The work of the Creator
Hello,
I wanted to ask the rabbi the following question:
God is perfect, so it’s impossible for the commandments we do to help Him. Or He needs us.
He gave us commandments, so there is no other way but to claim that the commandments are to correct a deficiency found in us, for example, to constitute the cause of ourselves relatively, or because of a deficiency found elsewhere in creation. In any case, according to this, I am actually worshipping myself and not Him.
What does the Rabbi think about this? Are we actually worshipping ourselves? How can we maintain something for God if He doesn’t need us? Does a complete God mean that we can’t worship Him? And if we can, why did He give a commandment at the end…?!?
This concerns what the first called “work is a high need,” meaning that He does need us and we work for Him. And this is “give courage to God.” This does not mean that He is not omnipotent. He is able, and therefore He creates us as a complement to Him.
In principle, it is impossible for our work to be for ourselves, because then He would not have created us, and in any case, there would be no need for work. We + our work are needed for Him.
Rabbi Kook in Orot Hakodesh discusses the problem of perfection and completion. He says that one of the human perfections is completion (the process by which we become more complete). This perfection cannot exist with God, the Blessed One, because He is already perfect and cannot complete Himself. Therefore, He created us lacking and through our completion, He endowed us with the quality of completion. The work for Him is to complete ourselves and the world.
To clarify the meaning of these things, see here: https://mikyab.net/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%97%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%95-%D7%A9%D7%9C-%D7%96%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%95%D7%94%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%AA1/
Thank you very much, but you wrote “He is (all) capable and therefore He creates us as a completion for Him.”
I do not disagree with all of His abilities. I am speaking from the perspective of His completion and if He is indeed complete then according to your words why did He create us in the first place?
If I understood correctly, you claim that before creation there was no deficiency of completion. Only *after* creation - when He created a deficiency in the world so that the world could complete itself. Then such a deficiency was created in Him anyway.
Am I right? But then, why did He create the world in the first place?
No. I claim that it had a flaw that was completed by our creation. But talking about it having a flaw is only figurative. Its perfection is such that it exists alone up to a certain point, and from then on we are created and completed. All of this together is the form of a complete being. All of this (to the extent that it is possible to even speak of such an infinite process) is one long process of self-improvement.
You wrote in the article there about Zeno's arrows, that there is a process without practical consequences, like a ball with speed hitting a wall.
There you claimed that with God it is the same thing, that there is really no disadvantage and that the concept of self-improvement is purely potential.
So, here you contradict yourself, that you claim that it does have a disadvantage.
Moreover, if self-improvement does indeed exist without consequences in reality, why was a world created that lacks self-improvement?
per km. Its ”disadvantage” is that it cannot be realized.
The world was created so that the potential completion would be realized (by moving to greater completeness in practice). Even in mechanics, the potential (=speed, momentum) does come to fruition, if not through a change of place (when you are near a wall) then through heat, mechanical deformations, and the like.
“In principle it is not possible that our work is for ourselves because then He would not have created us and in any case there would be no need for work. We + our work are needed for Him”.
I did not understand why it is not possible, perhaps He saw that if He created us we would enjoy goodness and therefore He created us, even though He personally does not need it,
And then the verse says, “If you are righteous, what will you give him?” And the Ramban examines Parashat Shemini at length.
If we are not present, then it is not possible to say that our creation is for us. After all, before we were created, there was no “we.” This is parallel to the question of wrongful procreation discussed in my article on gratitude. If God is currently doing an act and there is nothing in the world besides Him, then it was done for Him. There is no one else who can say that it was done for Him. The need to benefit others is also His need, and therefore creation for this purpose is also done for Him.
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