Arich Anpin You Shall Have No Gods Besides Me

The prohibition of having a god “besides” God can be understood metaphorically as implying that there is no room for anything but God. This reflects the Zohar’s statement that “there is no place void of Him.” This tenet of belief reminds us of one of the cornerstones of the Ba’al Shem Tov’s thought, that there is no where empty of God. The expression “besides Me” is based on the notion of “face,” and Arich Anpin means “the long face.” Both these expressions make use of the metaphor of space as being “a face.” Thus, when the Torah says, “You shall have no gods besides Me,” it is saying, “There is no room for any gods besides Me” because, indeed, there is no place void of Me.