Twenty Questions

Ever play this game?

One player is chosen to be the answerer. That person chooses a subject but does not reveal it to the others. All other players are questioners. They each take turns asking a question which can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." The answerer answers each question in turn. Sample questions could be: "Is it in this room?" or "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" Lying is not allowed, as it would ruin the game. If a questioner guesses the correct answer, he/she wins and becomes the answerer for the next round.

The most popular variant to this game is called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Other." In this version, the answerer tells the questioners at the start of the game whether the subject is an animal, vegetable, mineral, or other.

The other day I bought this "Twenty Questions" game for my son (and myself). It is a little handheld computerized toy. You choose your subject and then the toy "asks" you the questions. To answer, you press the "Yes" or "No" button. After Twenty Questions, the toy tries to guess the word that you had in mind.

No one is looking, and I take this piece in my hand and think of a word. I choose, "G‑d."

The toy begins questioning.
Is it animal?
No.
Is it vegetable?
No.
Is it mineral?
No.
Other?
Yes.
Can you hold it?
No.
Does it shine?
Yes.
Is it round?
No.
Does it come in a box?
No.
Does it help accomplish tasks?
Yes.
And on through its twenty questions.

This Game Thingie then takes a guess.
"Is your word…

LOVE?"

Interesting.
But that is not my word.
It asks another couple of questions, guesses again.
"Is it…

AN EMOTION?"

Hmm... I think, not bad.
Since it did not guess my word, I decide to play it one more time. (Some of the questions change.)
This time the toy's guess is…

"SUNSHINE?"

Pretty amazing, don't you think?
It asks if I want to try again.
I say, "No."
It does not "get" G d.
Well, I think, who does??

I am kind of "blown away" by this and relay my experience to a friend. His response: "If you consider that your answers to the 20 questions made G‑d into sunshine... this is incredible only in the sense that your perception of G‑d is lovely, emotional and sunny. Which isn't bad, mind you. Ask me twenty questions... G‑d will sound like a spinach lasagna!"

Interesting.
I can not resist.
I "play" again.
My word, "G‑d."

The toy's guess…
"SOUL?"
Nope.
"AIR?"
No.

Now I am intrigued.
Now I am obsessed.
Now I am going to play again.
My word is still…
"G‑d."

"AN ELECTRON?"
Nope.
"OXYGEN?"
No.

Then I realize.
Yes.
It is correct.
For G‑d most definitely is:
LOVE.
AN EMOTION.
SUNSHINE.
SOUL.
AIR.
AN ELECTRON.
OXYGEN.

And everything else, too.

It brings to mind an email I received from my friend a few months before, about keeping life in perspective and not to sweat the small stuff. Included in the email was a fascinating presentation of how large Earth and Venus are compared to Mars, Mercury and Pluto. How giant Jupiter and Saturn were, compared to Uranus and Neptune. And in comparison, how small Earth looks, and of course how tiny Pluto is.

The next diagram shows how humongous the Sun is. Relative to it, Jupiter, is tiny. Earth is a dot, Pluto barely visible. The next scale shows the Sun so tiny compared to Arcturus. Earth is now invisible.

"Now, how big are you? And how big are the things that upset you today?" he wrote to me.

I pondered to myself:
Imagine then how wow big, and even bigger, the Creator is!
And how we actually matter to Him.
How He navigates every single detail of our lives!
I'd say, we are pretty special.

After some meditating, I realized I erred. I erred big time. My mistake was that it is impossible to compare G‑d with anything. I cannot say "bigger, greater, etc.," for we cannot compare something "finite" to something "infinite & more." More accurate would be: Can we imagine how "great" (for lack of better word, but at least it's not a comparison) G‑d is?! Not really. For He actually created all those planets and stars—from "Nothing"! If He wishes to stop creating, right now, they will cease to exist.

All these physical "wow" planets/stars are nothing compared to the wow'ness of the spiritual worlds...

The best part: All this was created for us, you and me, together with all of Israel.

Is it any wonder that the toy was not successful in guessing G‑d?!