Comments on: כפי דרך הארץ http://christian4moses.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/%d7%9b%d7%a4%d7%99-%d7%93%d7%a8%d7%9a-%d7%94%d7%90%d7%a8%d7%a5/ back to before this became a paradox Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:21:30 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: graspingmashiach http://christian4moses.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/%d7%9b%d7%a4%d7%99-%d7%93%d7%a8%d7%9a-%d7%94%d7%90%d7%a8%d7%a5/#comment-49 graspingmashiach Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:07:40 +0000 http://christian4moses.wordpress.com/?p=204#comment-49 In essay four of “The Kuzari”, the king of the Khazars questions the need for anthropomorphisms once one is convinced of the existence of the Creator and arrives at the knowledge of His unity and the knowledge that everything comes from Him. The point being that once one comes to the knowledge of HaShem he will naturally fear and love Him and therefore anthropomorphous expressions will not be necessary. The answer of the Chacham (R’ Yehuda Halevi) is quite interesting in light of your comments above. The human soul is startled by observing tangible, awe-inspiring events or objects, but it is not moved to fear by merely hearing about such events. In the same way, a person can be attracted to something beautiful through descriptions, but it will not become an object of love until it is experienced in a tangible way. “Without tangible representations that portray abstractions by means of imagination and motion, a person would not be able to comprehend these matters in an abstract manner. Similarly, the prophet grasps the greatness of G-d . . . .by means of appearance of that majestic form, full of greatness and splendor (that is revealed to him in his prophetic vision).” In a different section of the book, Halevi explains that “human senses are not capable of perceiving the actual substance of things, but only their consequences”. It is the consequences that aid man in comprehending the essence of objects and their causes. (The Kuzari– Kalman Steinberg, Israel, 2000, pp. 184, 185, 191) In essay four of “The Kuzari”, the king of the Khazars questions the need for anthropomorphisms once one is convinced of the existence of the Creator and arrives at the knowledge of His unity and the knowledge that everything comes from Him. The point being that once one comes to the knowledge of HaShem he will naturally fear and love Him and therefore anthropomorphous expressions will not be necessary.

The answer of the Chacham (R’ Yehuda Halevi) is quite interesting in light of your comments above. The human soul is startled by observing tangible, awe-inspiring events or objects, but it is not moved to fear by merely hearing about such events. In the same way, a person can be attracted to something beautiful through descriptions, but it will not become an object of love until it is experienced in a tangible way.

“Without tangible representations that portray abstractions by means of imagination and motion, a person would not be able to comprehend these matters in an abstract manner. Similarly, the prophet grasps the greatness of G-d . . . .by means of appearance of that majestic form, full of greatness and splendor (that is revealed to him in his prophetic vision).”

In a different section of the book, Halevi explains that “human senses are not capable of perceiving the actual substance of things, but only their consequences”. It is the consequences that aid man in comprehending the essence of objects and their causes.

(The Kuzari– Kalman Steinberg, Israel, 2000, pp. 184, 185, 191)

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