Who the F*ck is God/Hashem/Adonai and is it Important to Believe in Him/Her/They/It?

(13)...Rabbi Hiyya the grandson of Rabbi Adda of Yaffo [said]: Terah was a worshipper of idols. One time he had to travel to a place, and he left Abraham in charge of his store. When a man would come in to buy [idols], Abraham would ask: How old are you? They would reply: fifty or sixty. Abraham would then respond: Woe to him who is sixty years old and worships something made today - the customer would be embarrassed, and would leave. A woman entered carrying a dish full of flour. She said to him: this is for you, offer it before them. Abraham took a club in his hands and broke all of the idols, and placed the club in the hands of the biggest idol. When his father returned, he asked: who did all of this? Abraham replied: I can't hide it from you - a woman came carrying a dish of flour and told me to offer it before them. I did, and one of them said 'I will eat it first,' and another said 'I will eat it first.' The biggest one rose, took a club, and smashed the rest of them. Terah said: what, do you think you can trick me? They don't understand anything! Abraham said: Do your ears hear what your mouth is saying?

(1) The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.”

(6) Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to dance. (7) The LORD spoke to Moses, “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. (8) They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” (9) The LORD further said to Moses, “I see that this is a stiffnecked people. (10) Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (11) But Moses implored the LORD his God, saying, “Let not Your anger, O Lord, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. (12) Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people. (13) Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring this whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever.” (14) And the LORD renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people.

(9) There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night. Then the word of the LORD came to him. He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” (10) He replied, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.” (11) “Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound. (13) When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?”

(1) The foundation of foundations and pillar of wisdoms is to know that there is a Primary Cause and He causes to exist all that exists. And everything that exists from Heaven to Earth and everything in between would not exist except from the truth of His existence.

(5) This Cause is Lord of the World and Master of the Earth. And He directs the sphere with a strength that has neither end nor limit, and with a strength that has no disruption. For the sphere revolves continuously, and it is impossible that it revolve without [a force] that makes it revolve.

(7) God is one. He is not two and not more than two. Rather, He is one and His unity is unlike the unity of anything else that exists in the world. He is not like one genus that includes many other specifics. And He is not like one body that can be divided into parts and extremities. Rather, His unity is such that there is no unity like His in the world. If there were many gods, they would possess bodies and forms, because the things are counted are not equal in there existences, which are separate one from the other, rather in the events that happen to bodies and forms. And if the Creator had a body and a form, he would have an end and a limit, because it is impossible that a body does not have an end. And if a body has end and limit, its strength will also have end and cessation. And our God, blessed be His name, since His strength has no end and nothing to disrupt it - since the sphere revolves continuously (forever) - His strength is not the strength of a body.

(9) If so [that God does not have a body], what does it mean that in the Torah "And beneath His feet" (Ex. 24:10)? Or what is written "with the finger of God" (Ex. 31:18), "the hand of the Lord" (Ex. 9:3), "the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 38:7), "the ears of the Lord" (Num. 11:1), etc.? This accords to the thought of man, who can only comprehend bodies. And the Torah spoke in the language of man. And these are all epithets, as it says, "I whet My sword of thunder" (Deut. 32:42). And if He possessed a sword, would he kill with a sword?! Rather, this is a parable, and these are all parables. A proof of this matter is what one prophet [Daniel] says that he saw the Holy One, blessed be He, "clothed white as snow" (Dan. 7:9), and another prophet [Isaiah] saw Him "in crimson garments of Bozrah" (Isa. 63:1). Moses our teacher himself saw Him at the Sea [of Reeds] as a soldier waging battle, and at Sinai as a prayer leader wrapped in a shawl. This means that he has neither form nor image, rather this is only in a prophecy and a vision. And the truth of the matter is that the mind of man is incapable of investigating Him or studying Him. And this is what the Scripture said, "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?" (Job 11:6)

(11) Now that it is clear that He possesses neither body nor form, it will also be evident that events of the body do not happen to Him. Neither connection nor separation; neither place nor measure; neither going up nor going down; neither right nor left; neither front nor back; neither sitting nor standing. Nor is He found within time, or else he would have a beginning and an end, and would have a count of two. And He does not change, since there is nothing that can cause Him to change. And He has neither death nor life like the life of a living body. And neither foolishness nor wisdom like wisdom of a wise man. [And He has neither] sleeping nor waking. And neither anger nor calm. And neither happiness nor sadness. And neither quiet nor speech like the speech of man. And thus the Sages said, "The Almighty has neither sitting nor standing nor back nor weariness" (Chagigah 15a).

(12) And since this matter is so, all of the matters and everything similar to them that are spoken of in the Torah and the words of the prophets are all parable and allegory. As it is said, "He who dwells in Heaven will laugh," (Ps. 2:4); "they have angered me with their vanities" (Deut. 32:21); "when the Lord rejoices" (Deut. 28:63), etc. About all of this the Sages said, "The Torah spoke in the language of man." And it says, "Is it me that they are angering?" (Jer. 7:19). Behold it says, "I am the Lord, I have not changed" (Mal. 3:6). And if sometimes He is angry and sometimes happy, he would change. And all of these matters only exist for lowly and dirty bodies, dwellers of clay houses that are founded in dust. However He, Blessed is He, is raised and elevated above all of this.