וגם כי אין לו דמות הגוף

And although He has no bodily likeness,

How, then, can we possibly say that G‑d possesses an “eye” and “ear”, organs that are part of a physical body?

הרי אדרבה, הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ביתר שאת לאין קץ מראיית העין ושמיעת האזן, על דרך משל

yet, on the contrary: i.e., this is the very reason that everything is revealed and known to Him infinitely more than, for example, through the physical medium of sight and hearing.

When we say that G‑d does not possess any bodily likeness, we mean that He is not bounded by the frailties of a physical body. A physical eye can observe corporeality, but not spirituality; it can see only when there is adequate light, and only up to a given distance, and so on. Physical hearing is likewise limited. G‑d’s “seeing” and “hearing”, however, possess only the merits of these faculties, but none of their physical limitations. For it goes without saying that any quality possessed by created beings is surely possessed by their Creator.

רק הוא על דרך משל, כמו אדם היודע ומרגיש בעצמו כל מה שנעשה ונפעל באחד מכל רמ״ח איבריו, כמו קור או חום

By way of illustration, G‑d’s “seeing” and “hearing”, and the fact that everything is revealed to Him and known by Him, are like a man who knows and feels within himself all that is happening to and being experienced by each of his 248 organs, such as cold and heat,

ואפילו חום שבצפרני רגליו, על דרך משל, אם נכוה באור

feeling even the heat in his toenails, for example, as when he is scorched by fire;

וכן מהותם ועצמותם

so also their essence and substance,

I.e., not only is a person aware of all that is happening to his organs; he also feels the organs themselves.

וכל מה שמתפעל בהם יודע ומרגיש במוחו

and all that is affected16 in [ or: by] them, is known to the person and sensed in his brain.

One need not use his eyes or ears to see or hear what has happened to a limb of his body, such as the pain of a burned hand or foot, for he knows and senses it in his mind.

וכעין ידיעה זו, על דרך משל, יודע הקב״ה כל הנפעל בכל הנבראים עליונים ותחתונים, להיות כולם מושפעים ממנו יתברך, כמו שכתוב: כי ממך הכל

In a similar manner of knowledge, by way of analogy, G‑d knows all that befalls all created beings of both higher and lower worlds, because they all receive their flow of life from Him, as it is written:17 “For from You come all things.”

Just as the brain, which is the source of life for the whole body, knows what transpires within it, so too does G‑d, the Source of all life, know what is happening with all of creation.

וזה שאומרים: וגם כל היצור לא נכחד ממך

And this is the meaning of what we say:18 “…and no creature is hidden from You,” inasmuch as all created beings emanate from Him.

וכמו שכתב הרמב״ם [והסכימו לזה חכמי הקבלה, כמו שכתב הרמ״ק בפרדס]

And as Maimonides speaking as a philosopher has said (19and this has been agreed to by the scholars of the Kabbalah, as Rabbi Moses Cordovero writes in Pardess),

שבידיעת עצמו, כביכול, יודע כל הנבראים הנמצאים מאמיתת המצאו וכו׳

that by knowing Himself, as it were, He knows all created things, whose source of existence is His true existence.

However, G‑d provides creation with life in a different manner than the manner in which the soul provides life to the body. The soul must garb itself in the body in order to provide it with life. By doing so it is affected by the body (for “enclothing” implies that the clothed object undergoes a change). G‑d, however, is of course not subject to change when He provides life to creation. Hence:

רק שמשל זה אינו אלא לשכך את האזן, אבל באמת אין המשל דומה לנמשל כלל

This analogy of soul and body, however, is only to “calm the ear” — to make it possible for man’s ear and intellect to perceive how one may know about something without having to actually see or hear it. In truth, however, the analogy of soul and body bears no similarity at all to the analogue of G‑dliness and creation.

כי נפש האדם, אפילו השכלית והאלקית, היא מתפעלת ממאורעי הגוף וצערו מחמת התלבשותה ממש בנפש החיונית המלובשת בגוף ממש

For the human soul, even the rational and the divine soul, is affected by the events which transpire with the body and its pain, by reason of its (the rational and divine soul’s) being actually clothed within the vivifying soul (i.e., the soul which provides the body with physical life) which in turn is clothed in the body itself.

אבל הקב״ה אינו מתפעל, חס ושלום, ממאורעי העולם ושינוייו, ולא מהעולם עצמו

G‑d, however, is not (heaven forbid) affected by the events of the world and its changes, nor by the world itself,

He is not affected by the existence (the essence and being20) of the world;

שכולם אינן פועלים בו שום שינוי, חס ושלום

none of them effect any change in Him, G‑d forbid, nor in His absolute unity; just as He was One and Unified before He created them, so, too, does He remain One and Unified after their creation.

והנה כדי להשכיל זה היטב בשכלנו, כבר האריכו חכמי האמת בספריהם

In order to help us understand this well with our intelligence, the Scholars of Truth (i.e., the Kabbalists) have already treated it at length in their books, and an explanation will be found there.

אך כל ישראל מאמינים בני מאמינים, בלי שום חקירת שכל אנושי, ואומרים: אתה הוא עד שלא נברא העולם וכו׳

However, all Jews as descendants of the Patriarchs who believed in G‑d, are “believers, descendants of believers,” without any speculation of mortal intellect whatever, and they declare:21 “You were [the same] before the world was created,” and so forth,

The passage concludes: “You are [the same] since the world has been created”; thus, all Jews firmly believe that the world’s creation causes no change in G‑d,

כנ״ל פרק כ׳

as has been explained above in ch. 20.

(below text was not read during the class)

והנה כל אדם מישראל, יהיה מי שיהיה, כשיתבונן בזה שעה גדולה בכל יום, איך שהקב״ה מלא ממש את העליונים ואת התחתונים, ואת השמים ואת הארץ ממש מלא כל הארץ כבודו ממש

Now, therefore, each individual Jew, whoever he may be, i.e., whatever his spiritual state, when he ponders upon this for a considerable time each day — how G‑d is truly omnipresent in the higher and lower [worlds], and the actual heaven and earth (i.e., not only the spiritual heaven and earth, the Supernal Sefirot, but the actual heaven and earth itself) is truly filled with His glory,

וצופה ומביט ובוחן כליותיו ולבו וכל מעשיו ודבוריו, וכל צעדיו יספור

and that He looks, seeks and searches his “kidneys and heart” (i.e., his inner thoughts and emotions) and all his actions and words, and counts his every step —

אזי תקבע בלבו היראה לכל היום כולו, כשיחזור ויתבונן בזה אפילו בהתבוננות קלה

then fear will be implanted in his heart throughout the day, even when he is occupied with other matters and cannot contemplate the above, when he will again meditate on this, even with a superficial reflection that does not demand a particular effort and a set time;

בכל עת ובכל שעה יהיה סור מרע ועשה טוב במחשבה דבור ומעשה, שלא למרות חס ושלום עיני כבודו אשר מלא כל הארץ

at any time22 or moment, he will thus turn away from evil and do good, (i.e., he will refrain from transgressing negative commands and perform positive commands) in thought, speech and deed, so as not to rebel, G‑d forbid, in the sight of His glory whereof the whole world is filled.

וכמאמר רבן יוחנן בן זכאי לתלמידיו כנ״ל

This is in accord with the statement23 of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai to his disciples, quoted above, viz., “May it be G‑d’s Will that the fear of heaven be upon you [and keep you from sinning] like the fear of a human being [who by observing your actions keeps you from sinning].”

וזה שאמר הכתוב: כי אם ליראה את ה׳ אלקיך, ללכת בכל דרכיו

This, then, is the meaning of the verse:24 “[G‑d demands of you] only to fear the L‑rd your G‑d, to walk in all His ways.”

The question arises: Is attaining the fear of G‑d such an easy thing that the verse says, “only to fear Him”? The answer which is given (“For Moses it is a simple matter”) is difficult to comprehend, for the verse speaks of what “G‑d demands of you” — of every Jew. The explanation is as follows: the verse is referring here to a level of fear which is indeed simple for every Jew to reach, that level being fear that leads one to “walk in all His ways.”

שהיא יראה המביאה לקיום מצותיו יתברך, בסור מרע ועשה טוב, והיא יראה תתאה הנ״ל

For this is the fear that leads to the fulfillment of G‑d’s commandments, which involve turning away from evil and doing good. This is the “lower-level fear” which has been discussed earlier.

Accordingly, the Gemara’s answer (“For Moses it is a simple matter”) is now understandable. It means:

ולגבי משה, דהיינו, לגבי בחינת הדעת שבכל נפש מישראל האלקית, מילתא זוטרתי היא, כנ״ל

As it applies to “Moses”, that is to say, in relation to the quality of Daat that is in the divine soul of every Jew, this quality being the quality of Moses found within “you”, within each Jewish soul, this is indeed a minor thing, as has been stated above — that when a Jew reflects with his Daat upon matters that arouse fear of G‑d, he will surely succeed in attaining it,

שהדעת הוא המקשר מצפוני בינת הלב אל בחינת גילוי במחשבה ממש, כידוע ליודעי ח״ן

(25for Daat is [the faculty] which connects the hidden understanding of the heart with revelation in actual thought, as is known to those who are familiar with the Esoteric Discipline).

As mentioned earlier, all Jews possess a “hidden treasure of fear of heaven” in their hearts. Through the faculty of Daat, this fear of heaven is revealed and felt in one’s thought, and also affects his speech and actions.

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