by rabbi lavey derby
Va’era/Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
Exodus 6:2-9:35
Maftir: Numbers 28:9-15
Isaiah 66:1-24
I recently was working with a group of dedicated spiritual seekers, a community devoted to exploring the Jewish spiritual path and to sharing the joys and challenges of the journey, when the question of God came flooding out as if some invisible dam had burst.
It began simply, with expressions of doubt and uncertainty about God’s existence. The lack of empirical or philosophical proof was enough for some to discard God completely, or at least to make God irrelevant.
Soon doubt became anger. The problem of yearning for a relationship with the Unknowable, the domination of male God imagery, and the perennial conversation-stopper, the problem of evil, all poured out, leaving the group spiritually deflated. In Judaism, God is meant to be the answer of all answers; instead, in our day, God is the essence of the problem.
My friends’ discussion was both profound and moving, an important, even necessary stop on the journey. More disturbing is the recent book, “The God Delusion,” by professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford, in which he argues that not only is the God idea nonsense, but that religion is a “very evil” force in the world. He targets not just extremist religion but all faiths, and offers the hope that religions will someday disappear.
Dawkins is, himself, an extremist, but he has tapped into intellectual space that is recognizable to most of us. Due in part to the triumphant rule of science and technology in our world, and in part to the serious miseducation about God Jews in general have suffered for decades, we often see only black and white when it comes to God. When considering matters of ultimate meaning that approach the borders of the Ineffable, where logic falters we turn away rather than embracing experience and intuition.
The Sages of the Midrash understood the need to express the inexpressible nature of the Infinite in language evocative of human experience. In this week’s parashah (Exodus 6:2-3), when God reveals to Moses that God is known by different names, the Midrash records the teaching of Rabbi Abba bar Memel: “God said to Moses, ‘Is it My Name you wish to know? I am called according to my deeds ... When I judge humanity I am called Elohim, when I wage war I am called Tzeva’ot, when I suspend judgment I am called El Shaddai, and when I have compassion for my world I am called YHVH.’”
Rabbi Abba here suggests that the nature of the Infinite cannot be captured in a single name. There are a multitude of names for God. The names we use can only evoke specific manifestations of the Infinite One, which we come to know through our experiences in life.
My high school drama teacher tried to help me understand that a character’s personality is always complex, multifaceted. Similarly, it is a lack of imagination to think that God manifests to us in only one way.
Perhaps we could know God as “Midwife” when we feel transcendence in birthing something new in ourselves. God appears Tzuri – my rock – when we cry out for stability, and as Nehora – the river of light – when we are awash with a sense of Presence. Shechinah evokes the beloved and comforting Mother, and Shaddai offers both a need for strong boundaries (from the word dai, enough) as well as the promise of motherly nurturing (from the word shaddaim, breasts).
Tzeva’ot reminds us that we must battle our own negative traits. We experience Elohim when we must be judged, and we call out to YHVH when we acknowledge the Oneness of All Being pulsating with compassionate goodness for all.
To seek God is to speak God’s names, known to us through imagination, intuition and experience. The Names of Tradition guide the way, but there are many other names to be discovered. Which Divine name is closest to your heart? When will you speak it?
Rabbi Lavey Derby is the senior rabbi of Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California