Q&A: Multiplicity Does Not Emerge from Unity
Multiplicity Does Not Emerge from Unity
Question
Hello,
There is a philosophical question that the Maharal brings in chapter 3 of Netzach Yisrael: that multiplicity cannot emerge from unity, and as a result one cannot claim that the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, because the Creator is one while the world is multiplicity. Can the Rabbi explain this question—what does it mean that the Holy One, blessed be He, is one, and where does the assumption come from that multiplicity cannot come from something that is one? And what does it mean to say that multiplicity emerges from unity?
Answer
This can be formulated in several ways. It could be connected to the second law of thermodynamics: increasing complexity and order does not happen in a natural process. But it seems more likely that his intent is philosophical: if there is a simple point with no structure, how can something complex emerge from it? The assumption is that in order to create a complex product, there has to be something of it present in the creator himself—its idea, so to speak. Therefore, the complexity of the product must exist in the creator. But all these are really principles that require a better definition, and I suspect that after the definition, not much of the difficulty will remain.