[Avodah] what G-d can't do

[Zev Sero]

kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:

> Doing things against logic --- I'm not sure what is meant by this.
> 
> Surely He cannot make a five-sided triangle, nor a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it. (See footnote later.) But my understanding of these examples is not that Hashem is incapable of making such a thing; rather the thing is undefined and incapable of existing.

The opposing view is that yes, He can make a five-sided triangle, or an
object that measures 2.5 amot long, but when put into a 20-amah wide room
doesn't take up any of those 20 amot.  According to this view, He can make
a rock so heavy that He can't lift it, and He can still lift it, because
He is not bound by the Law of Non-Contradiction.

This sort of paradox is central to Chabad philosophy; it's what Chabad
means by bringing Sovev into Memalei, which is the purpose of Creation.
The "dirah batachtonim" that the Tanya talks about means a world that
is both finite and infinite at the same time.

The LR explains the nes chanukah in the same way: the oil was physical
natural olive oil, which burns at a known rate, it burned at that rate,
no new oil was created, and yet it lasted eight times longer than it
should have, and that's precisely what made it such a big neis: it wasn't
the laws of physics that broke, but the laws of logic, which dictate
that something is either there or not there, and once it's been consumed
it no longer exists and can't be used again.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas