There is an expression attributed to the philosophers of the Middle
Ages that states, “If I knew Him, I would be Him.”
This means that for a person to know God, not merely to know about Him, but to truly
know Him, is to be Him.
Therefore, if someone claims to know God, then they by definition do not truly know Him.
Love of God is similar to knowledge of Him, in the sense that one who loves, even the most
sublime level of love, still exists as the lover, a being distinct from the
beloved – God.
However hidden it maybe, there still exists a “someone” who loves or knows God, and whenever there is that someone, there is an unbridgeable gulf between them and the Divine.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz