Shaar Yichud - Unity of God

Question

According my understanding of the Shaar Yichud of Chovot Halevavot, an Eternal being must be infinite and everywhere since whatever is finite is necessarily bounded and whatever is bounded is preceded by the framework which set its boundaries, hence it cannot be Eternal, because eternal by definition means nothing preceding it. (see. ch.7 with commentaries)

If it is so that God must be everywhere, then how are we to understand the absolute unity of God?

We cannot say "part" of Him is here and "part" of Him is there since that contradicts the Unity of God.

Neither can we say that He is entirely here and entirely there since that would mean 1+1=1

Answer 1

Spacial location is a property of physical matter. Because of the fact that matter is finite and cannot occupy two different places at the same time, it must occupy only a specific location. G-d is not limited by that restriction and can occupy all places at once. This does not mean that different parts or different copies of Him occupy different places, but that the same G-d occupies all those different places simultaneously. Other non-material things share this curious attribute. For example, the mathematical rule that 1 + 1 = 2 holds true in all places in the universe, but it is not a different rule in each place (so that we could add them together and say there are two rules) or a different part of the rule in each place. The same rule exists in all places simultaneosly.

Answer 2

I question your assumptions, however:

The idea of "parts" does not refer to things which are arbitrarily distinct within one whole. A rubber bouncy ball is not made of parts just because it takes up space - it is all part of the same whole, as opposed to a basketball consists of the sphere which bounces, the hollow inside which maintains its firmness, and the piece that allows the pump needle to insert air without letting air out. Hashem is One in that He does not have one "part" of Him responsible for kindness, one part for judgment, one part for mercy etc., rather Hashem is one in that all these behaviors are accomplished by one distinct "faculty." This is how the Ramchal describes Hashem's oneness in Derech Hashem (1:1:5) - מציאות פשוט בלי הרכבה - a simple existence, one that does not consist of compounding. This is the same use of simple that is commonly used in systems - simple and complex systems. Even if we could refer to Hashem as "being in all places" this would not result in "parts" of Him in different places, as all places would be one "big part."

Regarding your assumption that Hashem's unity means that He is in all places, Sha'ar HaYichud never states this and I do not think it is a result of his intent: there are two distinct aspects when we discuss the Creator. One is His עצם, His "essence," and the other is His מדות, His "attributes," the way He interacts with the world. Hashem's manifestation in this world, the way He interacts, is very much not singular in having no distinct parts - there are 13 distinct elements of that interaction. (The Kuzari explains that this itself is an expression of greater One-ness, that even apparent disparity comes from one unified source.) When we discuss Hashem being One, we are referring to His "essence" - there is no physical location to Hashem's "essence." All of His actions come from one cohesive plan and purpose, but the actions are split into parts, as is all of the physical world. Hashem does not have an "essence" in the physical world, and from the perspective of Hashem's "essence," physical existence does not exist (see Nefesh HaChaim Sha'ar Gimmel ch. 2 - עד שתוכל לומר שאין כאן שום נברא ועולם כלל רק הכל מלא עצמות אחדותו הפשוט). The discussion of His being one and having no parts is a discussion which precedes physical existence - thus the Rambam in several places (see for example Moreh 1:73) equates Hashem's one-ness with His being non-physical. There was never an attempt to apply the Unity that is being described to physical existence - it is a discussion of qualities and domains, not of how large or old something is.

Answer 3

It seems, that your question arises from mixing two different aspects of Hashem's qualities which is a very common confusion. Let me elaborate it based on Rambam's Yesodei-haTorah.

1. First aspect of Hashem is what we call Hashem is One. Some of Hashem's qualities you discuss (omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, eternity etc) relate to this aspect. Those qualities are purely theoretical (mental) and can not be observed or sensed by any human means (just like mathematical infinities). I would like to explain this Oneness a little bit.
2. It is a misunderstanding to say "Hashem is everywhere", as the Sages said "He is the Makom (place) of the world", not the vice verse. He IS the dimensions in which anything else possibly exists. His omnipresence is not a presence per se, but it is the base for the presence of all other stuff.
3. It is also a mistake to talk about Hashem's Eternity, as the time is an attribute of what we call "matter". For spiritual things (think of particles or souls) time looses its meaning (see the problem of causality). Hence the world to come is called "the eternal Shabbos day" - once we disconnect from matter, time "freezes" if you will.
4. Same with omnipotence, as our understanding of potency implies a force being applied to an external body. Hashem is the reason for all potency (forces) in our reality, so omnipotence means "source for potency" not "a lot of it".
5. Needless to say, omniscience is a similar confusion. As nothing can be "external" to Hashem, and our understanding of knowledge is an external knowledge - one knows something that is external to him, this is inapplicable to Hashem. Therefor He IS the source for all the knowledge in our reality, not actually "knows a lot".

As you can see, this understanding of Hashem's Oneness is very problematic for us. Because He can not be observed and perceived with senses, He can not interact with His "space-time-matter limited" creations, i.g. us. Therefore creation of the spacetime limited creatures "obligates" a simplified, "scaled-down version" of Him (we can call it the Shechina, for example) that can be "impersonated" and treated as He was an ultimate "space-time" being. This is the second aspect I was talking about, that's completely different from the first one.

7. In this aspect G-d is not "exactly" one, as we and our world do exist in parallel to Him in our perception, and there's Earth and the Heaven etc. And therefore Torah is full of G-d's "impersonated" qualities, such as body parts (see Rambam), feelings (see Rambam), movement, forces etc, that allow our interaction with Him.

8. Therefore your example of ""part" of Him is here and "part" of Him is there" applies to this aspect of Him, the practical implementation of Hashem, not the "real" One Hashem as described in #1-5.

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I should admit, that this differentiation is not clear from Rambam's writings or all others and it took me some time to realize it, but once you grasp this idea you can clearly see, when Hashem is addressed in His unity and when in His "spacetime" implementation.

Hope it helps.

Answer 4

That is the whole point - the Absolute Unity of G-d means not that there is 1 and not 2, but rather, that there is nothing except Him. The overwhelming multiplicity of our reality is just one form of expression of His Oneness.

Now this concept seems paradoxical to us, but Rashi on the first verse of Shma brings the quote from Zecharyah that at the end of days, G-d will be One and His Name will be One, so it will be revealed how exactly is the multiplicity we see is an expression of His Oneness. Currently, however, it is unrevealed.

Answer 5

As in every philosophical question ( jewish, all the more so) there are many different versions of the same answer. Those answer will have different approaches based on background (chassidic, litvish, etc..) and education, but IMHO, from what I have heard and read, ( sorry sources allude me ) the root to all these approaches are like we say in the Shema "Echad". G-D is one, i.e. and there is nothing else. Hence the part of G-D thats in me and you are part of one whole. The misconception that a "part of g-d" is then a disruption in unity is brought about because of our human minds. That doesn't mean its not so. There are many things beyond our comprehension, ( calculus for me is one of those topics, among many others.) The 'issue' arises when you have individuals that understand all the this world has to offer intellectually, and when they come to a concept that can not be processed by a human mind, it gets questioned and argued on. In judaism, this is where our Emunah and Bitachon come in. Point being: the answer to this question is Emunah.

Editors note: this is not an attack on any individual, group, nor movement. It is also not to say we should not ask. It is my answer to this question (and to any other question beyond human comprehension)