Dear Shaul,



Though it is written “Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel!” (Jeremiah 18:6) and in the evening service of the Day of Atonement they add “Like stone in the hands of the mason, if he wills, he holds it, if he wills, he smashes it. So, too, are we in Your hands.” The truth is the exact opposite; G-d is as putty in the hands of the rabbis and as stone in the hands of the Sages.

Is not all the knowledge of the religious people about G-d from the texts written by their sages and rabbis?

Now all is clear and lucid. When the Sages want to frighten the faithful so they will heed their words they turn G-d into an angry and wrathful god who is capable of exterminating and destroying even “His chosen nation.” It is written in the Talmud (Berachot 7a) that G-d, every single morning, has a set time in which he becomes angry, for it is written “G-d pronounces doom each day” (Psalms 7:12), and His anger is so great that He could destroy the nation of Israel without leaving a single survivor.

The view that G-d gets angry is concrete and practical. One who wants to know exactly when G-d gets angry should look at the rooster’s comb. If it completely whitens and the rooster stands on a single leg, that is a sign G-d is angry. It is said that R’ Joshua the son of Levi had a Sadducee neighbor who would bother him with heretical questions about the Scriptures. One day he took a rooster to channel the curse onto the Sadducee at the hour of G-d’s anger.

There are many such examples of G-d’s anger and punishment. It seems that more than G-d being good to His creations, He is threatening and punishing.

To support our words we will cite the words of Ibn Ezra on the custom of not drinking water at the change of seasons (the tekufot) for fear lest one be harmed by a drop of blood falling into the water: “The early ones said these things to frighten people, so that they would fear the Lord, may His name be blessed” (Turei Zahav, Yoreh Deah 116:5:4).



Sincerely,



Daat Emet

Religious people are accustomed to reciting “G-d is merciful and compassionate” but forget that this same G-d is called “jealous and vengeful.” Just how vengeful he is can be seen in the Scriptures; tens of thousands have been killed because of this characteristic.



Aaron