After twenty-two years of chaplaincy and teaching, I have observed that most Jews, young and aged alike, would like to have faith (emunah, אֱמוּנָה), but they are also very confused and even fearful of it—
Would you like to have faith? Are you fearful of it? Do you think others feel this way?
Why do you think that is?
Rabbi Yeruham Levovitz of Mir maintained that emunah describes a feeling of absolute certainty, so that there is no room in one’s heart for any doubt whatsoever.
Levovitz’s notion is precisely what troubles contemporary liberal Jews. We live in a society where absolute certainty often leads to extremism, and we know how divisive and destructive this can be. Yet there is a deep human desire to own a strongly held conviction, with its potential to make life richer.
(1) Some time later, the word of יהוה came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” (2) But Abram said, “O lord יהוה, what can You give me, seeing that I shall die childless, and the one in charge of my household is Dammesek Eliezer!” (3) Abram said further, “Since You have granted me no offspring, my steward will be my heir.” (4) The word of יהוה came to him in reply, “That one shall not be your heir; none but your very own issue shall be your heir.” (5) [Then in the vision, God] took him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them”—continuing, “So shall your offspring be.” (6) And he put his faith in יהוה, who counted it to him for righteousness.
Why do you this his faith was deemed righteous?
The emunah spoken of here is more than belief that certain statements about God are true; it is belief in God, trust and reliance upon God, all of which call forth behavior consistent with that stance of trust and reliance.
“The highest goal of life is a personal, experiential relationship with God.”
Yea, all God’s ways are just;
A faithful God, never false,
True and upright indeed.
(כא) וְֽאֶת־חַטַּאתְכֶ֞ם אֲשֶׁר־עֲשִׂיתֶ֣ם אֶת־הָעֵ֗גֶל לָקַ֘חְתִּי֮ וָאֶשְׂרֹ֣ף אֹת֣וֹ ׀ בָּאֵשׁ֒ וָאֶכֹּ֨ת אֹת֤וֹ טָחוֹן֙ הֵיטֵ֔ב עַ֥ד אֲשֶׁר־דַּ֖ק לְעָפָ֑ר וָֽאַשְׁלִךְ֙ אֶת־עֲפָר֔וֹ אֶל־הַנַּ֖חַל הַיֹּרֵ֥ד מִן־הָהָֽר׃ (כב) וּבְתַבְעֵרָה֙ וּבְמַסָּ֔ה וּבְקִבְרֹ֖ת הַֽתַּאֲוָ֑ה מַקְצִפִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה׃ (כג) וּבִשְׁלֹ֨חַ יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶתְכֶ֗ם מִקָּדֵ֤שׁ בַּרְנֵ֙עַ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר עֲלוּ֙ וּרְשׁ֣וּ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לָכֶ֑ם וַתַּמְר֗וּ אֶת־פִּ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם וְלֹ֤א הֶֽאֱמַנְתֶּם֙ ל֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א שְׁמַעְתֶּ֖ם בְּקֹלֽוֹ׃ (כד) מַמְרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם עִם־יְהֹוָ֑ה מִיּ֖וֹם דַּעְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶֽם׃
(21) As for that sinful thing you had made, the calf, I took it and put it to the fire; I broke it to bits and ground it thoroughly until it was fine as dust, and I threw its dust into the brook that comes down from the mountain. (22) Again you provoked יהוה at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah. (23) And when יהוה sent you on from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and take possession of the land that I am giving you,” you flouted the command of your God יהוה —whom you did not put your trust in nor obey. (24) As long as I have known you, you have been defiant toward יהוה.
How was that lack of faith demonstrated? Why was it so important?
Moses is a different story. The complexity of the relationship between God and Moses is firmly planted in the middah of emunah in the Book of Exodus. They test each other at the Burning Bush: Moses challenges God; God reassures him; Moses runs away; but eventually, God prevails (Exodus 3:1–15), and the seeds of emunah are sowed between them. We see God coaching Moses each time God sends him to Pharoah. God and Moses talk to each other frequently and with intensity. Each soon recognizes the other’s strengths and weaknesses, and they provide one another with compensatory support, not unlike new lovers. Moses’s confidence in himself increases as he realizes that he can rely upon God and visa versa. As their relationship matures, their emunah in each other fluctuates, yet it deepens over time...
“The prophets never taught that God and history are one, or that whatever happens below reflects the will of God above. Their vision is of man defying God, and God seeking man to reconcile with Him.”
What is Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel getting at?
Having integrated the trait of emunah so firmly within himself as a result of his relationship with God, Moses’s capacity for loving-kindness and generosity spills over to his connections to human beings, and he is better able to manifest emunah in others.
(4) And יהוה said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will assign it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross there.”
Can you imagine seeking God with all your heart and soul?
What would it look like to live with more emunah?