Visualizing God

When I read or hear the phrase “Hei Ha-olamim” [which is found in both Yishtabach and Baruch She'amar] my first reaction is to visualize G-d as a "being" rather than "life itself."  However, I find it difficult to separate the two and also see G-d as life.  I believe God gives life to someone when they are born.  I also believe once someone is born He stays connected with the person their whole life.  At the same time, I see G-d is all around us and with us all the time, although giving us free will to decide what we want to do on our own.  I also believe He is a being of some sort because even if we can’t see or touch Him, He is always there to helps us and looks after us.

 When I pray in school, at home, or in synagogue and I do the Shema that is the time when I feel that I am closet to G-d the most and I also feel it is the most powerful prayer for me.  When I am speaking to Him, it is easier for me to think of G-d as a being.  When I pray, if I pray to “nature” or “the air” or something around me I do not feel that I am connected to G-d.  If I pray to G-d and I think of Him as an actual being, then I can get a picture in my head and know that G-d is listening to me.  That makes it easier for me to connect with Him.

I think the conception that G-d is a being is easier to understand for me, because I do not think about him as doing everything even though I know he helps everyone with everything.  (-Laura T, Kitah Het)

Sometimes the answer is No . . .

“Hei Ha-olamim” (in Baruch She-amar and Yishtabach) can be interpreted two different ways. It could mean that God gives life to the universe, meaning that God is a Being of some kind who gives life to others or it could mean that God actually is the life of the universe meaning that God is the process of life and nature, not an actual being. My interpretation of this verse is a combination of both of these ideas.

            When I was younger, we used to have a big stuffed doll that was bigger than I was. It had a blue coat, white hair, and a long white beard. That is what I imagined God to look like, up in the clouds. When I was in kindergarten, my sister learned a song in school, “Hashem is here, hashem is there, hashem is truly everywhere. Up, up, down, down, right, left, and all around, here there everywhere, that’s where he can be found.” This song made me question my vision of God. If God is a person, how can he be everywhere at once?

            My Zayde is the retired rabbi of Congregation Chizuk Amuno in Baltimore. When he came to visit, I asked him if God is a person, how could he be everywhere at one time? He told me that he does not believe that God is a person because a person cannot be everywhere at once, but that God was a spirit. This explanation made sense to me. Believing that God is a spirit is easier to imagine. I believe what the Bible tells us. Since the Bible says, that God created the earth that is what I believe. Some might argue that God could not have created the world in a week; however, a day could have been a year in that time for all we know. 

            I believe that it is easier to pray to a spirit. Other religions pray and cow tow to one person or thing like a king, idol, or ruler of their country, (or perhaps even a cow).  In Judaism, we are taught to believe in one God, but it does not say if we need to believe that God is a person or spirit. It is up to each individual to determine how he wants to picture God. In those religions, I think it would be harder for people to have their prayers listened to since the ruler can decide if he wants to listen or even veto their request. Judaism teaches us that God loves everyone and listens to everyone’s prayers. Whether he announces it or not is not the issue.

            My Zayde told me a funny story about payer. There once was a boy who prayed and prayed to God asking for a car. He was frustrated that God was not answering his prayers. He told his mom that he had been praying to God but God was not answering his prayers. So, the boy decided that he wasn’t going to pray anymore and he told his mother his plan. His mother told him that God actually did answer him; God's answer was, “No!”  (-Mikayla D, Kitah Het)

Baruch She'amar - The Power of Speech (by Y.V.)

The first chapter of B’reishit tells the Jewish people that G-d created the world through divine speech.  “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”  Merriam Webster’s defines speech as “the power of expressing or communicating thoughts by speaking.”  Speech inspires action, which in turn leads to change.  Without the power of speech, where would we be?  Speech is a true gift from Hashem that grants humans the right to reflect their thoughts and belief through speaking.  If it was not for speech, every human in this world would be exactly the same.

Speech can be used to inspire, create, and make one feel an emotion for the better or for the worse.   Speech makes the difference between life and death.  Eric Mohat, a 17 year old boy, was harassed so mercilessly every day of his life that he could not take it any longer.  When a boy in his math class told him, "why don't you go home and shoot yourself,” he did.  This proves that speech can also be extremely dangerous. When it is used in the wrong way, many can get hurt.  Speech can also benefit many when it is used with good purposes in mind.   Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.  Through speech he was able to grant many people rights they deserved as equal human beings.  Without King, the world would be more unjust than it already is.

Speech really is a godly power.  Adonai has granted humans the authority to make a difference in His world.  This factor makes us similar to Him. Along with G-d, we inspire the world through speech, a true godly quality.

(-Yoav V, Kitah Het)