Sometimes writing editorials is difficult; you spend time thinking, trying to search the deepest recesses of your mind for an original idea. The truth is, there's so much information circulating in the universe, in this information age, that it becomes complicated to produce something "new"... So, when appropriate, you draw on your personal experiences to express an idea.
Now, this editorial may not please everyone, but I felt it was so important to share that it transcends whether or not it is liked.
During the festival of Sukkot, there is a mitzvah to "shake" the Four Species: the lulav (palm tree), the hadas (myrtle), the aravah (willow), and the etrog (citron). It is customary for many to "bring" this mitzvah to those who, for one reason or another, did not have the opportunity to perform it. One simply goes with their "Sukkot kit"—the Four Species—and offers to hold them, recite a blessing, and shake them. Obviously, there are many lessons we can learn from this mitzvah; however, this story takes a different approach.
On one of my trips with my Sukkot kit, I met an Evangelical pastor. The situation led to a sort of conversation and test, with a rabbi, a pastor, and a group of people surrounding us to see who would come out on top in the discussion. Obviously, it was all done calmly and without aggression, simply exchanging opinions and perspectives on life and God.
And there's something I found so intriguing that I decided to share it. God is Omnipresent—He is everywhere; He is Omnipotent—He can do anything; He is Eternal—He was never created and will never cease to be. In other words, God is infinite, meaning He has no limits of space or time. He transcends space and time; He creates space and time. On this, we all agree.
However, the pastor insisted that "there are", according to his view, 3 components of what we call God.
Now, I asked (a question to which I never received an answer; in fact, I believe there is no answer, and once the situation was raised, the conversation stalled): if something has three components, is it finite? That is, you can never reach infinity by summing its parts, no matter how large or small they may be. In other words, if there are parts, it's because each one is definable in itself, as if they were, mathematically speaking, three defined sets, where each part must have a beginning and an end, to give rise to the beginning of the next part, and so on. So, rationally speaking, if there are three parts, God is finite! (God forbid). Infinity is in another universe, so to speak, beyond the discrete and definable. If God is all that we say of Him (Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Eternal), He must be One and not three.
This has a direct relationship with the festival of Shemini Atzeret where we celebrate, basically speaking, that God is One and the Jewish People are one.
We must learn to take our minds to the furthest extreme we can reach, without going crazy and always within the realm of logic and rationality, and leave faith to the realm that belongs to it, above the intellect, as the foundation and basis of existence, the faith that God is, indeed, infinite and indefinable.
Happy New Year!