G – d's Throne

B"H

As a child we tend to think in pictures; everything we imagine, we imagine as something material in a picture. When I was a child, I always thought of G – d as this old man with a long white beard walking up and down in heaven. Later in our lives we all begin to realize that what a child imagines is not always true. And especially those who start studying about Judaism are soon confronted with a expression called "G – d's Throne". As soon as I heard the expression "G – d's Throne", I sometimes do start thinking like a child: An old man sitting on his throne. Moreover, the same expression is also used on Rosh HaShana (Jewish New Year) when it says at the beginning of Shacharit (morning prayer) that G – d (HaMelech) is sitting in the upper world so judge.

As we know, the Torah, Talmud, Midrash, Aggadah and many other Jewish religious writings consist of metaphors. It seems as if words and even concepts are transformed into symbols and many times, we just get lost. What is the meaning of the symbols ? Usually commentaries help; however, the problem is even getting bigger as soon as you come to a symbol or a word which is used in a different context somewhere else. Then you have to understand the connection between the first and all the other meanings of the same word or symbol. Just look into the Book of Yechezkel and you find quite a few examples.

But what does it mean "G – d's Throne" ? Is there a throne somewhere standing in heaven and an old man sits on it ?

Of course, "G – d's Throne" is only another metaphor and not to be taken literally. The Rambam (Maimonides) writes in his book "The Guide for the Perplexed" – 1:9, that only someone with authority is able to sit on a throne. Kings, for instance. Furthermore, the expression "Throne" is also used for the Tabernacle (Mishkan) and for heaven. In the Mishkan, G – d manifests His greatness and His light coming down on us into the physical world. Heaven represents G – d's existence and His powers; the same as a throne.

In order to understand the concept we need to remember that G – d created our world and universe with different powers. Kabbalah limits His powers to ten although this does not mean that He only has ten different powers (the 10 Sefirot). G – d has countless attributes, and many we neither know nor are able to grasp with our human mind.

As soon as G – d's sits on His throne and starts judging, it means that He does so with His highest levels of power (the Sefirot). For instance: If G – d wants to be merciful, he bends down (metaphorically speaking). "Bending down" stands for using lower levels of His power. However, when he sits on His throne in order to judge, He uses all His full powers on the highest levels. Or in other words, He activates His highest powers in order to act and cause a reaction.

Thus, "G – d's Throne" is a metaphor for actions on the highest level of His attributes.