I know there is a God – Ki Tissa
That God existed was never in doubt in Moses’ mind. But even Moses was unsure about what God is – His essence, His nature – and in this week’s sidra he implores the Almighty, “Show me Your ways, that I may know You and find grace in Your sight” (Ex. 33:13).
If anyone deserved an insight into God, it was Moses. But God simply says, “No man shall know Me and live!”
An oriental tale tells that an ancient sage was occupied for many days with the question of the nature of God. On a walk by the beach he saw children digging holes in the sand, as children always do, and filling them with water.
“What are you doing?” he asked; they replied, “We are emptying the sea of water!” “You are little fools,” he started to say; but then he turned to himself and said, “I think I am as foolish as they are. With my limited mind how can I imagine I can grasp the greatness of God?”
The important question is not what God is, but that He is. Our task is not to comprehend God, but to apprehend Him: not to express Him but to address Him.
Religion is not about defining God but about relating to Him.
