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DEUTERONOMY | 10:18 fatherless — DEUT446 Our God, though unique and supreme, is hu...

DEUT446 Our God, though unique and supreme, is humble enough to be involved with ordinary people. As R. Yohanan said: "Wherever Scripture mentions the transcendence of the Holy One, blessed be He, it also immediately makes reference to God's humility.… The Torah says, 'For the Lord your God, Adonai is the God of Gods and the Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17), and then immediately indicates, 'Adonai executes justice for the fatherless and the widow' [this verse]. We also find this in the Prophets: 'For thus says the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity…' [Isa. 57:15], only to say immediately afterward, 'I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit--refreshing the spirits of the lowly, reviving the hearts of the contrite' [Isa. 57:15]. It is stated a third time in the Writings: 'Extol him that rides up on the skies, whose name is Adonai' [Ps. 68:5], and immediately afterwards it is written, 'A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows' [Ps. 68:6]" (Meg. 31a). Jewish humility arises from the living relationship between an empathetic humanity and its involved God. "'The fear of God which is wisdom's crown is the heel of humanity's sandal' (Yer. Shab. 1:3), for all the wisdom of the world cannot compare with humility" (Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim).

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Source KeyBOROJMV
Verse10:18
Keyword(s)fatherless
Source Page(s)146-7
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