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My understanding is that the Creator encompasses both male and female, and so is without gender.
Language however is limited and imperfect. So are people. So the "he" is emphasized and the "she" is overlooked.
There is no way language can convey the Creator. But just because in language we limit the Creator to He, doesn't mean that limit exists, for in truth the Blessed One contains and encompasses both He and She.
Anybody care to bring the Shekinah into this discussion?
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 06-07-2008 at 06:42 PM..
Judaism, like Christianity, Islam and most cultures and societies, was historically male-dominated. The traditional language of Jewish liturgy was Aramaic and Hebrew, both of which do not contain a neutral gender. One must choose masculine or feminine words. Men edited the religious texts and in doing so applied masculine gender to the liturgy. Until very recently, women had no liturgical role in Judaism, and orthodox Judaism still does not ordain women to the rabbinate. It is therefore not surprising that Jewish liturgy refers to G-d as using masculine expressions such as "our Father", "our King". However, the fact that the original language (and thus the translations) forced the choice of a gender doesn't mean that G-d has gender. The language of the text merely follows the common usage of the times and the male-dominated society from which it comes.
The Shekhinah is the presence of G-d and is traditionally assigned a feminine gender. In Kabbalah, G-d has ten sefirot, or facets: Keter,Hokhmah,Binah, Hesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Hod, Netzah,Yesod, and Shekhinah.
The reason that some write the title God as G-d is out of respect, and also so that the name of God will not be destroyed. If they write G-d and it is destroyed then it is just some letters that were destroyed.
My sister who lives in China when she emails uses G-d so that when her emails are filtered by the Chinese government, then more make it through to the intended recipient. She also does this with Prayer (pr-yer) and more often says Father instead of God. The Chinese government is currently cracking down on bad emails and my sister wants to finish her contract without getting deported.
The accual name of God in Hebrew is Y-H-V-H or Yahweh. Those who have read the text have always said Adonai (Lord) instead of Yahweh so that they were not misusing the name of God. This stems more out of fear than respect necessarily. The name Jehovah is then the Name of God, Yahweh with the vowels of Adonai transposed over top. So Jehovah or Yehovah is not the true name of God that was used by Moses.
The Jewish comunity has no problem that I know of by saying the name of God so long as you are talking about God and his laws etc.. in a respectful way. If you speak in a vulgar way then you are taking his name in vain (or making it nothing or of no value, valuless) this is a sin.
I stated that Judaism generally refer to God as male, but the Holy Ghost (the breath of God) is referred to as female.
There is no holy ghost, as far as I'm aware, in Judaism.
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To Christians God is male, Jesus is male, therefore the Holy Ghost must also be male, right? And even when Christians see the Holy Ghost as female, the trinity garbles it all up by saying that they are all 1, while the Jews do not believe in the trinity. The Jews are forbidden to portray God and claiming that God is male already is depicting God which is forbidden.
I'm not certain of this but there are gender neutral references possible, and in the Torah God self-references in the plural.
There is no holy ghost, as far as I'm aware, in Judaism.
I'm not certain of this but there are gender neutral references possible, and in the Torah God self-references in the plural.
No, Holy Ghost in Judaism. I am not sure how scripture is reasoned out where it says "and the spiritof God moved upon the face of the waters"
or how it says in Prov. 30:4: Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
or Psalms 2:11: Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12:Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
or Psalms 110:1: The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Who is the Lord beside the LORD that is Lord of the king of Israel?
I think that the talmud and the Rabbi's have reasoned these to the end that they have lost all meaning.
There is no holy ghost, as far as I'm aware, in Judaism.
True, but if I understand it correctly God in Judaism is also the breath of life.
Calling a god the breath of life is the same as calling a deity incorporeal which in effect removes God from the physical plane.
This way 'modern' deities, like love and gravity, have become more of a an abstract concept than a physical construct.
The fact is that ideas, like ghosts, still influence humanity. For instance the Nazi idealism made the Jewish holocaust a reality.
I guess that believing that Jesus is God made patriarchy 'acceptable' in the Christian church.
Last edited by Tricky D; 06-23-2008 at 10:12 PM..
Reason: typo
For instance the Nazi idealism made the Jewish holocaust a reality.
I don't want to hijack this thread off topic, but I do wish to suggest that it was people--those who rounded up Jews, Poles, Gypsies, homosexuals and others, those who conducted executions, those who collaborated with the genocide and those who looked the other way--who made the Holocaust a reality. Ideas need action to come to fruition.....
Last edited by leorah; 06-24-2008 at 01:41 PM..
Reason: spelling...
or how it says in Prov. 30:4: Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
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See Exodus 4:22
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Originally Posted by Nikk
or Psalms 2:11: Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12:Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
This one has been debated for centuries. Debate hinges on the translation of the word "bar" and whether it is Aramaic or Hebrew.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikk
or Psalms 110:1: The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Look at it this way: he Lord [God] said to my master [King David] "Sit thou at my right hand . . . ."
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Shekhinah
The Jews are forbidden to portray God and claiming that God is male already is depicting God which is forbidden.
For instance the Nazi idealism made the Jewish holocaust a reality.
