Judaism ForumAsk an Orthodox JewHi Aineo! Certainly not in the way that Christians do, i.e. a person within a triune God, or an aspect of God that has its own identity, personality or existence apart from, or within, Him. I suppose that we see references in the Tanakh to God's spirit as metaphors or literary/poetic images that help us to understand how God interacts with us and with the world. The Hebrew word for God's presence is shekhinah & is a cognate of a root meaning "to dwell" & is related to the Hebrew words for "neighbor", the Biblical "tent of meeting" and, oddly enough, "mortgage". Shekhinah is feminine (the Semitic languages, like the Romance languages, but unlike English, assigns gender to all nouns). We believe that God is Wholly Other and, that as such, completely transcends the physical concept/construct of gender. Insofar as we, with our necessarily limited human understanding, perceive God and how He (I use the masculine pronoun simply because it is the customary usage, not because I attribute any particular gender to God) makes His presence felt in the world, we discern features/aspects that appear to be feminine or masculine, as the case may be. Accordingly, we see the shekhinah as representing the more feminine side of God’s presence in the world. Howzat? Be well! stillsmallvoice |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame