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Abraham discovered belief in the One God through a process of looking further and further outside of himself until arriving at “The Causer of Causes.”
We may begin, like Abraham, by searching somewhere “out there,” anywhere beyond the self, but we must always arrive at the realization that ultimately there is
One who has all power, and that One is God.
before we can begin to honestly look for God as a Power, we have to admit our own limitations. As is often said in recovery circles, “There is a God . . . and you are not Him.”
Chasidus teaches that the opposite of serving God is not idolatry but the service of self.
“Get out of your own head.”
Although God is omnipresent, His Presence cannot be felt where there is haughtiness and pride.
The story is told that when the famed Chasidic master, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk was but a small child he was asked, “Where is God?” to which the young rabbi-to-be replied, “Wherever you let Him in.” This same idea is expressed by the midrashic saying, “You cannot pour into a cup that is already full.”
The disease of addiction—regardless of drug of choice—is essentially an obsession with power.
The addict wants control and finds it in the altering of his or her state by indulging in the addictive behavior.
God may be many things to many people, but for the recovering addict, God must before all else be Power.
The concept of creation seems too abstract, dare we say, too impersonal, to serve as a basis of a relationship.
that God did not just make the world, but that He is involved in it as well,
In other words, the Jewish relationship with God is not predicated upon God’s role...
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Chasidus
God did not just create the world but that He continues to exert absolute control over every detail of reality.
God cannot be an abstraction. We can describe Him with all the great and lofty terms we can think of, but if we cannot see Him as an active force in our lives, then we have not even begun to know what God is.
God is not just the epitome of power; He is the essence of goodness as well.
Step Three is a surrender step—in recovery parlance what is called ““turning it over” or “letting go and letting God.”
We “turn it over” to God not just because He is stronger than we are, but also because He will take better care of us than we can.
He foresaw, however, that the world would not endure that way and thus coupled with it the attribute of compassionate mercy.”
the very existence of the world is in and of itself a testimony to the fact that God is not just powerful but also kind.
the word “care” implies both attentiveness and nurturing.
If God is aware of anything, then He is aware of everything.
The Jewish view, in contrast, dismisses this as a nonargument. God’s being Infinite and One does not exist apart from creation; rather creation exists within Him.
God does not need to be detached from His creation in order to be timeless.
God pays attention to the world because the world exists within Him. He knows Himself thoroughly and thus, knows every aspect of His world.
We need to step aside from playing God in our own lives and place ourselves unreservedly in God’s care.
God’s goodness is not just a necessary component of creation but also the underlying and primary impetus for its existence.
“in order to bestow goodness upon His creations, for it is the nature of the Good to do good.”
The name for God’s Immanent Presence, Shechinah, is unmistakably feminine. It is this name that is used in describing how the Divine Presence accompanies Her children wherever they go, even into the darkness of exile, as in the Talmud’s statement: “See how beloved are Israel before God, for in every place where they were sent away, the Shechinah went with them.”
it seems that he or she has come to regard it as quite the nonquestion. The real question is, “Do bad things happen at all?” This is not a word game. This is an expression of humility and faith. Can I really say that something is bad because I don’t like it?
The Talmud’s message is that man, with his limited vision, cannot possibly see the true significance of earthly events. He must therefore withhold his subjective evaluation of things and accept the events of his life with the faith that God knows all, can do all, and is the essence of good.
God carefully orchestrates every detail of His creation by means of hashgachah peratis—literally “individualized supervision” but more loosely translated as Divine Providence.
Tolerance, acceptance, and forgiveness are indispensable to the survival of any intimate relationship—even more so in our relationship with God.
As the prophet Ezekiel (33:11) exhorted the people, “[God] takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn away from their ways and live.”
it was only after Moses beseeched God to forgive the people for the seemingly unforgivable sin of the Golden Calf that God revealed to Moses the secret of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.
God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth; preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, forgiver of iniquity, willful sin, and error . . . Who cleanses . . . (Exodus 34:6–7)
if God Himself had not divulged this secret to Moses, we would have no reason to assume that God is willing to bear our imperfections or to reconcile with those who have transgressed His will.
The “Superior Thirteen Attributes,” as they are called, are found in the writings of the prophet Micah (7:18–20):
Judaism calls this process kaparah, which means “cleansing” or “atonement” and is very different than plain forgiveness.
Just as we want to be “at one” with Him, He wants to be “at one” with us, and He is ready to accept us despite our past failings.
Judaism teaches that God has no interest in using our failings against us to push us even further away from Him.
To the contrary, God willingly accepts all those who return to Him.
. . a broken and a contrite heart, You God, will not despise” (Psalms 51:19).
He does not force us to do so. He waits for us to be ready and willing. When we do approach Him, He not only reciprocates, He also multiplies the effect of our efforts.
God is humble. And what is humility but making space for another?
God allows us to have an active and defining role in our relationship with Him. In the case of Steps 5, 6, and 7, we have to be truthful with Him about our faults (Step Five); we have to be ready to change (Step Six); and we have to ask for His help (Step Seven).
We might say that God has entered into a dynamic and collaborative relationship with His creations.
God invites the individual to be a partner in the process of his or her own development as a human being.
