Divine Self-Limitation in Jewish Theology

Since Biblical times, Jewish thinkers have struggled to reconcile their conception of divine goodness with their experience of undeserved human suffering. Jewish mystics have imagined God initially “contracting” to make room for agents with free will, and in our post-Holocaust era, some have taken solace in this concept of a self-limiting God. But is a self-limiting God truly “off the hook” for suffering caused by other agents? If not, then what are the theological alternatives to self-limitation, and what are their implications for our Jewish religious life? We will explore these questions through readings and conversation. No prior theological experience needed!

Ethan Merlin is a high school math teacher in Washington, DC. He first attended the NHC Summer Institute in 2000, and he taught a course at the 2008 Institute about the thought of William James and Mordecai Kaplan. Along with his partner Joelle Novey and many others, Ethan helps sustain independent Jewish communities in the DC area, including Tikkun Leil Shabbat and Segulah.