tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314914268727443114.post921646255203499920..comments2023-10-31T12:43:06.690-04:00Comments on NishmaBlog: 3. Love of GodNishmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04237299801109329429noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314914268727443114.post-44731520151712791822008-12-02T22:38:00.000-05:002008-12-02T22:38:00.000-05:00Anonymous: This question--to me, often The questio...Anonymous: This question--to me, often The question--is as askable during the moments "when man comes face to face with God" as during moments of longing. This is the heartbreak that creeps somehow into even the most devout prayer, even the most present love. Memories and dreams act as allies when the only inspiration to be found is somewhere in the past. But memories and dreams can fail, delude, and idealize. When joy through contemplation--as you rightly call "moments of meeting"--is unattainable, what can we do? How can we be expected to stand beside that which is not beside us?<BR/><BR/>Still, doesn't there seem to be too much true in longing to place it categorically at the mercy of its apparent reliability in respect to the endpoint?Chai Hechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04045216061137457601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314914268727443114.post-80964261621824409332008-12-02T19:47:00.000-05:002008-12-02T19:47:00.000-05:00R' Micha: Thank you for the comment. You're right,...R' Micha: Thank you for the comment. You're right, of course. I meant this to be taken as largely sarcastic, a sort of reductio-ad-absurdum argument. The point is, there's a large gray area between "regardless of whether they would do this or that" and "an entirely different person, with a different essence." Reminiscent of, for example, a Sukkah: four walls is obviously a Sukkah, zero walls is obviously not a Sukkah, but where exactly is the point of change?Chai Hechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04045216061137457601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314914268727443114.post-74204941973057024712008-11-30T17:07:00.000-05:002008-11-30T17:07:00.000-05:00Contemplation of God, the kind that brings joy, ca...Contemplation of God, the kind that brings joy, can only be achieved when man comes face to face with God or an earthly manifestation thereof...without these moments of meeting, could love exist? Could love of God be fostered solely through longing? Without being rekindled, how long could such a love last?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314914268727443114.post-85963072791270227092008-11-30T13:04:00.000-05:002008-11-30T13:04:00.000-05:00"If the person were not the person, would you stil..."If the person were not the person, would you still love the person?<BR/>"When you can answer 'Yes.' to this last question, you have found true love.<BR/>"Right?<BR/>"If God were not God, would you still love God?"<BR/><BR/>I can't figure out what that means. It's one thing to love someone or Someone regardless of whether they would do this or that, or have this property or that one. But if they were an entirely different person, with a different essence?<BR/><BR/>Would I love my wife if she were our neighbor Jane Doe?<BR/><BR/>What does that mean?<BR/><BR/>-michamichahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13610506439687098313noreply@blogger.com