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Who Needs Whom?


Question:

In the class of the course "Living with Integrity", the rabbi said during the class "God does not need us." Is this true? What does it mean?



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

Yes, it is true. God is perfect, all-knowing, and all-powerful and not lacking in any manner.

That is a tenet of our faith.

You might ask, if so, then why in the world did God create us if He doesn’t need us? The creation of our world and mankind is certainly for a reason and not just a “whim” of existence.

Judaism’s source teach the following reason: Since God's nature is "Good" this means that He wanted to create a world and people so that he could "shower" it and us with goodness.

Judaism teaches that God wishes to do good, so He created beings that could appreciate it.

It means that God created humanity to enjoy a relationship with God, that we experience the ultimate pleasure of the Presence of God. Ultimately, humanity wants pleasure. We understand the concept of pleasure, because God has given us that ability in this world. Yet all the greatest pleasures of the universe compacted into one thrilling moment can never be even one millionth as pleasurable as the ultimate experience of the World to Come.

So, God does not need us in the sense that we understand “need”. He created us as a natural extension of bestowing good and reward on a Creation. We, on the other hand, need God. We were created to receive good.


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