The third blessing completes our description of the God before whom it is we stand. Although He is all-loving and all-powerful, He is all-mysterious. The Hebrew word Kadosh that describes God here is best translated in English as “holy” or “transcendent” or “Divine.” The English word “Divine” is related to the words “divorce” and “divide” which all mean “set apart from.” In other words, the God who is Kadosh transcends all description and categorization. The Holy One is ultimately incomprehensible, wondrous and mysterious. This third blessing recognizes that God is beyond everything we could ever imagine or utter. Even “the holy ones”—transcendental beings such as angels and/or enlightened holy individuals—praise Him forever, because even they can never say enough to capture God’s true greatness. Therefore, it is critical for us to remember that anything that we say about God cannot come close to what we should have said, and even what we should have said is a tiny, dull spark compared to who God truly is. We must remind ourselves that the description of God in the first two blessings as all-loving and all-powerful is grossly inadequate. In fact, any description of God is actually a desecration of His profound truth. But because we are human and we need some kind of tangible understanding of God, we are allowed to refer to Him in conceptual ways that are familiar to us. A Zen master once said that until you realize the futility of your mind, you are not ready for the truth. Judaism, however, would never describe the mind as futile. Anything God-given cannot be futile. Judaism does recognize, however, that the mind is limited, and it can never come close to grasping God’s transcendental truth. The Eastern traditions teach that “he who knows [the Divine] doesn’t speak, and he who speaks doesn’t know.” In other words, an enlightened person knows that truth is beyond words and thus remains silent. He or she simply revels in the wondrous and mysterious. Judaism agrees with this basic axiom, as the Book of Psalms states, “Silence is His praise.” However, the Book of Psalms is nonetheless filled with praises for God. While silence is God’s praise and He is indeed beyond words, we still need words to help us acknowledge His presence in the world and in our lives. Our job, then, is to always remember that words are limited and God is Kadosh. He transcends all words and concepts. The Holy One is unfathomable, wondrous and mysterious. This is why, after the first two blessings which attempt to describe God, we now acknowledge that God cannot be described. He is holy and transcendent—beyond all comprehension and praise—and we must never feel too comfortable with any concepts or words used to praise the Divine. If we forget this, our praises will actually be considered part of the idolatrous offense of making a graven image of God.