A small group of policemen from America came up to me at the Kotel and asked a couple of questions. They were heavily devoted x-ians.
"Why do Jews shake when they pray? What's the meaning of it?"
I explained, "The soul of a Jew is like a flame, and prayer is like wind. When the wind blows the flame moves."
They liked that answer very much and asked if I would say it again so they could record it for their friends. I agreed, but when they held up their phone recorder there was a huge ugly cross on its cover facing me so I had to look to the side when I spoke.
They wanted to prove that their idol is a god, and they asked me a question that most people, not even Jews, know how to answer.
"In the Bible it says when G-d Created man He said, 'Let Us make man in Our image.'" He was trying to use the plural "Us" in the sentence to prove that there is (G-d forbid) multiplicity in Hashem, so their idol is included.
How can we answer this?
All creation, up until the creation of Living Beings, was made entirely, something from nothing. G-d said, let there be this, and let there be that, and that is what came into being … all completely from nothing. But when G-d created living beings He created their bodies from the earth that was already created. Still, as with the previous creations, He said, let such and such be…. But when He created Man He said, "Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness.
What was different with man's creation is that although, like other living beings, He formed the earth into man's body, He also emplaced a portion of His Higher Self into the body to be the soul of man. So, man is made in the image of "Us," that is, the earth forms his body, and a portion of Hashem forms his soul. The "Us" He was referring to was the element of earth and Himself.
Obviously, being devoted x-ians they wanted to continue in their idolatry and go on believing that their idol is what is being referred to.
Maybe they will think about what I said to them, although what they usually do is to go on looking for other places in the Bible to prove they know what the Torah really means, and we do not.
