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Ein Od Milvado - There is nothing besides Hashem

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edu:
The following are some excerpts from an article Monotheism Vs. The Outlook That Everything is G-d
at: http://www.vilnagaon.org/monotheism.htm

--- Quote ---There Are Jews who are Connected to the World View of the Kabbala that Admit that it is Forbidden to Associate the Holy One Blessed Be He, with a Specific Detail of the Creation. However In Their Opinion, It is Permissible to Say That the Creation in Its Entirety is the Holy One Blessed Be He

    However Rabbi Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman, ZT"L, who was loyal to the views of the Vilna Gaon, established that also those that hold that all the world in its entirety = The Holy One Blessed Be He, are mistaken in a very serious and severe way [See Otzrote Harav Eliyahu M'Vilna U'beit Midrasho by Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel, Jewish year 5755, page 285]. Now this is a quote of the Vilna Gaon: "For they are a generation that have brazenly lifted up their eyes and words against the One Most High, do they utter: 'These are your gods, Israel, every tree and every stone'... and they reveal interpretations [lit. faces] of the Torah that are not in accordance with the halacha on the verse, 'Blessed be the glory of G-d from his place' and on the verse, 'and you bring life to all of them' ".

    Now in the Book by Volansky {or maybe the English transliteration is Wolansky}  an even harsher statement attributed to the Vilna Gaon is brought:
[Translators note: The following 3 paragraphs will not be translated, since I am afraid that people who don't understand Hebrew, might take these words out of context. Below the 3 paragraphs the English Translation continues.]
רדו לעמק יהושפט לעומקא דדינא לבער הקוצים מכרם בית ה' צבאות כל בני ישראל להדפם ולרודפם ברדיפות מלאות הזעם להחרימם ולעקור שרשם בנפשם ומאדם, לעקור אותם ולשרש אתהם כדין עבודה זרה. צא תאמר להם. הכנס אל תאמר להם, המה הקהל מורידין ולא מעלין לדכאם ולמוגגם כמוץ לפני מים ולהתאמץ להפרידם איש מאחיו לבלי יתחברו ויתקשרו יחד חבר בוגדים ומנגדים נגד דת תוה"ק ובכל מקום שהם מצויים לשלחם מן המחנה כדין צרוע וזב

ואני על משמרתי אעמודה כמאז כן עתה... ועל כל מי אשר בשם ישראל יכונה ואשר נגע יראת ה' בלבבו מוטל עליו להדפם ולרודפם בכל מיני רדיפות ולהכניעם עד שיד ישראל מגעת כי עוונם טמון בחבם וכי קשים המה לישראל כספחת


אמוני בני ישראל החרדים לשמוע בקול דברו. תצא אש קנאתם ומצאו קוצים כסוחים נתנו לאכלה, יכלו אותם מכרם ה' צבאות העם בחר לנחלה לו, אם ללצים יליצו יריצו גולגלותם. מכנים עצמם בשם חסידים, חסד היא. לא יחמול עליהם איש ולא יחנם, ולתת עדת חנף גלמוד, והשומע להם ימתח על העמוד. לבשו קנאת ה' ויצא רשף לרגליכם, מפיהם לפידים יהיו בלהט החרב נוקמת נקם ברית ותורה נוקמת, והנשארים יראו וישמחו, כי שמחה לצדיק עשות משפט ולפועלי אוון מחיתה, ה' יחישנה בעיתה. נאום עורך שוע בצר נפשו, כי רע עליו המעשה, המקנא קנאתו ואליו הוא נושא את נפשו, אלי' במוהר"ר שלמה זלמן זלה"ה .ס
--- End quote ---
 
 
 
--- Quote ---The Mishna that appears in tractate Brachot 33b states that he who says {in the Shmona Esrei prayer} ... Modim, Modim [in English, we give thanks to you, we give thanks to you] we silence him. The Talmud commented: "it is understandable Modim, Modim {should not be stated} since it appears "as if there are 2 authorities" {by making such a statement}. In his commentary on these words of the Mishna, starting with the words Modim, Modim, Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura explained: "that it appears as if he is accepting 2 gods". This implies that the prohibition of 2 authorities = 2 gods. However, there is no prohibition of 2 authorities, for someone who holds that there is a partner to the Holy One Blessed Be He in good deeds, who is not a god, rather just a person. As explained in Tosafot to Sanhedrin 63a on the words that start with "All that associate the name of heaven".  "It is not comparable to what was written {in Shoftim/Judges 7:20} 'A sword for G-d and for Gidon' and so too, 'we have spoken against G-d and against you' (Bamidbar/Numbers 21:7) for it is only prohibited  in matters relating to being a god". That is to say that as long as they don't ascribe something outside of G-d by the name of a god there is no violation of the prohibition of making a partnership or association with G-d with something else. I brought all this because there are Jews who say that all the creation = The Holy One Blessed Be He and they claim that on the contrary, to believe that there exists something outside of the Holy One Blessed Be He is the prohibition of service of a G-d who is associated with something else.

    In the supplement section to the book of Shmot/Exodus in the work of Rabbi Menachem Kasher, Torah Shleima, siman 15 we learn: that the viewpoint of the Vilna Gaon on the explanation of the words "the whole earth is filled with his glory", is a reference to his providence as described in Lkutei Hagra that were printed at the end of Safra Dtsniuta page 38a (Vilna 5642).
    However the disciple of the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, though he admired his Rabbi as if he were one of the Tana'im {Rabbis of the Period of the Mishna} on this point he did not follow after the his {rabbi's} viewpoint. Those who deeply investigate Shaar 3, of his work, Nefesh Hachaim will clearly see that he read Sefer Hatanya {written by the founder of the Chabad or Lubavitch Chassidic movement} and accepted that author's view in almost all details.
    One should comment that even according to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin who holds that on the level of the absolute truth, even after the creation of the world, in a way that is not understood by us, there is no material or existence outside of him {G-d}; however, he too admits that for every single matter and issue, we from our part, are obligated to relate to the Holy One Blessed Be He, as separate from the created world; see for example, Shaar 3, chapter 6.
       Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin for the most part bases his viewpoint on his explanation to the wisdom of Kabbala. And I have already brought as "a remedy to the plague", the words of the Mishna Brura siman 25 comment 42: "the Knesset Hagdola wrote as a principle of the Poskim that whenever the Kabbalists and the Zohar argue against the Gemara and the Poskim go after the Gemara and the Poskim", {end of quote}.
    Now I have already brought in the beginning of this article, that according to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, Ramban, Rashba, and more,  even on the level of the absolute truth, there is a difference between the Holy One Blessed Be and the Created World.
--- End quote ---

Ephraim Ben Noach:

--- Quote from: edu on September 09, 2012, 01:26:39 AM ---Ein Od Milvado - There is nothing besides Hashem
If taken as a mussar statement of faith and reliance on Hashem this could be a positive thing.
However, the fact that Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin is the one who is quoted as saying that internalizing this phrase can protect you from harm makes me a bit uneasy about recommending this practice to others. Why? Because his view about G-d departs from the view of his mentor and Rabbi the Vilna Gaon and more importantly it departs from the way
that the Gaonim and Rishonim viewed G-d.
I will soon provide some quotes to explain what I mean.

--- End quote ---
In my opinion. There are many ways to follow Hashem. I think it is simple, one says it's right, one says it's wrong. Their both right, they need to follow Hashem in their own way and they will be fine.

muman613:
Edu,

I don't quite understand what you are attempting to argue. This is not Kabbalah I am talking about, but a simple phrase which comes from our Torah of Moses, and from the Oral law (Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 67b) :

http://halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_67.html#67b_15


--- Quote ---R. Johanan said: Why are they [sorcerers] called Kashshafim?9  — Because they lessen the power of the Divine agencies.10

There is none else besides Him:11  R. Hanina said: Even by sorcery.12  A woman once attempted to take earth from under R. Hanina's feet.13  He said to her, 'If you succeed in your attempts, go and practise it [sc. sorcery]: it is written, however, There is none else beside him'. But that is not so, for did not R. Johanan say: Why are they called mekashshefim?14  Because they lessen the power of the Divine agencies? — R. Hanina was in a different category, owing to his abundant merit.15

10 I.e., making incantations of death against those for whom Heaven has decreed life (Rashi); and in general seeking to interfere with the course of events as decreed from above. The word is treated as an abbreviation, thus Keshafim, Kahash, Famalia, Ma'alah. (Lessens [the] Family on High).
11 Deut. IV, 35.
12 I.e., not even sorcerers have power to oppose His decree.
13 To perform magic against him.
14 [H] Hebrew form of Kashshafim.
15 Therefore G-d should certainly not permit any sorcerer to harm him.

--- End quote ---

As we can see there are those who argue, like you, that there are other forces (Black Magic) besides Hashem, but the tractate indicates that it is according to R. Chanina who believes that there is nothing beside him (Ein Od Milvado). The tractate supports the idea that believing this will protect a person even from sorcery...

muman613:

http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/peninim/archives/mishpatim71.htm


--- Quote ---.
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David Hamelech says (Tehillim 119:163), Sheker sanaisi v'soeivah, Torascha ahavti, "I hate falsehood; it disgusts me, I love Your Torah." The Malbim explains the connection between Torah, emes, sheker, toeivah. "I love Your Torah which is all truth. Therefore, I cannot possibly love falsehood. To love Your truth is to hate that which opposes truth." Sheker is the opposing force challenging truth, and, therefore, David Hamelech hated falsehood. The Malbim is teaching us that our hatred for falsehood must be the result of our love for Torah. This can only occur if our love for Torah is based upon our search for the truth, the emes inherent in Torah. Thus, if one were to learn Torah for the wrong reasons, he could still maintain a "relationship" with sheker. He has not yet negated it. Sheker and emes cannot exist together but, if emes is not yet really present, then the sheker can still fester, germinate and grow. I do not think this idea must be explained further. The message is quite clear.

Last, I cite Rav Schwab who lucidly points out that the ultimate emes is Hashem Himself, Ein od milvado. There is none other than Hashem, Alone. The ultimate sheker must then be atheism. Torah and Klal Yisrael are extensions of Hashem. Emes is exclusive. This means that there is nothing besides emes, except for sheker. There is no gray area between the two. It is either true or false - nothing in-between. Klal Yisrael comprises all that which is called kulah zera emes, everyone, a seed of truth. The Jew's mission is to live a life of truth based upon the emes expounded from the Torah, which is Hashem's word. To deviate from this course is to take the road of sheker, falsehood.

Avraham Avinu was the first to be korei b'Shem Hashem, call out in the Name of Hashem. This is a reference to his propagating emes. Nimrod and the dor ha'flagah, generation of the dispersion, were his nemeses. Their rallying cry was, naase lanu shem, "Let us make a name for ourselves." This was the clarion call of sheker. Since they oppose each other vehemently, the exponents of falsehood must hate those who stand for the truth. After all, emes undermines sheker and exposes its fallacy and duplicity. Hashem reassured Avraham with mekalelcha A'or, "Those who curse you, I will curse." (Bereishis 12:3). We, his descendants who follow in his ways must embody his adherence to emes, as we anticipate the inevitable repercussions of our rejection of the spokesmen for sheker.

--- End quote ---

muman613:
Here the concept of 'Ein Od Milvado' is discussed in the life of Yosef HaTzadik. How this belief {as can be shown in the scene where Yosef reveals his identity to his brothers} was able to protect him from the influences of Potiphars wife and from becoming bitter towards his brothers.


http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/peninim/archives/vayigash72.htm


--- Quote ---
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Horav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zl, notes that Yosef HaTzaddik went through some extremely traumatic spiritual and physical challenges in his life. Pharaoh's dungeons housed some of the country's most ruthless criminals. The physical conditions left much to be desired. Overcoming the daily blandishments of Potifar's wife was no simple task. Loneliness was his constant "companion." How did he survive? What superhuman forces within Yosef gave him the ability to confront evil, loneliness, debauchery, spiritual and physical deprivation, emerging triumphant - as righteous as before? The Rosh Yeshivah suggests that, upon perusing the text, one notes that two unique forces played an integral role in Yosef's success.

First, was Yosef's emunah. His unabiding faith in the Almighty, his acute awareness that Ein od milvado, "There is no other (power) than He," fortified him with trust in Hashem. Yosef knew that there was no other power to whom he could turn; no one else who could help him. It was either Hashem or nothing! Every time Yosef spoke, he commenced his comment with the notion that Hashem was the only source of salvation, the only address for success, and that everything that He did was for the good.

Second, Yosef learned Torah - constantly. He lay in the cradle of Torah study as it embraced him. His toiling in the pathways of Torah gave him insight, fortitude and courage. With faith fortified by Torah, Yosef could take on the challenges of life that were thrown at him.

--- End quote ---

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