISBN 978-0-300-18179-1. JSTOR j.ctt32bxpm.6.
^ Moberly, R. W. L. (1990). ""Yahweh is One": The Translation of the Shema". In Emerton, J. A. (ed.). Studies in the Pentateuch. Vetus Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 41. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 209–215. doi:10.1163/9789004275645_012. ISBN 978-90-04-27564-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lebens, Samuel (2022). "Is God a Person? Maimonidean and Neo-Maimonidean Perspectives". In Kittle, Simon; Gasser, Georg (eds.). The Divine Nature: Personal and A-Personal Perspectives (1st ed.). London and New York: Routledge. pp. 90–95. doi:10.4324/9781003111436. ISBN 978-0-367-61926-8. LCCN 2021038406. S2CID 245169096.
^ Leone, Massimo (Spring 2016). Asif, Agha (ed.). "Smashing Idols: A Paradoxical Semiotics" (PDF). Signs and Society. 4 (1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Semiosis Research Center at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies: 30–56. doi:10.1086/684586. eISSN 2326-4497. hdl:2318/1561609. ISSN 2326-4489. S2CID 53408911. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ben-Sasson, Hillel (2019). "Conditional Presence: The Meaning of the Name YHWH in the Bible". Understanding YHWH: The Name of God in Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval Jewish Thought. Jewish Thought and Philosophy (1st ed.). Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 25–63. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32312-7_2. ISBN 978-3-030-32312-7. S2CID 213883058.

[Tuling_2020-1] Tuling, Kari H. (2020). "PART 2: Does God Have a Personality—or Is God an Impersonal Force?". In Tuling, Kari H. (ed.). Thinking about God: Jewish Views. JPS Essential Judaism Series. Lincoln and Philadelphia: University of Nebraska Press/Jewish Publication Society. pp. 67–168. doi:10.2307/j.ctv13796z1.7. ISBN 978-0-8276-1848-0. LCCN 2019042781. S2CID 241520845.

[Stahl_2021-2] Stahl, Michael J. (2021). "The "God of Israel" and the Politics of Divinity in Ancient Israel". The "God of Israel" in History and Tradition. Vetus Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 187. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 52–144. doi:10.1163/9789004447721_003. ISBN 978-90-04-44772-1. S2CID 236752143.

[Berlin_2011-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Grossman, Maxine; Sommer, Benjamin D. (2011). "GOD". In Berlin, Adele (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (2nd ed.). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 294–297. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199730049.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-975927-9. LCCN 2010035774.

[JVL-4] "Jewish Concepts: God". Jewish Virtual Library. American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE). 2021 [2014]. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[Hayes_2012-5] Hayes, Christine (2012). "Understanding Biblical Monotheism". Introduction to the Bible. The Open Yale Courses Series. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 15–28. ISBN 978-0-300-18179-1. JSTOR j.ctt32bxpm.6.

[Moberly_1990-6] Moberly, R. W. L. (1990). ""Yahweh is One": The Translation of the Shema". In Emerton, J. A. (ed.). Studies in the Pentateuch. Vetus Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 41. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 209–215. doi:10.1163/9789004275645_012. ISBN 978-90-04-27564-5.

[Lebens_2022-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lebens, Samuel (2022). "Is God a Person? Maimonidean and Neo-Maimonidean Perspectives". In Kittle, Simon; Gasser, Georg (eds.). The Divine Nature: Personal and A-Personal Perspectives (1st ed.). London and New York: Routledge. pp. 90–95. doi:10.4324/9781003111436. ISBN 978-0-367-61926-8. LCCN 2021038406. S2CID 245169096.

[Leone_2016-8] Leone, Massimo (Spring 2016). Asif, Agha (ed.). "Smashing Idols: A Paradoxical Semiotics" (PDF). Signs and Society. 4 (1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Semiosis Research Center at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies: 30–56. doi:10.1086/684586. eISSN 2326-4497. hdl:2318/1561609. ISSN 2326-4489. S2CID 53408911. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2021.

[Ben-Sasson_2018-9] Ben-Sasson, Hillel (2019). "Conditional Presence: The Meaning of the Name YHWH in the Bible". Understanding YHWH: The Name of God in Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval Jewish Thought. Jewish Thought and Philosophy (1st ed.). Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 25–63. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32312-7_2. ISBN 978-3-030-32312-7. S2CID 213883058.

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