Ask the Rabbi
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Question
A site, The Christian Mathematician, says God is infinite dimensional. What does this site think? Thanks!
Answer
The kabbalists use the metaphoric: “ain-sof”, which literally means “He Who has no end”, but this in no way infers any kind of quantification (as many understand “infinite” to convey, e.g. set theory and the theories of infinitesimals and of Hilbert space, which are given to rigorous discussion and are clearly “created” and not “Creator”).
Judaism, the purist of monotheist religions, realizes the necessity but problematics of using parables or metaphors to describe God, Whom, in truth, man cannot understand (“If I could understand Him, I would be Him”, Sefer Ha'ikarim). Even when, out of necessity, we use descriptions to praise Him, like “the Living God” or “God’s Mighty Hand”, we only use those explicitly cited in the Bible and as printed in the prayer-book and don’t add additional praise (for eventually, even after hours of praise, it’s always true to still ask: “What, that’s all you have to praise Him?!”). And even then, the more accurate meaning is really negating the opposite: He lives= but not just like we live, rather: He definitely doesn’t die; He is Mighty= but not just like man’s might, but rather, He decisively isn’t weak.

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