THE TRUE ESSENCE of God cannot be grasped by anyone but God. There is not a single angel in heaven who knows God’s location—and certainly not God’s true essence. Don’t you realize what the angels say: “Blessed he the presence of YHVH from his place”? In other words, wherever God’s place may be. If the celestial creatures do not know, then how could earthly creatures ever know;

So all those descriptions that we read in the Torah, of God’s hand, foot, ear, and eye—what do they mean? Know and believe that although those descriptions indicate God’s true being, no creature can know or contemplate the essence of what is called “hand,” “foot,” “ear,” or the like. Though we are made in the divine image and likeness, do not imagine that the divine eye is actually in the form of an eye or the divine hand in the form of a hand. Rather, these are inner—innermost—aspects of the divine reality, from which the fountain flows to all creatures through the divine decree. But the essence of the divine hand is not like the essence of the human hand, nor is their form the same, as it is written: “To whom can I be compared?”

Know and understand that there is no similarity in substance or structure between God and us—except for the intention of the forms of our organs and limbs, which are fashioned as symbols of hidden, supernal realities. The mind cannot know these realities directly; it can only be reminded of them. As when one writes “Reuben son of Jacob.” The form of these letters is not the form, structure, and essence of the real Reuben son of Jacob but simply a mnemonic device. “Reuben son of Jacob” is a symbol of the particular entity called by that name.

Since God wanted to purify us, he created in the human body various organs and limbs—hidden and revealed—as symbols of the divine structure. If one succeeds in purifying a particular organ or limb, it becomes a throne for the sublime, inner reality called by that name: “eye,” “hand,” or any other one.