Question:
Dear Rabbi Max,
Kabbalistically is it wrong to refer to God using human descriptions
such as he/she, him/her, himself/herself, etc. In some synagogues
God is referred to in genderless ways. Why do you continue to
ascribe human-male to God? Is there a reason for this?
Carol
Answer:
Dear Carol,
Kabbalistically and non kabbalistically, there is nothing wrong
with using these pronouns for God if you realize that he is non-corporeal
and genderless. If you think of God in any gender specific way,
it is akin to idolatry and forbidden in Jewish law.
The use of He is the common way of referring to God. In English,
a case could be made for using "it" but Hebrew does
not have that word. Everything in Hebrew is either male or female.
A table is a feminine noun, even though we know it has no gender.
The reason for this is a kabbalistic principle that God created
two forces in the universe, male and female, and everything that
exists falls mainly into one of those categories even if it also
has attributes of the other. God has many female attributes and
when referring to them we use the pronoun She. The most common
one is called the "Shechina"'
How does Judaism define what is termed male and what is termed
female? There is a give and take between everything in existence.
Some things are more ostensibly related to giving and therefore
"male". Those that are more related to receiving are
termed "female"' In the primary relationship between
God and man, God is the giver and therefore "male",
and mankind is the receiver and therefore "female" That
is why God is usually referred to as He..
Rabbi Max Weiman
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