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Beit Midrash
- Jewish Laws and Thoughts
- Jewish Thought
- Having Faith in Hashem
In the Aleinu prayer, we recite this cardinal Torah verse: "And you shall know today, and take it to your heart, that G-d is the Supreme Being in the heavens above and on earth below" (D'varim 4,39). This arouses an important question: How is it possible to know G-d, given that, as the Kabbalah teaches, "no thought can contain Him"?
The answer is that "knowing G-d" means to know His actions, the way He reveals Himself in the world, and His ties and bonds that He formed with His creations. All this is the study of emuna [often mistranslated as faith].
What is emuna? Is it an intellectual perception of G-d? Is it a deep emotional experience? Could it be a combination of both?
Emuna is the very essence of life. The Prophet Habbakuk stated: "A righteous man – with his emuna he will live"(2,4). That is, his emuna is his very life, and not just an addendum to his existence. Intellect is an addendum to life, as are emotions, and as is imagination. But emuna, on the other hand, is truly life itself. It is our very bond, as created human beings, to the Creator, to the Source of life, to the Source of all. We are bound together by faith.
What, then, is the place of intellect and our emotions? These are of course very important forces, but they are no more than utensils by which we can express ourselves and our essence. Emuna is that which is expressed in our intellect and emotions – but it itself is much deeper than they are.
As such, the study of emuna demands that we study in great depth the essence of our life, and that we recognize its true value.
II. Emuna Studies 101: Understanding the Value of the Nation of Israel
Just as in every discipline in Torah study, we cannot learn emuna however we wish, but only as we were taught and guided by the great Torah giants of Israel. The renowned Gaon of Vilna used to say, as related by his student Rav Yisrael of Shklov, that "the Sefer HaKuzari should be studied – for it is holy and pure and includes the foremost fundamentals of Israel's emuna and Torah."
The Kuzari, as the work is often known, was written by Rav Yehuda HaLevy some 900 years ago in the form of a dialogue between a rabbi and a pagan king, and is considered among the most important works of Torah philosophy.
Why is the Kuzari so special? There are, after all, many works dealing with the issues of Torah thought; why did the Vilna Gaon single this one out as teaching the foremost fundamentals of Israel's emuna and Torah?
Note that the unique aspect of the Kuzari that the Gaon of Vilna specifically emphasized is "Israel's emuna and Torah." This tells us that the basis of emuna studies must deal with understanding the true worth and significance of the Nation of Israel. There are various levels and stages in studying emuna, but the elementary and beginning thereof is none other than the study of Am Yisrael, the Jewish People.
III. The Jewish Nation's Unique Levels of Life and Emuna
"A righteous man – with his emuna he will live." Every person has his individual level of emuna, according to the level of his soul, of his life. In a certain sense, every righteous person has his own "emuna," i.e., the degree of his connection between himself and the Master of the World. (This does not mean, of course, that every individual can say, "to each his own beliefs…," as we too often hear.)
What is true for the individual is true for the nation as well. The entirety of the Nation of Israel has a particular level of emuna – very different than that of other peoples. The emuna of the Gentiles, in fact, intersects not a bit with that of Israel! This is because Israel's emuna essentially means our bonds of life with the Source of life. Our individual lives are actually the life of the Nation of Israel; they are not independent of our nation, but are rather within the context of bonds with the People of Israel, in the life force that our souls draw from the Nation of Israel. As a result, it is incumbent upon us to learn about this Nation's uniqueness, to understand what is the Nation of Israel.
The first section of the Kuzari chiefly revolves around this very point: the clarification of what precisely comprises the uniqueness of the life of Israel. This is the foundation of the study of emuna.
With this understanding, we can explain the above verse as follows: "A righteous man – with his emuna he will live" – The "righteous man" is actually the Congregation of Israel. The classic commentator Rashi says as much in several places, that when the word tzaddik, "righteous man," is mentioned in Psalms, the reference is to Israel.
For instance: "The tzaddik will flourish like a palm tree" (92,13), and "the horns of the tzaddik shall be exalted" (75,11) – Rashi explains that these are referring to Israel, the "tzaddik of the world," who is none other than Israel! "A righteous man – with his emuna he will live" means that the Nation of Israel has a special high level of emuna of its own, a level of life, a bond of life to the Source of life – a level that is unique to Israel.
IV. The Kuzari: Clarifying the Emuna of Israel
With this, we now understand the great importance that the Vilna Gaon attributed to the study of the principles of emuna, specifically via the Sefer HaKuzari. It is because of "Israel's emuna and Torah" that is emphasized herein – the unique bonds between the Jewish nation and G-d. The special level of connection between them is the level of basic emuna of each and every Jewish person. If we build the foundation of our emuna only like any healthy, upright nation seeking a connection with G-d, who happens to find a path of connectivity between its soul and G-d – we are missing the point! Our true emuna and life-level that is unique to us will be lost!
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
