Panentheism and Judaism Jews have flirted with the doctrine that
all creation is embraced in God. Panentheism ('All is in God'),
is the doctrine that all creation is embraced by God.
Panentheism is quite distinct from pantheism or monism.
According to pantheistic or monistic theory, God is the name
given to the universe as a whole. The 'all' is identified with
God, so that it is meaningless to speak of God as distinct from
the universe. Pantheism means that all is God and monism (the
theory of 'oneness') that God is a synonym for the 'stuff' or
'substance' of the universe. In panentheism, on the other hand,
the 'all' is in God. The Being of God is both transcendent and
immanent in relation to the universe, so that while it is
inconceivable for there to be a universe without God it is not
inconceivable for God to exist without the universe. The
panentheistic doctrine is Jewishly unconventional but traces of
it are found in some Jewish sources. The Zohar speaks of God
both 'filling all worlds' and 'surrounding