האמונה אינה האמירה בפהFaith Is Not Speech

ha-emunah einah ha-amirah ba-pehIn Gamatria ↗

Saying 'one' is easy; the heart must picture it whole.

Yehoyada reads 'I am the Lord your God' with Maimonides: know that a First Being exists and how He orders all things. Then he asks in what sense God is one, since 'one' can name a number, a species, or a body of many limbs. Shaltiel says it is enough to declare Him one. Yehoyada cites Isaiah: 'with their lips they honor Me, but their heart is far.' Faith is what the heart pictures. Whoever holds many attributes in God's essence is, as Maimonides says, one in word and many in thought. Shaltiel appeals to 'the Torah speaks in human language.' That covers eyes and hands, Yehoyada answers, but not 'I will go down and see,' divine jealousy and joy, or a God whom Moses' prayer turned from anger to favor. Only the sefirot explain these.

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