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After hearing all this, the Khazar King responded, "Someone who hears you say that God spoke with your people, and that He wrote tablets for them, will conclude that you believe in a physical God. It would seem that you could not condemn such a person, because you cannot dispute the great physical revelations of God that you just mentioned. It would also, then, be correct for you to reject the philosophers' path of arriving at religion through proofs and intellectual analysis as your historical revelations supersede all else."
The Rabbi said: "Heaven forbid such an ascription to Him! Never does the Torah write something that the logic dictates as false. While religious faith is above the dictates of human logic, it does not run counter to it. Our faith distances itself greatly from attributing any sort of physicality to God. To wit: the first of the Ten Commandments is to believe in God. The second is the prohibition from worshiping other gods in addition to God and making idols and graven images which represent God. How could we not elevate God above the physical, if we even elevate certain creations of God above the physical? Consider a person's soul, which is really the essence of every person. When, for example, Moses would speak, instruct, and lead us, what came out of him did not emanate from his tongue, or his heart, or his brain. Rather, those were just tools that Moses' soul used to speak to us. Moses, then, is the speaking, discerning soul. It is not physical, nor is it confined to a certain place, nor is it perceived through any of the senses. It is abstract.
Foundations of Faith (51)
Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed
13 - 13. Faith Needs No Rational Proof
14 - 20. God's Incorporeality
15 - 19. Divine Providence and Prophetic Revelation
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In summary, God is definitively sublime, above all physicality, impenetrable, and infinite. And because He is infinite, He is omnipotent and can do things which are beyond our understanding. He can cause us to hear His speech and to see his writ, without our understanding how these things come about.
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Postscript: In the above article, some of what appears to be the dialog of Rabbi Judah Halevi's The Kuzari has in fact been added by Rabbi Melamed for purposes of clarity and explication.
Much of the translation of the Kuzari in the above article is taken from N. Daniel Korobkin's translation of The Kuzari (Jason Aaronson Inc.).
Rabbis in Midrash
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
