In Judaism there is One God. There is no devil to scapegoat, no anti-Christ on whom to blame evil. Judaism is an ethical monotheism — but I take note that even though we speak about one God, there appears in our liturgy two names that complement each other: Adonai and Elohim. One God with two names that appear side by side. S hema Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai echad. If the emphasis is on one God, why not simply recite Shema Yisrael, Adonai echad? The duality in the traditional prayer formula suggests a deeper meaning and is helpful in dealing with the question of suffering.
There is no mention of Adonai in that opening chapter, only Elohim. What is the character of Elohim? Elohim is the God of nature, the Creator of the plenitude in nature. Elohim is the Creator of mountains and valleys, sunshine and darkness, earthquakes and droughts, lions and lambs — the God who creates a morally neutral universe.
Traditionally we are taught by the rabbis that the acts of God belong either to middat ha-din , the way of justice, or to middat ha-rahamim , the way of compassion. This implies that everything that happens in the world is either a judgment of justice or a judgment of mercy. In this view there appears to be no room for events of moral neutrality, no place for what I call middat ha-teva , the way of nature.
Is this the way of the universe? Is every event in history or nature traceable to a divine judgment? I am taken by a number of rabbinic passages in which our sages suggest another view of the world.
In a remarkable passage in the Talmud Avodah Zara 54b , the rabbis argue: If a man should steal a measure of wheat and sow it on his own property, by virtue of the law of justice this stolen seed should not flourish. What does this mean? There are many things that happen in this world that are amoral facts. DNA is not a moral judgment. The shifting platelets beneath the earth that produce earthquakes are not moral judgments.
They are consequences of the course of nature that are morally neutral. They are different kinds of law. Nature pursues its own course. There is accident, there are natural laws in the universe that have causes and consequences.
But importantly, causes are not judgments, and consequences are not curses or blessings. Elohim is one part of divinity. Elohim is not the whole of divinity. To worship a part as if it were the whole is the essence of idolatry. Elohim is found alone in the opening chapter of Genesis. Where do we first find Adonai in the Bible? Elohim is the ground of the universe that is given, and Adonai is the energy that transforms.
Both are indispensable to sustain the earth and make it flourish. Adonai Elohim marks the cooperation, the transaction, between the human and the divine. For example, the motzi benediction we recite over the bread is not recited over the raw grain. The kiddush benediction over the wine is not recited over the grapes. The benedictions include both the powers of Adonai and Elohim , which bring forth bread from the earth and create the fruit of the vine. Elohim is revealed in the raw materials, Adonai in the transformation that is enabled through the collaboration of the human.
In confronting the challenge and adversities in life, the duality, not dualism, of God is reflected in the religious wisdom of acceptance and transformation. The world was created incomplete, full of given potentialities that require human actualization. Divinity is both real and ideal. And when we recite the Shema , we pray that Elohim and Adonai shall become one. But do not be angry at me, at yourself, or at God. What happened is a terrible tragedy but not a deliberate, planned design, not divinely intended to reward or punish.
I know that this theological approach does not erase your pain. I cannot erase your pain. I cannot override the reality principle. The sages teach that if we pray for something that has already happened, that petition is a vain prayer. Time is irreversible. I cannot erase the pain, but I can help to erase the guilt, the blame, the terror of a punishing, wrathful God.
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Elohim : the more common form in the OT; it is plural in form, emphasizing majesty. I am not a scholar of Hebrew or Latin, nor do I have access to any of the ancient writings. Thus, except by the Holy Spirit's guidance, I hold out little hope of arriving at an indisputable conclusion. Here are what I consider to be the most logical steps to determining which English transliterations are for "Adonai" and which ones are for "Elohim":.
Psalm I encourage you — using the Bible version you normally use, check verses by the names listed above, insert and speak the Hebrew names as you read the Scriptures, and prayerfully meditate on what they tell us about our wonderfully-merciful, extravagantly-loving, and abundantly-compassionate God! Obviously, I can't list all them here, so I am presenting only a sampling of the verses that use the name "Adonai" to describe our Most High God. More about the Plurality of "Adonai and "Elohim" As mentioned previously, since "Adonai" and "Elohim" are plural nouns, many Christians have used this as a foundation on which to build the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
However, while these names are written in the plural form, they regularly employ singular verbs in Hebrew grammar and are singular in usage. For instance Deuteronomy — "For your Elohim is Elohim of mighty ones and Master [Adonai] of masters [adonai], the great El, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. For there is none like You, and there is no Elohim but You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. For there are none like You, and there are no Elohim but You They suggest that the plural "Adonai" and "Elohim" are plurals of majesty or fullness of divine strength , not necessarily their nature.
Therefore, I find it highly improbable that the original Hebrew texts would employ such usage in the names "Adonai" and "Elohim" unless God deliberately intended to convey the concept of plural identities in the one God. One Theologian points out that the use of the plural "only implies even in the plural of majesty that the word in the singular is not full enough to set forth all that is intended.
Thus, whether plural of majesty. As Nathan Stone wrote concerning the name "Elohim": "There is blessing and comfort in this great name of God signifying supreme power , sovereignty , and glory on the one hand. Back to Table of Contents Click here to review the Scripture references used in these teachings.
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