Chabad, The Rebbe, God and pantheism - the Dangers of Ignoring Human Limitations.

I read a very interesting piece rebuffing Rabbi Dr. David Berger on an article he wrote against Chabad and its current Meshichist trend. Thanbo argues that he did not bother to learn Chabad theology before indicting them of Kefira and anthropomorphism / pantheism. You can read the whole argument here http://thanbook.blogspot.com/2006/04/chabad-rebbe-and-god.html. According to Thanbo, "Rather, the world is in some way a part of God. I am part of God, you are part of God, the trees and rocks are parts of God, the PC is part of God, etc. That is the reality of the Universe from God's perspective. It is only from our perspective that we imagine the rock to have physical existence, that I have physical existence, that the PC has physical existenceI." The idea is that somehow the Rebbe is the manifestation of God in this world. Not that God resides in the Rebbe but being that he is so attached to God his deeds are indeed God's will. Again in Thanbo's words "When the tzaddik has become a tzaddik, his will is entirely shaped by Torah, which is the expression of God's Will in the world. Conversely, then, anything which he wills to do is an expression of God's Will. This is the meaning of "Tzaddik gozer" - that the Tzaddik decrees something and God does it. Not that the tzaddik can "force" God to do anything, God-forbid, but that what the Tzaddik wills is a pure reflection of what God Wills". I am not sure I get it exactly but enough to scare me to death - (Nadav and Avihu type of death as we shall see). My earlier post about the limitation of human knowledge, when it comes to metaphysics, addresses exactly this issue. Mekubalim especially the later ones who flourished in Italy, Tzfas after the Girush from Spain, wrestled with the problem of how one understands that God is everywhere, Melo Kol Ho'oretz Kevodo, and the existence of a physical universe. How can two things occupy the same space? They came up with the idea of Tzimtzum, where God left a space within himself, or as Chabad understands it, reduced the light emanating from Him to allow for the universe to exist. (You can see more details on Thanbo. I am even uncomfortable rpeating those ideas.) I believe that they should have stopped right there at the question and admit that as humans these concepts cannot be fathomed. An existence that does not exist in time and space is beyond our comprehension and that is all we can say about it. If we don't understand its existence how can we ask how it occupies more than one space? In fact the limitations that we face in understanding Him underline His uniqueness and are a cornerstone of real monotheism. As Rambam says: "Praised be He! In the contemplation of His essence, our comprehension and knowledge prove insufficient; in the examination of His works, how they necessarily result from His will, our knowledge proves to be ignorance, and in the endeavour to extol Him in words, all our efforts in speech are mere weakness and failure". (Moreh 1:58) Regarding the word Makom - place as it refers to God Rambam deals with it in several places. In Moreh 1:70 he addresses this concept head on and denies that it is acceptable. Referring to the Gemara in Talm. B. Hagigah, p. 12," The high and exalted dwelleth on 'arabot, as it is said, 'Extol Him that rideth upon 'arabot '" (Ps.lxviii.4). Rambam notes: "Consider well that the expression" dwelling over it," is used by them, and not" dwelling in it." The latter expression would have implied that God occupies a place or is a power in the sphere, as was in fact believed by the Sabeans, who held that God was the soul of the sphere. By saying" dwelling over it," they indicated that God was separate from the sphere, and was not a power in it. Clearly God is not in the universe but separate from it and the Rabbis were very exact in their language when trying to depict how God has an impact on it, they use a term that connotes Him being outside of it, lest we think of Him as a natural component of the world. Addressing the word place - Makom - as it relates to God, Rambam in Moreh 1:8 states: "In the verse," Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place" (mekomo) (Ezek. iii. 12), makom has this figurative meaning,(" position," or degree," as regards the perfection of man in certain things) and the verse may be paraphrased" Blessed be the Lord according to the exalted nature of His existence," and wherever makom is applied to God, it expresses the same idea, namely, the distinguished position of His existence, to which nothing is equal or comparable, as will be shown below. The word Makom instead of implying space when it is used with God it reflects a status that we confer to Him in our mind when we meditate about Him, His uniqueness. Once we have accepted that whenever there is a connotation of location when talking about God it means a hierarchical position Rambam in Moreh 1:19 deals with Melo Kol Ho'oretz Kevodo - "In this sense it is said" The whole earth is full (melo) of his glory" (Isa. vi. 4)," All the earth gives evidence of his perfection," i.e. leads to a knowledge of it. Thus also" The glory of the Lord filled (malei) the tabernacle" (Exod. xl. 34): and, in fact, every application of the word to God must be interpreted in this manner; and not that He has a body occupying space." The word "Melo" translated as full, means that the world when looked upon by us, in its magnificience, every detail of it, conveys a sense of God's perfection. To me this understanding of theses concepts is so elevating and thought provoking that I don't understand why reduce God to an imaginary presence everywhere through Tzimtzum to accomodate a literal reading. Tzimtzum is not understood by us either so what have we gained? Even if the original thinkers who came up with the idea had something in mind that could be seen as not pantheist, their followers have certainly distorted it and turned it into a Meshichist nonsense. It is the story of Nadav and Avihu who went further than was permitted and, in spite of their greatness, "Bikrovai Ikadesh", they were wrong and misguided. This reinforces and explains the importance Rambam placed on understanding our limitations.