| Orthodox Conversion to Judaism |
| G-d the Creator |
| In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth. The first verse of the Torah clearly declares one of the main principles of our Faith. G-d was the creator and first Cause of all things. He brought the World into existence: fashioning it out of nothing, getting order and perfection out of chaos. Taking the first word of the Torah 'Bereshith', which begins with the letter beth (representing berachah - blessing), the Rabbis comment that the universe was created for the blessing of its inhabitants ( Bereshith Rabbah i, 14). It is not possible for the human mind to grasp the idea of creation out of nothing. The Jewish belief is that the universe has not existed for all eternity, and that an Eternal and Supreme Beingapart from it, yet greater than it, guides our daily life and actions, and is personally concerned with our well-being. When other people have questioned this belief in G-d's existence, Jewish scholars and philosophers have tried to convince them. The Emperor Hadrian, the Talmud tells us, once said to Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya, "I wish to see your G-d." "That is impossible," was the reply, but the Emperor persisted, "I wish to see Him." It was durin Tammuz, the hottest period of the year. Rabbi Joshua asked the Emperor to face the sun: "Look up at it!" "It is impossible to do so," he answered. Said the Rabbi: "If you admit you can't gaze at the sun, which is only one of the attendants standing before the Holy One, how much more beyond your power must it be to look at the Divine Presence!" (Chullin 59 b). One of the arguments of thinkers is this: The mysterious workings of nature, controlled in an orderly pattern, and each serving a specificpurpose for the benefit of the human race, testify to the existence of a Supreme Being. Others base the knowledge of G-d on the actual experience of Israel, such as the Divine Deliverance from Egypt and the Reveleation from Mount Sinai. Then there is the evidence of the Jews' miraculous preservation in the face of innumerable attempts by other nations to destroy them. But although the study of nature, human experience and history may lead us to recognise that there is a Divine Power and Providence, the chief pillar of our belief in the existence of an Almighty Being is Faith. |
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