The Jewish God

The following is a song that Orthodox Jewish children sing about the Jewish God (Hashem):

"Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is truly everywhere.
Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is truly everywhere.
Up, up, down, down, right, left and all around, here, there and everywhere, that's where he can be found."
I think this song strongly reflects what God in Judaism is all about. In Orthodox Judaism, God or the nature of G-d is an area of abstract Jewish belief with clear-cut ideas, where there is little dispute or disagreement. In Judaism, God is firmly monotheistic. God is absolute; one; indivisible; incomparable being; that he is the definitive cause of every bit of existence. The true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable. Orthodox Jews are forbidden to characterize God in any physical form.

In all Jewish texts and prayers the Jewish God is referred to as the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who is the guide of the world and redeemed the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

The nature of G-d in Judaism

In Judaism, the fact of God's existence is accepted without question. There are some works by Jewish sages and scholars proving the existence of God, but these works go mostly unstudied by the average Orthodox Jew. God's existence is part of his life from the beginning of his very young upbringing. To summarize the nature of God in Judaism these few points would be best: God is the creator of everything; God is ethereal; God has no physical form; God is universal at all times; God is almighty; God is all-knowing, past, present and future; God is everlasting.

Mans' relationship to God in Judaism

One of the commandments in Judaism is to recite the Shema twice a day. The meaning of Shema is "Hear, Israel: The Lord is our God, The Lord is one." It is recited in the morning and evening prayers. In Judaism, God listens to any prayer at any given time. God created the world only because of his great love to do good for others. God loves to hear the prayers of everyone, and will answer every single prayer.

Love to God in Judaism

Jews are commanded to love God. The love to God should reflect in every part of life. Throughout history many Jews died for the name of God, because of their great love for Hashem. Whenever Jews were persecuted to abolish the Jewish religion, the great love to God is what kept them from doing so. The love of every Jew to Hashem can be heard and seen in every conversation of Orthodox Jews. Whenever an Orthodox Jew will talk about something great that happened he will always add the words "Boruch hashem, meaning thank God that let this great thing happen to me!

Read about the names of god in Judaism

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