{"id":88465,"date":"2021-02-07T23:19:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T21:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=88465"},"modified":"2021-02-07T23:19:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-07T21:19:31","slug":"seek-to-hear-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/seek-to-hear-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Seek To Hear God"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"88465","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"672","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Whereas \u201cseeing\u201d is finite, and is subject to limits and boundaries, \u201chearing\u201d lends itself to a more open-ended approach\r\n\r\n","content":"

As the result of biblical Jewish history, recorded particularly in the books of Genesis and Exodus (v. 8-44), the Psalmist contends that those that have been the recipients of God\u2019s largesse, should praise and appreciate Him (v. 1-7) as well as observe His teachings (v. 45.)<\/span><\/p>\n

One verse, however, that appears to demand more than \u201csimply\u201d <\/span>hosannas <\/span><\/i>and compliance with Torah law, is v. 4: “Turn to the LORD, to His might; seek His presence constantly.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The verbs, \u201c<\/span>dirshu<\/span><\/em>\u201d, and \u201c<\/span>bakshu<\/span><\/em>\u201d suggest that even if an individual feels that his relationship with God has become attenuated, it is their responsibility to pursue restoring, or even initiating, greater intimacy and familiarity with the Divine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Malbim <\/span>notes that v. 4 emphasizes \u201cprocess\u201d rather than \u201cproduct,\u201d i.e., whatever an individual may think that they have achieved in the spiritual realm, there will always remain more to discover and experience about God. Approaching Him could therefore be said to be \u201casymptotic,\u201d in the sense that the best that a rationalist (as opposed to a mystic) can expect, is to come closer by degrees, but never to actually achieve the goal of \u201cknowing God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

God has always posed to humans an entity shrouded in mystery. Consider the following Rabbinic comment:<\/span><\/p>\n

Why does the text state \u201c\u2026<\/span>seek His presence constantly\u201d? To teach you that the Holy One, blessed be He, sometimes can be \u201cseen\u201d and sometimes He cannot be \u201cseen;\u201c sometimes He \u201chears,\u201d and sometimes He does not \u201chear;\u201d sometimes He is \u201csought after\u201d and sometimes He cannot be \u201csought after;\u201c sometimes He is \u201cclose\u201d and sometimes He is not \u201cclose\u201d\u2026 <\/span>(Pesikta D\u2019Rav Kahana, Addendums #7 \u201cDirshu\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps it is for this reason that Moses, who became closer to God than any other human being (Exodus 33:11) when he requests to \u201csee\u201d God, is told firmly \u201cNo,\u201c with only a list of Divine attributes offered to Moses to \u201chear,\u201d instead:<\/span><\/p>\n

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed: \u201cThe LORD! the LORD! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children\u2019s children, upon the third and fourth generations.\u201d (<\/span>Exodus 34:6-7<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Whereas \u201cseeing\u201d is finite, and is subject to limits and boundaries, \u201chearing\u201d is more amorphous, and lends itself to a more open-ended approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

To the spiritually cognizant, the psalmist holds up as an ideal of continually moving forward in order to \u201cknow\u201d as much as possible about the God that He has chosen to worship, with the understanding that, nevertheless, he will always fall short.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":49602,"id":49602,"title":"dt4-ear","filename":"dt4-ear.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt4-ear.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/does-god-have-a-body\/dt4-ear\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt4-ear","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":49601,"date":"2019-02-17 11:44:45","modified":"2021-02-07 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