Question on the Chovos Halevavos

Question

This question was raised after reading a passage in the Duties of the Heart Gate 3 ch.9:

The Understanding: The mystery of your being is that the Creator created you out of nought, in common with all spiritual beings that He created; and His purpose is to exalt you and elevate you to the high degree of His treasured ones-the chosen and elect who are nearest to the light of His glory-for your good and out of His loving kindness towards you.

That last statement does not seem to make any sense. If He created you out of nothing, then how can He do so out of loving kindness towards "you". The fact that He created you a human being instead of a frog is all just coincidence for "you" did not yet exist.

Are you asking if there is a reason, or if the reason is accessible from our vantage point in this world of the ten utterances? — Tatpurusha, May 05 '14 at 20:08

Tzvi · Answer 1 · 2014-05-08T20:05:46.133

Human beings are limited in all their capacities. The very fact that we can't create something from nothing limits our ability to give to something that is non-existent. God, however, can create something from nothing, and therefore can give to a non-existent entity. To make this all more complicated, God is not constrained by time, and therefore everything exists in his presence even "before" he creates them. = [Personally, that part just makes me confused, being a human being with only an understanding of a chronological order of events.]

To understand the concept of giving to a non-existent entity, imagine donating money to a gift fund for an unborn baby. Since you "know" it will be (hopefully) come, you can donate to it's future existence. God not only "knows" the person will be created, He actually currently exists in the future, where the not-yet-created person is existing.

I would like to note, too, that God's creating of you is the biggest loving-kindness itself...

Nice idea. Do you have a source for it? (Welcome to Mi Yodeya! We definitely value sources here.) — msh210, May 08 '14 at 19:13
@msh210 None, I'm sorry. It's actually just a philosophic concept used to understand a hashkafic question. So no, I don't have a source for the concept. Being that it is only a philosophical answer, and not specifically relating to Judaism, I feel that if it makes sense, then it's an option. — Tzvi, May 08 '14 at 19:23

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 20 '14 at 19:43

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turns out the translation was wrong. it should have said "as a kindness towards you" not "out of His loving kindness towards you"

answered May 20 '14 at 19:43

ray

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Question on the Chovos Halevavos

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