Radical Monotheism

The philosophy of G-d’s oneness (Tanya Ch. 20-21)

By Aron Moss

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Why We Sway When We Pray

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Radical Monotheism: The philosophy of G-d’s oneness (Tanya Ch. 20-21)

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Topics:	Existence; Reality, Perpetual Creation, Creation ex nihilo, Idolatry; Paganism, Monotheism, Tanya, Oneness of G-d

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Why We Sway When We Pray

By Aron Moss

Aron Moss is rabbi of the Nefesh Community in Sydney, Australia, and is a frequent contributor to Chabad.org. His latest book is "Can I Name My Dog Israel? Life Questions That Aren't So Black & White".

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5 Comments

Macharia Irungu January 11, 2023

Please comment on the statements below and help me understand the concept of "BEING" hinted in the philosopher's ideas.
"The same thing is both living and dead and the waking and the sleeping and the young and the old; For these things transformed are those, and those transformed back again are these". Heraclitus

“In my opinion we must first of all make the following distinction: what is it that always is and has no becoming, and what on the other hand becomes continually and never is? The one comprehensible by the mind with reasoning, the other conjectured by opinion with irrational sensation, coming to be and passing away, but never really being.” Plato

"What is cannot have come to being. If it did, it came either from what is or what is not. But it did not come from what is, since if it is existent, it did not come to be but already is; nor from what is not, for the non-existent cannot generate anything". Parmenides Reply

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman January 12, 2023

in response to Macharia Irungu:

There is a distinction between Greek thought, including pre-Socratic, and Jewish thought. In Jewish thought, being is intentional, deliberate and purposeful in it's very essence. Nothing has to be.

The four letter name of G-d refers not to being, but to its essence, that which freely chooses that anything at all should be. Reply

Michael Aaron Cohen Delray Beach Florida May 8, 2016

Please explain EVIL, etc........????? I do believe in G-D, but I do not understand evil, suffering, pain, disease, serial killers, etc....... But if G-D is ALL, Why does G-D allow the negative aspects of the universe to exist? PLEASE EXPLAIN ! The only way I can reconcile in my mind, is if that if the horrible things did not exist, then we could not understand the GOOD things?!?!? Am I correct??? Reply

K. Toronto July 3, 2017

in response to Michael Aaron Cohen :

Dear Michael;
My first experience of trying to understand this reality; what is evil; what are its' properties .. its forms, the consequences of its' movements in our world .... comes from a teaching in university English class with Shakespeare's Othello. How could Othello fathom the evil schemes of Iago if he, (Othello) had no such thoughts or resonances in himself? The best answer i could glean was that G-d wanted him to learn the lessons Iago had to teach him, about the different forms... not taken from the Bk of Job, but one might argue the secular metaphor was still functional ...you have to consciously turn your gaze towards the Good and breathe into this space .. and preferably in Torah. These other gods/demi-gods/famous authors ... simply can't stay the course ...
The forms of evil ... is a whole other question obviously. Another blog; 2000 years of Christian thought ... Adam and Eve and the Snake, for starters; not part of the inheritance given to children of Avraham. Reply

Derek Columbus Ohio July 14, 2021

in response to Michael Aaron Cohen :

Dear Michael, my limited understanding from what I heard Rabbi Aaron, blessings to him, combined with my limited understanding of the Kabbalah of the Arizal, blessed be him and his memory, are that since G_d said there should not be evil, by the act of good actually pronouncing what should not be actually in potentiality caused the existence of evil, once that switch was flicked.

Based on Arizal's description of the shattering of the vessels that switch was flicked when the sefirot rejected the light, regretted missing the light, and were shattered when the light rushed back in.

The world in which we now currently exist sees us picking up the pieces and restoring creation to it's once higher existence.As evil transpired during the descent, it is necessary to overcome and transcend it's existence in our attempt to ascend to our previous state. Could this be a collective process of purification? Could we each have responsibility for evil as it now exists in whatever form? Reply

Radical Monotheism: The philosophy of G-d’s oneness (Tanya Ch. 20-21)

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