{"id":60,"date":"2006-10-05T17:26:34","date_gmt":"2006-10-05T17:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summametaphysica.com\/ge\/10000-the-epicenter-of-the-divine\/10004-buttress-and-elaboration\/"},"modified":"2018-04-23T20:15:24","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T20:15:24","slug":"10004-buttress-and-elaboration","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.summametaphysica.com\/ge\/10000-the-epicenter-of-the-divine\/10004-buttress-and-elaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"100.04 Buttress and Elaboration (pps.69-72)"},"content":{"rendered":"

hard cover page 69<\/p>\n

100.04 Buttress and Elaboration<\/p>\n

God’s life-giving powers flow from the very highest degree of Holiness\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfrom His Own Presence\u00e2\u20ac\u201d down to the flesh-and-blood, cause-and-effect world in which we human beings live.
\n-Scherman237<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Leviticus 12:l-4 presents the rule that when a woman gives birth she descends in purity.238<\/sup> Moreover, when a woman gives birth to a daughter she descends twice the level of purity that she descends when she gives birth to a boy. The Or HaChaim explains that this perplexing formulation teaches us that during pregnancy a woman achieves a higher level of holiness, since she is carrying another life.239<\/sup> The conception of a daughter who will maintain within herself a greater creative potential, raises her to a higher level of holiness. After the potential leaves her womb, her level of purity descends. Inasmuch as a female fetus represents a higher level of potentiality, upon the birth of a girl the mother’s level of purity descends doubly. For potential creation is indeed holy. And the level of creation potential is directly related to the level of holiness.<\/p>\n

The cosmic fate is interlinked with the fate of God, the universe, and man.<\/p>\n

Remember the former things of old:
\nThat I am God, and there is none else;
\nI am God, and there is none like Me;
\nDeclaring the end from the beginning,
\nAnd from ancient times things
\nthat are not yet done.
\n-Isaiah 46:9-10<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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237<\/sup> Scherman, “An Overview: Kaddish,” p. xii.<\/p>\n

238 <\/sup>Specifically, when a woman gives birth to a male she becomes “impure” for seven days; to a female, fourteen days (Leviticus 12:6).<\/p>\n

239 <\/sup>Or HaChaim, Leviticus 12:2.<\/p>\n

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Soloveitchik notes:<\/p>\n

. . . the Jewish people see their own fate as bound up with the fate of existence as a whole. . . . When the historical process of the Jewish people reaches its consummation and attains the heights of perfection, then (in an allegorical sense) the flaws of creation as a whole will also be repaired. “He bade the moon renew itself for those who were burdened from birth, who like her will be renewed and will extol their Creator on account of the name of His glorious kingdom” [from the blessing over the new moon].240<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God is represented in Tanach<\/em> as a many-faceted deity. It is for this reason that He is known by many Names.241<\/sup> We postulate that the primal essence of God is potentiality, i.e., a supradi- mensional metaphysical intangible. Potential is implicit through God, and through God, the universe and man.242 <\/sup>The essence of God is eternal, timeless and infinite.243<\/sup> The Primal Essence inexorably quests after its own infinite potentiality.244<\/sup><\/p>\n

Creation finds its expression in man’s fulfilling all of his tasks, causing all of the potentiality implanted in him to emerge into actuality, utilizing all of his manifold possibilities, and fully bringing to fruition his own noble personality. The power stored up within man is exceedingly great, is all-encompassing, but all too often it slumbers within and does not bestir itself from its deep sleep. The command of creation, beating deep within the consciousness of Judaism, proclaims: Awake ye slumberers from your sleep. Realize, actualize yourselves, your own potentialities and possibilities, and go forth to meet your God. The unfolding of man’s spirit that soars to the very heavens, that is the meaning of creation.
\n-Soloveitchik245<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If man’s future potentialities are so crucial, with his existence and striving for spiritual and intellectual achievement energizing the universe, it would seem that the cosmic order itself<\/p>\n

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240 <\/sup>Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man<\/em>, p. 107.<\/p>\n

241 <\/sup>See Agus, “The Meaning of Prayer,” in Millgram, Great Jewish Ideas,<\/em> p. 235. “The Tetragrammaton (YHVH), whatever its original meaning and pronunciation, is understood to be a formula, combining the future, the past and the present.”
\nCf. Hick, Readings in The Philosophy of Religion<\/em>, p. 72. “that His true name is He that is, or, in other words, Being without restriction, all Being, the Being infinite and universal.”<\/p>\n

242 <\/sup>See Whitehead, “Process and Reality,” in Alston and Nakhnikian, Readings in Twentieth-Century Philosophy,<\/em> p. 151. “Viewed as primordial, he [God] is the unlimited conceptual realization of the absolute wealth of potentiality.”
\nCf. Berkovits, Major Themes in modern Philosophies of Judaism, p. 21. “God is m’huyab hmziut<\/em>, He is absolute and exists of his own uncreated intrinsic necessity.”<\/p>\n

243 <\/sup>See Berg, Kabbalah for the Layman,<\/em> p. 72.<\/p>\n

244 <\/sup>See Bokser, Abraham Isaac Kook<\/em>,<\/em> p. 4. “Rav Kook saw the whole universe stirred by the pulsating energies emanating from the divine source of all existence.” Cf. Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petalled Rose, p. 39. “All these Sefirot<\/em> are infinite in their potency, even though they are finite in their essence.” Cf. Shem Olam<\/em>, p. 41, as cited in Agus, The Evolution of Jewish Thought,<\/em> p. 285. “The primal man consists in his turn of ten sefiroth,<\/em> which were conceived as being both God and not-God. ‘For that which is infinite and boundless could not make that which is finite and definite; therefore, it was necessary to postulate ten sefiroth<\/em> in the middle, which are both finite and infinite.’ ”<\/p>\n

245 <\/sup>Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man<\/em>, p. 132. (Soloveitchik cites Maimonides, Guide<\/em> 2:32. “Prophecy is a certain perfection in the nature of man. This perfection is not achieved in any individual from among men except after a training that makes that which exists in the potentiality of the species pass into actuality.”) Cf. ibid., p. 132. “In truth, Greek philosophy was also familiar with the notion of a process of development from relative nothingness to a perfect existence. What is more, this problem is practically the central issue in Greek ontology. The dispute between Heraclitus and Parmenides concerning the nature of being-whether it is perpetual development and movement or fixed, perfect existence-still made itself felt in the analyses of the Platonic and Aristotelian schools and their successors.”<\/p>\n

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hard cover page 71<\/p>\n

might be jeopardized if man annihilated himself. Thus the imperatives of potential do not exceed the limits necessary for survival.246<\/sup> On the other hand, if potential is at the essence of the Divine, we indeed have grounds for optimism. For only an awesomely positive potential down the road could dynamize all.<\/p>\n

Radiant is the world soul,
\nFull of splendor and beauty,
\nFull of life,
\nOf souls hidden,
\nOf treasures of the holy spirit.
\nOf fountains of strength,
\nOf greatness and beauty.
\nProudly I ascend
\nToward the heights of the world soul
\nThat gives life to the universe.
\n-Kook247<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* * *<\/div>\n

He hangs the world upon nothingness.
\n-Job 26:7248<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our conception adheres to classic Jewish doctrine of a spiritual and conscious God of infinity.249<\/sup><\/p>\n

The question then arises: Is spirituality at the beginning of the process or at its culmination? We are comfortable with the notion that it is at both the beginning and the end, a continuum. This is congruent with traditional religious thought. We add, however, that elements of circularity in time. God, or time\/ God can be theorized to buttress the concept of a cosmos dynamized by potentiality.250<\/sup> In the primordial realms of the infinite, potentialities and circularities reign supreme.<\/p>\n

Somewhat in parallel to the construction of a geodesic dome, where all parts support one another, so too in creation, the potentialities of all creation support each other as well as the holy actualization spark. Thus, where the overwhelming thrust<\/p>\n

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246 <\/sup>See Lamm, The Face of God<\/em>, sec. 5, comments on “Survivalist Hester.”<\/p>\n

247 <\/sup>Kook, “Light of Penitence,” in Bokser, Abraham Isaac Kook<\/em><\/em>, p. 376.<\/p>\n

248<\/sup> <\/sup>To draw a parallel with architecture: Aristotelian philosophy concern- ing the origins of the universe can be compared to a classic structure: the upper structure, i.e., the universe, is supported by the foundation-God. Our formulation can be compared somewhat to an infinitely expanding geodesic dome-with all elements supporting each other. (A geodesic dome, often employed as a roof for large stadiums, is composed of a framework of light, straight-sided polygons in tension. It was originally conceived by Buck- minster Fuller.)<\/p>\n

249 <\/sup>See Agus, The Evolution of Jewish Thought,<\/em> p. 74. “In the Hellenistic world there was current the Stoic conception of anima mundi,<\/em> the soul of the world, which pictured the Deity as the sum and substance of the laws prevailing in the universe. The rabbis did not think of God as the world’s soul, in the sense of being the expression of the totality of its powers and functions.”
\nCf. ibid., p. 87. “Philo rejected the Aristotelian concept of the Deity as the unmoved mover, since it implied the eternity of the world and denied the miracle of creation. Similarly, Philo repudiated the Stoic view of God as a material principle, immanent in physical nature, revealed in reason and expressed in the laws which govern all events in the universe. The Stoics believed the fundamental energy of the universe to be a quasi-rational logos, conscious, inflexible, and benevolent. . . .Scripture emphasizes the spiritual character of God’s being and His difference from the material world.”<\/p>\n

250 <\/sup>Stephen Hawking, a physicist, observes: “It may be that the universe really did not have a beginning. Or maybe the ‘space-time’ forms a closed surface without an edge like the surface of the earth but in two more dimensions.” From WNET’s production “The Origin of the Universe” (approxiinately 5478 on standard-speed VHS tape).<\/p>\n

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of classic Western philosophy is linear (i.e., A caused B caused C), our formulation is circular, with embedded potentialities providing the crucial supports and linkages.<\/p>\n

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hard cover page 69 100.04 Buttress and Elaboration God’s life-giving powers flow from the very highest degree of Holiness\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfrom His Own Presence\u00e2\u20ac\u201d down to the flesh-and-blood, cause-and-effect world in which we human beings live. -Scherman237 Leviticus 12:l-4 presents the rule that when a woman gives birth she descends in purity.238 Moreover, when a woman gives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":56,"menu_order":285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n100.04 Buttress and Elaboration (pps.69-72) - David Birnbaum Summa Metaphysica I<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.summametaphysica.com\/ge\/10000-the-epicenter-of-the-divine\/10004-buttress-and-elaboration\/\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/www.summametaphysica.com\/ge\/10000-the-epicenter-of-the-divine\/10004-buttress-and-elaboration\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"100.04 Buttress and Elaboration (pps.69-72) - 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