Thinking about God: Jewish Views

421 Pages·2020·5.633 MB·English

by  Rabbi Kari H. Tuling

Thinking about God
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln
Thinking about God
Jewish Views
Rabbi KaRi H. Tuling
The Jewish Publication Society
Philadelphia
© 2020 by Kari H. Tuling
All rights reserved. Published by the University of
Nebraska Press as a Jewish Publication Society book.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Tuling, Kari H., author.
Title: Thinking about God: Jewish views / Rabbi
Kari H. Tuling.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
[2020] | Series: JPS essential Judaism | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2019042781
isbn 9780827613010 (paperback)
isbn 9780827618466 (epub)
isbn 9780827618473 (mobi)
isbn 9780827618480 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsH: God (Judaism) | Bible. Old
Testament— Criticism, interpretation, etc. |
Rabbinical literature— History and criticism.
Classification: lcc bm610 .T85 2020 |
ddc 296.3/11— dc23
lc record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2019042781
Set in Merope by Mikala R. Kolander.
For Carol and Gerald, my parents
For Ben, my son
For Tom, my love
Contents
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvii
Part 1.
Is God the Creator and Source of
All Being— Including Evil?
1. What Does It Mean to Say That God Created the World? 3
1.1. A Biblical View: In the Image of God 3
1.2. From the Liturgy: God Renews Creation
Day by Day 8
1.3. A Rabbinic View: The Trouble with Angels 12
1.4. A Medieval View: Ibn Pakuda’s
Logical Analysis 16
1.5. A Modern View: Green’s Divine Helpmate 21
1.6. A Modern View: Kushner’s Sermon 24
1.7. Summary of Views 27
1.8. Meaning of the Seven- Day Creation Narrative 28
1.9. Intended Role of Humanity 31
2. How Does Evil Exist in a World with a Good God? 35
2.1. A Biblical View: Romping in the
Garden of Eden 35
2.2. From the Liturgy: The Soul You Have
Given Me Is Pure 40
2.3. A Rabbinic View: The Impulse to Good and
the Impulse to Evil 43
2.4. A Medieval View: Maimonides on Adam’s Sin 47
2.5. A Modern View: Cohen on God’s Holiness 53
2.6. A Modern View: Kushner on Bad Things
That Happen 56
2.7. Summary of Views 58
2.8. The Question of Free Will 59
2.9. Why Does God Allow Evil to Exist? 60
Part 2.
Does God Have a Personality— or Is God
an Impersonal Force?
3. Is God Like a Person? 67
3.1. A Biblical View: Moses Asks to Behold
God’s Presence 67
3.2. From the Liturgy: Forgiveness and God’s Body 70
3.3. A Rabbinic View: Where Is God’s Place? 74
3.4. A Medieval View: Maimonides and the
Attributes of Action 78
3.5. A Modern View: Buber’s Dialogic Approach 83
3.6. A Modern View: Green’s Non- Dualism 86
3.7. Summary of Views 87
3.8. Thinking of God as a Person 88
3.9. Imagining a Personal God vs. Imagining God
as an Impersonal Force 90
4. Does God Have a Gender? 91
4.1. A Biblical View: What Does Gender Have
to Do with It? 91
4.2. From the Liturgy: Our Father, Our King 96
4.3. A Rabbinic View: God’s Fire and the Patriarchy 100
4.4. A Medieval View: Scholem Explains the Rise
of the Shekhinah 104
4.5. A Modern View: Plaskow’s Feminist Critique 111
4.6. A Modern View: Adler and the
“Pudding Stone” 117
4.7. A Modern View: Falk’s Poetic Rewrite 121
4.8. Summary of Views 124
4.9. Implications of Masculine Images of God 125
4.10. Rethinking the Meaning of Traditional
Texts with Male Imagery 129
5. What Does It Mean to Declare God Is One? 133
5.1. A Biblical View: Hear, O Israel 133
5.2. From the Liturgy: The Shema
and Its Blessings 137
5.3. A Rabbinic View: A Deathbed Shema 142
5.4. A Medieval View: Maimonides’ Meditation 145
5.5. A Modern View: Schneerson’s Explicit
Mysticism 150
5.6. A Modern View: Soloveitchik Is Ever the
Rationalist 155
5.7. A Modern View: Schachter- Shalomi’s
Embodied Prayer 158
5.8. Summary of Views 163
5.9. The Meaning of Bearing Witness to God’s Oneness 165
5.10. Praying as One (Community) 166
Part 3.
Does God Redeem— or Might God Not Redeem?
6. Does God Intervene in Our Lives? 171
6.1. A Biblical View: Hannah Prays for a Son 171
6.2. From the Liturgy: A Tkhines for Pregnancy 175
6.3. A Rabbinic View: Hannah Persuades God to Act 179
6.4. A Medieval View: Ibn Pakuda Argues
for Predetermination 182
6.5. A Modern View: Heschel’s Partnership with God 184
6.6. A Modern View: Kaplan’s Rejection of
Supernaturalism 188
6.7. Summary of Views 192
6.8. Does God Act on Behalf of the Jewish Community? 193
6.9. Is the Creation of the State of Israel
Evidence of Divine Providence? 194
7. Does God Intervene in History? 197
7.1. A Biblical View: What Was Meant for Evil,
God Meant for Good 197