Q&A: They Will Give You a Crown
They Will Give You a Crown
Question
Hello Rabbi.
Our teacher Maimonides devoted most, and perhaps even all, of the first part of his book Guide of the Perplexed to distancing corporeality from the Creator. I do not want to go on at length quoting and giving examples.
But I will give one example that Maimonides cites from Targum Onkelos: “And they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet,” etc.
“But as for the phrase ‘and under His feet,’ Onkelos already explained, as you know, that he made the expression ‘His feet’ refer to the throne. And he said, ‘and under the throne of His glory’—understand this and marvel at Onkelos’s distancing from corporeality and from everything that leads to it, etc. For if he had attributed the throne to Him, that would imply that He rests upon a body and would entail corporeality; therefore he attributed the throne to His Glory, that is, to the Shekhinah, which is a created light.” End of our teacher’s words in the Guide.
It follows, then, that according to Maimonides it would be forbidden to recite the Kedushah in the wording
“They will give You a crown.” Moreover, Maimonides adds in chapter 36:
“And you should know that whenever you entertain in your mind corporeality or one of the occurrences of bodies, you are provoking jealousy and anger, kindling fire, arousing wrath, hating, being an enemy and an adversary—far more severe than an idol worshipper.”
My question: A. According to Maimonides, would it be permitted to recite Kedushah with the wording “They will give You a crown”? I emphasize: according to Maimonides.
B. I would be happy to know the Rabbi’s view on the matter.
Thank you very much, Rabbi.
Answer
A. I don’t know, but it’s hard for me to believe that Maimonides would forbid it. See below.
B. It is obvious to me that it is permitted. An expression whose clear meaning is not corporealization involves no prohibition. The proof is that the Torah itself uses such expressions, and even stronger ones, such as “and under His feet” or “His mighty hand.” Could it enter your mind that it would be forbidden to say those verses without Targum Onkelos?!