The Way Into Encountering God In Judaism

Neil Gillman

Description

An accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God
throughout history―and today.
The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism is an accessible introduction to the Jewish understanding of God throughout history―and today.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• God in Judaism
• God
• Jewish Currents (magazine)
• Neil Gillman
• Jewish philosophy
• Judaism
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 01 février 2004
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580236966
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Way Into
Encountering God in Judaism
Neil Gillman
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The publisher gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman to the creation of this series. In his lifelong work of bringing a greater appreciation of Judaism to all people, he saw the need for The Way Into and inspired us to act on it.
Other Jewish Lights Books by Neil Gillman

The Jewish Approach to God: A Brief Introduction for Christians
The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought
For Jacob Samuel and Ellen Shoshana
But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes . And make them known to your children and your children s children . (Deuteronomy 4:9)
How do I fulfill this? It is as if to say that whoever teaches his children Torah, Scripture considers him to have taught his children, his children s children, and their children to the end of all generations. (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 30a)
Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note on the Text
Introduction
Can people know anything about God? Can people say anything about God? Worshipful silence or metaphorical language? The sin of idolatry: worshiping the image instead of God. We discover God and create the metaphors. Can we be sure that it is God that we discover?
1. God Is Echad
The Shema : What does it mean? One and not two, or unique? Maimonides on God s integrity. Can love be commanded? Israel loves God, and God loves Israel. Living in a world under one God. God is not yet Echad . God is lonely.
2. God Is Power
God s power is unchallenged. God even creates evil and reverses the course of nature. There are restraints on God s power: human freedom and the possibilities of repentance. God s power in nature and God s power in history. God s eventual defeat of death.
3. God Is Person
Two questions: Where are you? and Where is your brother? God searches for us as we search for God. God s vulnerability. The hidden face of God. God as spouse, parent, and lover. The wrath of God. Anger versus abandonment. God weeps. God as person or God as process. God can be moved.
4. God Is Nice (Sometimes)
Tensions in the Jewish image of God. How Psalms shaped the Jewish consciousness. God as nurturing, as refuge, and as rock. God heals what ails us. The issue of feminist Godlanguage. God is a teacher.
5. God Is Not Nice (Sometimes)
The down images of God. From feelings to metaphors. The challenge of the Book of Job. Is God ethical? The death of Rabbi Akiva. The problem of human suffering. Holocaust theology. The legitimacy of unbelief. The death of God. A liturgical challenge to God.
6. God Can Change
Can God really change? What changes? How God deals with human sinfulness: the evolution of a doctrine. Sin is punished immediately, but the punishment must be just and it may be deferred. Repentance enters the picture. The message of the Book of Jonah. The Thirteen Attributes of God in the Bible and in the liturgy. Unetaneh Tokef: the development of a metaphor.
7. God Creates
The triad: creation, revelation, redemption. We are partners with God in all three. Four understandings of creation: as order out of anarchy, as anthropocentric, as the result of a primordial combat, as renewed daily and perpetually. From the Bible to the liturgy. Why four accounts? God is not the conclusion but the point of departure.
8. God Reveals
The principle of revelation and the fact of revelation. Does God choose Israel? The content of revelation: the traditional position and three liberal interpretations. The image of God in each of these. We are partners with God in revelation. God in Exodus and God in the Joseph narrative. Heteronomy versus autonomy.
9. God Redeems
To redeem is to save. From history to eschatology. The eschatological impulse. Three dimensions of Jewish eschatology: the universal, the national, and the individual. God s triumph over death. The world as not yet redeemed. We are partners with God in redemption. Repairing the world. God as the power that makes for salvation.
Epilogue
Notes
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index

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Acknowledgments
In retrospect, much of my writing on the central issues of Jewish theology over the past decade can be viewed as an extension of the thinking reflected in my Sacred Fragments : Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew (Jewish Publication Society, 1991). The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought (Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997) evolved out of the final chapter of the earlier book, and this volume elaborates on what I wrote then on how human beings can think or speak of God. The reader who seeks a more comprehensive statement of my theological assumptions should consult the first book.
I continue to believe that scholarly inquiry takes place primarily in the give-and-take of the classroom. I acknowledge my boundless gratitude to my students, both at The Jewish Theological Seminary and in adult education classes around the country, for helping to clarify my thinking on all the issues dealt with in this book. Their readiness to engage with me in serious theological inquiry, their challenges-usually gentle but often quite sharp-and their unfailing encouragement have meant more to me than I can ever express. My colleagues on the Seminary faculty have always been available to help me deal with questions regarding the interpretation of biblical and rabbinic texts. I thank them all, but I hasten to add that I alone am responsible for my conclusions. The staff of the Seminary library could not have been more gracious in helping me to track obscure bibliographical data. Last but certainly not least, Chancellor Ismar Schorsch has been unfailingly generous in his support of my research and my teaching.
For some time, I had contemplated writing a book on the various images of God reflected in Jewish texts when Stuart Matlins, the founder and publisher of Jewish Lights Publishing, called on me to contribute a book on God to The Way Into series. Stuart has been a friend and advisor ever since he asked me to serve as a consultant for his new publishing venture, and he was singularly responsible for encouraging me to write The Death of Death . Fortunately, the book that I had contemplated writing and the book he wanted me to write turned out to be the same. I cherish his friendship and look forward to many more years of association with Stuart and with Jewish Lights. Beyond this, the entire staff of Jewish Lights has been an absolute pleasure to work with. I am grateful to Sandra Korinchak and Emily Wichland for guiding the preparation of the manuscript for publication and to my editors, Elisheva S. Urbas, whose vision of the series as a whole informed my research at the outset, and Alys R. Yablon, whose meticulous editing of the final versions of the book have made it far superior to what it would have been otherwise.
My long-time research assistant, Rabbi Lea Gavrieli, was unstinting in the time and energy she devoted to helping me with stylistic and bibliographical issues and with the mysteries of word processing. Her support has been indispensable. Rabbi Amy Levin, friend and colleague of many years, has guided me through critical decisions in each of my previous books. She was available to do the same this time.
My wife, Sarah, my daughters, Abby and Debby, my son-in-law, Michael, my future son-in-law, Danny, and my grandchildren, Jacob and Ellen, are a constant source of joy and inspiration. I do not have the words to express my gratitude to them all.
Finally, as we approach the season of forgiveness, I am acutely conscious of having been presumptuous enough to have written an entire book about God, whose nature, I confess, neither I nor any human being can know. That same God, I pray, will be generous with me, forgive me, and continue to grant me the health and curiosity to pursue the work that has given me such unqualified fulfillment so far.
A Note on the Text
Some notes on format: For quotations from Hebrew Scriptures, except for a few instances recorded in the endnotes, I have used the translation in Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society, 1985). Citations of biblical texts are added to the body of the text; more extended bibliographical references are in the endnotes. Although I consulted all the standard translations of rabbinic and liturgical texts, again, unless noted, I have felt free to adapt these for my own purposes.
Ever since the publication of Sacred Fragments , I have avoided using masculine pronouns for references both to God and to people. Even though this practice has frequently led to cumbersome circumlocutions, I continue this practice here. The one exception to this rule is in my use of biblical texts. Here, I simply reproduce the Jewish Publication Society translation. Also, although it is my hope that this book will also be read by non-Jews, I have also used terms such as our ancestors to refer to previous generations of Jews, or we to refer to current Jewish thinking and practice, on the assumption that my primary audience will