Big Gods Don't Cry

(8) Shall I not punish them for such deeds? —says the LORD— Shall I not bring retribution On such a nation as this? (9) For the mountains I take up weeping and wailing, For the pastures in the wilderness, a dirge. They are laid waste; no man passes through, And no sound of cattle is heard. Birds of the sky and beasts as well Have fled and are gone.

(17) Lo, I will send serpents against you, Adders that cannot be charmed, And they shall bite you —declares the LORD. (23) Oh, that my head were water, My eyes a fount of tears! Then would I weep day and night For the slain of my poor people.

(17) For if you will not give heed, My inmost self must weep, Because of your arrogance; My eye must stream and flow With copious tears, Because the flock of the LORD Is taken captive.

The Gemara asks: But is there crying before the Holy One, Blessed be He? Didn’t Rav Pappa say: There is no sadness before the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is stated: “Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and gladness are in His place” (I Chronicles 16:27)? The Gemara responds: This is not difficult. This statement, that God cries, is referring to the innermost chambers, where He can cry in secret, whereas this statement, that He does not cry, is referring to the outer chambers.

It has been taught: R. Jose says, I was once traveling on the road, and I entered into one of the ruins of Jerusalem in order to pray. Elijah of blessed memory appeared and waited for me at the door till I finished my prayer....

He further said to me: My son, what sound did you hear in this ruin? I replied: I heard a divine voice, cooing like a dove, and saying: Woe to the children, on account of whose sins I destroyed My house and burnt My temple and exiled them among the nations of the world! And he said to me: By your life and by your head! Not in this moment alone does it so exclaim, but thrice each day does it exclaim thus! And more than that, whenever the Israelites go into the synagogues and schoolhouses and respond: ‘May His great name be blessed!’ the Holy One, blessed be He, shakes His head and says: Happy is the king who is thus praised in this house! Woe to the father who banished his children, and woe to the children who were banished from the table of their father!

The first principle: To believe in the existence of the Creator, may He be blessed, and that is that there is a Being complete in all the ways of existence. He is the cause of the existence of all other things in existence.

It will now be clear to you, that every time you establish by proof the negation of a thing in reference to God, you become more perfect, while with every additional positive assertion you follow your imagination and recede from the true knowledge of God.