Questions tagged [anthropomorphism]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
16 votes
6 answers
1k views

Hashem studies Torah?

The Gemara in Avodah Zarah 3b lays out the 12-hour schedule of Hashem's day. I realize that any kind of description of Hashem in human terms is allegorical as Hashem is not a human bounded by time and ...
Premundane's user avatar
  • 4,501
10 votes
5 answers
478 views

Onkelos, Anthropomorphism, and The Exodus

Onkelos the Convert is said by the Talmud to be the author of the official aramaic translation of the Pentateuch. Rashi and Maimonides understand Onkelos as having a tendency to interpret physical ...
Baby Seal's user avatar
  • 8,240
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

What does the Rambam mean when he says that the planets have souls?

Rambam states in Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, Chapter 3, Section 9 that each of the planets have a soul, knowledge, and intellect. כל הכוכבים והגלגלים כולן בעלי נפש ודעה והשכל הם והם חיים ועומדים ...
ezra's user avatar
  • 18.7k
5 votes
5 answers
3k views

In Judaism, does God have a body?

In the Bible it says [Gen 3:8]: "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day". It seems God has carnal body (thus he could walk). In Judaism compared with ...
Popopo's user avatar
  • 177
5 votes
0 answers
257 views

Understanding the Zohar's Anthropomorphism of God

Unlike the Rambam's now-conventional ideas against anthropomorphizing God, there are kabbalistic texts studied today which seem to espouse completely antithetical ideas. I am familiar with the ...
Aryeh's user avatar
  • 11.6k
4 votes
3 answers
324 views

Hashem in a Tallit

The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 17b says: ויעבור ה' על פניו ויקרא א"ר יוחנן אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו מלמד שנתעטף הקב"ה כשליח צבור והראה לו למשה סדר תפלה אמר לו כל זמן שישראל חוטאין יעשו לפני ...
Akiva___'s user avatar
  • 431
4 votes
2 answers
100 views

References to intimacy between God and the Jewish people

There's a Baal HaTurim on Exodus 19:4: ואביא אתכם אלי מה אשה נקנית בכסף ובשטר ובביאה אף ישראל כן. ... בביאה זהו שנא' ואפרוש כנפי עליך וגו' ואבא בברית אתך לכן אמר הושע ג''פ וארשתיך לי: ואביא בגימ' ...
Arithmomaniac's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
363 views

Seeking the book of Rav Moshe Taku

I read in a post on mi yodeya here that this Chacham, Rav Moshe Ben Chasday Mitaku wrote that G-d has a body. I am sure that the text is very interesting and I am curious to understand what he means. ...
kouty's user avatar
  • 22.8k
2 votes
3 answers
143 views

A similitude of the Lord?

What is meant in Bamidbar 12:8 when the verse reads: "and the similitude of the LORD doth he behold" - וּתְמֻנַת יְהוָה, יַבִּיט I would like to know what the words 'similtude of the Lord' really ...
Levi's user avatar
  • 7,358
2 votes
2 answers
104 views

Source for Hashem standing up for a zaken

Yerushalmi, Bikkurim 3:3 (also, Y. Rosh Hashanah 1:3) says that Hashem stood up before a zaken for the first time: רבי סימון אמר הקב”ה (ויקרא יט) מפני שיבה תקום והדרת פני זקן ויראת מאלהיך אני ה’ ...
Renato S. Grun's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
60 views

What might G-d's self identification as "the ruler of armies" be intended to express?

In divine dealings with Israel and the nations, we don't really see divine armies employed much. More often foreign armies are employed in order to punish Israel and bring her into exile. We do see ...
Ruminator's user avatar
  • 1,145
1 vote
1 answer
83 views

Measuring the universe in G-d's cubits (Eruvin 21a)

In the following passage (Eruvin 21a in William Davidson edition) the sages try to determine the size of the Torah scroll that Zachariah saw in his prophecy: In order to determine the measure of ...
Al Berko's user avatar
  • 26k