Does G-d Have Hands?

Xenophanes (c. 570 – c. 475 BCE)

God is one, supreme among gods and men, and not like mortals in body or in mind.

(ב) וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.

Genesis 2:2

(2) And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

בראשית ו׳:ו׳

(ו) וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה כִּי עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל לִבּוֹ.

Genesis 6:6

(6) And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.

שמות ז׳:ה׳

(ה) וְיָדְעוּ מִצְרַיִם כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה בִּנְטֹתִי אֶת יָדִי עַל מִצְרָיִם וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתּוֹכָם.

Exodus 7:5

(5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.’

So what do we think thus far? - Is it fair to say the G-d has hands?

Lets change it up a little, think about things from the opposite perspective:

בראשית א׳:כ״ו-כ״ז

(כו) וַיאמֶר אֱלהִים נַֽעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל־הָאָרֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (כז) וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלהִים בָּרָא אתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אתָם׃

Genesis 1:26-27

(26) And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ (27) And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.

יחזקאל א׳:כ״ו

(כו) וּמִמַּעַל לָרָקִיעַ אֲשֶׁר עַל רֹאשָׁם כְּמַרְאֵה אֶבֶן סַפִּיר דְּמוּת כִּסֵּא וְעַל דְּמוּת הַכִּסֵּא דְּמוּת כְּמַרְאֵה אָדָם עָלָיו מִלְמָעְלָה.

Ezekiel 1:26

(26) And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above.

שמואל א כ״ח:י״ג-י״ד

(יג) וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ הַמֶּלֶךְ אַל תִּירְאִי כִּי מָה רָאִית וַתֹּאמֶר הָאִשָּׁה אֶל שָׁאוּל אֱלֹהִים רָאִיתִי עֹלִים מִן הָאָרֶץ. (יד) וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ מַה תָּאֳרוֹ וַתֹּאמֶר אִישׁ זָקֵן עֹלֶה וְהוּא עֹטֶה מְעִיל וַיֵּדַע שָׁאוּל כִּי שְׁמוּאֵל הוּא וַיִּקֹּד אַפַּיִם אַרְצָה וַיִּשְׁתָּחוּ.

I Samuel 28:13-14

(13) And the king said unto her: ‘Be not afraid; for what seest thou?’ And the woman said unto Saul: ‘I see a godlike being coming up out of the earth.’ (14) And he said unto her: ‘What form is he of?’ And she said: ‘An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a robe.’ And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and prostrated himself.

There are clearly allusions to G-d's human like traits.

So how do we actually deal with them?

What are options in terms of belief - where can we go?

שמות כ׳:ד׳

(ד) לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל וְכָל תְּמוּנָה אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתַָּחַת וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ.

Exodus 20:4

(4) Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

Kuntillet Ajrud is a late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE site in the northeast part of the Sinai Peninsula which contains what appears to be a drawing of G-d other sites like this have recently been discovered within the biblical boarders of Israel

The inscriptions are mostly in early Hebrew with some in Phoenician script. Many are religious in nature, invoking YKVK, EL and Baal, and two include the phrases "YKVK of Samaria and his Asherah" and "YKVK of Teman and his Asherah."

Now that the leadership has made a choice to go down this particular path, where does that leave us?

ראש השנה י״ז ב:ה׳

ד ויעבור ה' על פניו ויקרא א"ר יוחנן אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו מלמד שנתעטף הקב"ה כשליח צבור והראה לו למשה סדר תפלה אמר לו כל זמן שישראל חוטאין יעשו לפני כסדר הזה ואני מוחל להם

Rosh Hashanah 17b:5

"Hashem passed before him, and He called"

(Shmot 34:6): Said R' Yochanan: if this scripture were not written, it would be forbidden to say it.It teaches that the Holy one, blessed be He, wrapped himself up as a prayer leader, and showed Moshe the order of the prayer. He said to him, whenever Israel sins, they should do this order before Me, and I will forgive them

מורה נבוכים א׳:א׳:א׳

צלם ודמות. האנשים סברו שצלם בלשון העברית מורה על תבנית דבר והמִתאר שלו. זה הביא להגשמה גמורה בשל דבריו: נעשֹה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו (בראשית א', 26). הם סברו שהאל הוא בצורת אדם, דהיינו, תבניתו ומִתארו, ומכאן נבע בהכרח שיגיעו להגשמה מוחלטת ויאמינו בה. הם סברו שאם יעזבו אמונה זאת, יכחישו את הכתוב ואפילו יאפיסו את האל אם אינו גוף בעל פנים ויד כמותם בתבנית ובמִתאר, אלא שהוא גדול יותר וזוהר יותר, לטענתם, ועוד, שהחומר שלו אינו דם ובשׂר. זהו, לפי מה שסברו קצה הגבול של הרחקת האל מכל מה שלא ראוי לייחס לו

אולם מה שראוי שייאמר כדי לשלול את הגשמוּת ולקבוע את האחדות האמיתית אשר אין לה אמיתות אלא בהרחקת הגשמוּת - את ההוכחה המופתית לכל זה עתיד אתה לדעת מתוך הספר הזה. כאן בפרק זה עלי רק להבהיר את המשמעות של צלם ודמות

Guide for the Perplexed, Part 1 1:1

(1) Some have been of opinion that by the Hebrew ẓelem, the shape and figure of a thing is to be understood, and this explanation led men to believe in the corporeality [of the Divine Being]: for they thought that the words "Let us make man in our ẓelem" (Gen. 1:26), implied that God had the form of a human being, i.e., that He had figure and shape, and that, consequently, He was corporeal. They adhered faithfully to this view, and thought that if they were to relinquish it they would eo ipso reject the truth of the Bible: and further, if they did not conceive God as having a body possessed of face and limbs, similar to their own in appearance, they would have to deny even the existence of God. The sole difference which they admitted, was that He excelled in greatness and splendour, and that His substance was not flesh and blood. Thus far went their conception of the greatness and glory of God. The incorporeality of the Divine Being, and His unity, in the true sense of the word--for there is no real unity without incorporeality--will be fully proved in the course of the present treatise. (Guide for the Perplexed 2:1)

Rambam contorts the text to conform to his overarching ideology.

One the other hand Spinoza presents an entirely new conception of G-d in order to avoid problems of anthropomorphism:

•First he establishes that no two substances can share an attribute (characteristic) or essence (soul perhaps)

•Then, he proves that there is a substance with infinite attributes (i.e., G-d).

•So the existence of an infinite substance prevents the existence of any substance outside of that being.

•For if there were to be a second substance, it would have to have some attribute or essence. Which would have to be doubled cause G-d has infinite attributes

•Therefore, there can be, besides God, no such second substance.

- Based on Spinoza’s Ethics

“[T]hose who feign a God, like man, consisting of a body and a mind, and subject to passions. But how far they wander from the true knowledge of God, is sufficiently established by what has already been demonstrated.” Besides being false, such an anthropomorphic conception of God can have only deleterious effects on human freedom and activity, insofar as it fosters a life enslaved to hope and fear and the superstitions to which such emotions give rise.

- Based on Spinoza’s Ethics

So where does this leave us?

Is this a factor in modern conceptions of G-d?

Why do we have a pathological need to anthropomorphise experience?