Why Learn Emunah?
BY RABBI DR. YOCHAI RUDIK
[Rabbi Rudik is the Director of the Department of Machshevet Yisrael (Jewish Thought) in the Religious Sector of the Israel Ministry of Education.]
The true meaning of the Hebrew term “Emunah” is far more than “faith.” Emunah includes the deep and comprehensive understanding of how Hashem works in the world. From the dawn of history until the modern era, most people have been believers in some type of deity, whether in the forces of nature and various types of gods, or in differing conceptions of a supreme being. Anyone who wanted to question the faith in these various beliefs had to be a person of independent thought and daring.
In the modern era, a significant change occurred. Faith is no longer universal. We often witness various expressions of disbelief in different forms of religion and the supernal forces connected with them. Questions are being asked that no one dared to ask before. A reality has been created where disbelief (heresy) has become the belief. While disbelief doesn’t require deep thought, to reach real Emunah, a person needs to be a seeker, deep thinker, and one who questions the principles of life. If in the past, Emunah was passed down through tradition from generation to generation, in the general secular culture of today, it must be acquired through searching, longing, suffering, overcoming, and struggle.
One wise Sage compared Emunah to clothing that a person wears. When a child is young, he wears small clothes and his faith and relationship with God are small and childish, according to what he learned from the kindergarten teacher, Heder instructor, and the education the child received from his parents, without thinking or contemplating very much. As the child grows, he must change to wear larger and wider clothes – otherwise his clothes will be tight and he won’t be able to function. The same applies to the study of Emunah. Jewish Faith must be refined and developed, grounded intellectually and embedded in a person’s feelings and the depths of the soul.
Each of us needs to ask ourselves: “What is my garment of faith?” Is my faith constantly renewing and becoming more qualitative, stable, and deeper, or despite my progress in other areas, am I standing still in the realm of faith and not progressing? The intellectual development and intellectual challenges which characterize maturity, and dealing with the complex reality of life which includes many crises and challenges of faith, require us to be equipped with a well-founded and deeply lasting Emunah. This demands that a person have an inner desire to expand the study of faith. In this context, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook wrote: “As the generation develops it feels within itself nobility and refinement, a strong tendency to enlighten and improve… in any case, it is already thirsty for thought and logic… and a generation with a great spirit desires and must desire, wherever it turns, to hear great things, and the main greatness of things is that they should be specific and clear” (“The Essay of the Generation – HaDor”).
A study conducted among youth who left the world of religion and the observance of commandments reveals that a significant portion claimed that they did not receive satisfactory answers to their questions regarding Emunah. One student wrote: “They taught us slogans… They approached my questions in a very uncomprehending way. They told me there are answers but they’re not for my age… I said to myself if the Torah is the Torah of truth then why are there no answers?”
It should be noted in this context that indeed there was in certain places an approach to questions of Emunah in the manner described. In the last decade, the situation has changed in a substantial measure. In Israel, part of the educational guidance of both the supervision of religious education and those in charge of teaching Emunah, as well as the Ministry of Education in general, is to devote time and attention to the questions of students and also to raise proactive questions in the realm of faith since students are often ashamed to ask certain questions lest their doubts have an element of heresy. Moreover, when it comes to the texts and learning materials in the area of Jewish Thought, provocative questions now appear within the learning units themselves.
In recent years, we have witnessed the phenomenon of youth who leave the formal educational framework and turn to settle in the hills of Judea and Samaria, planting olive groves and raising sheep. Some of these young people express the transition in the following words: “I need to breathe. I need to connect to God in my own way… I’m not interested in living a regular life.” For educators, the meaning of the young person’s words is the need to think about how we can teach Emunah in new and unconventional ways that go beyond the four walls of the classroom – such as going out into nature and experiencing God’s world, listening to “soul” music that elevates the emotions, and by arranging encounters with figures who radiate faith and inspiration.
The question of studying Emunah and the need to deepen our comprehension of its broad horizons is subject to controversy among the great Rabbis of Israel. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi wrote in his book “The Kuzari”: “It is the Torah of Hashem and whoever receives it with innocence… is superior to the wise and the investigator… But whoever has descended from this high level to investigation, it is better for him to seek an understanding of these things… than to abandon them to evil opinions” (Second Essay, Section 26). In other words, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi is in favor of studying Emunah. On the other hand, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in his book “Likutei Moharan” opposes philosophical research of faith and wrote: “The main purpose and perfection is only to serve Hashem with complete innocence… only through faith and observing practical commandments… In truth it is a great prohibition to be a researcher-investigator” (Section 19).
Many of the great Rabbis of Israel were in favor of studying Emunah and saw great importance in its learning in order to attain true closeness to Hashem. Rabbi Saadia Gaon in the introduction to his book “Beliefs and Opinions” called for the study of Emunah because regarding many believers “their faith is not pure and their opinions are incorrect.” Only the in-depth study of Emunah can enlighten their path. Similarly, Rasag cites in his book two additional reasons for the need to study faith. The first reason is that we should know in a true and clear fashion the things we received from the Prophets. The second reason is so that we know how to answer heretical questions of people who reject the validity of Emunah.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) in his book “Path of the Just” wrote in the Introduction that the purpose of his treatise is not to write new things, but to remind readers of matters of Emunah and morality known to them, but which they have forgotten. He explains that the fear of Hashem and faith are not ingrained in man, like sleep and hunger which are stamped in human nature. Rather, they require repeated study. His book presents various ways to acquire proper character traits and true Emunah, and he explains how to internalize them within us.
One of the main challenges facing the believing person is the fulfillment of commandments with deep intention as opposed to fulfilling them in a routine matter, habitually, without any real internalization. Rabbeinu Bachya in his Introduction to his book “Duties of the Heart” addresses this issue. His words present an important understanding of why we should study Emunah. Rabbeinu Bachya writes: “The wisdom of the Torah is divided into two parts. One of them is the duty of the limbs… and the second – to know the duties of the heart which abide in the conscience and in the vaults of hidden wisdom.” He teaches that we need to deepen our understanding of the commandments and the foundations of Torah Law so that their fulfillment will be more complete. In this manner the duties of the heart will become clearer to us and “the revealed and hidden aspects will be equal and balanced in the service of Hashem until the expressions of the heart and tongue and limbs are equal.”
Therefore, it seems that the question of studying Emunah is not subject to choice. The Sages in many places demand that a person live a life of complete faith. A person who can reach this level without in-depth study may be exempt from studying Emunah, but every normative person must build and establish the foundations of their faith through study.
It is clear that the study of Emunah gives meaning to existence and content to a person’s life. It gives him a compass to live by. For the Jewish People, the study of Emunah compels us to define not only our individual mission in life, but also our place and role in the larger, all-encompassing, universal mission of the Israelite Nation as a whole – in our being the beacon of Emunah to the world.
In modern times, as the ingathering of the exiles continues with the miraculous revival of the Israelite Nation and the reawakening of the long-dormant Land, the teachings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook Kook illuminate the pathway to Emunah in our era of Redemption. While Rabbi Kook’s eloquent Hebrew is difficult to comprehend, there are books in English which present the brilliant lights of his thought and his vision upon which the foundations of Religious Zionism are based.
The true place to learn Emunah is in Eretz Yisrael. When Hashem first appears to Avraham, He instructs him to travel to the special place on Earth where the Divine Attachment is most attainable – the Holy Land (“HaKuzari” Part 5, Conclusion: 22-28). The unique spiritual connection between Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael creates the proper atmosphere for the understanding and absorption of the workings of Hashem and His plan for the Jewish People. In the language of “HaKuzari” The People of G-d in the Land of G-d” (HaKuzari, Part 2, 9-12). Rabbi Yehuda Halevi explains that just as certain vineyards and crops needs specific geographical locations and conditions to promote their upmost growth, so too the Jewish People can only reach the ultimate in Divine Attachment in the Land of Israel. One of the ways this attachment is attained is through the learning of Emunah in the place designed for spiritual elevation. As our Sages teach, “There is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael and there is no wisdom like the wisdom of Eretz Yisrael (Bereshit Rabbah 16:4). Only in the Holy Land can Am Yisrael live a life of Emunah and bring the full potential of its spiritual and physical powers to fruition – in Torah, agriculture, science, military prowess and more – with everything culminating in the renewal of Malchut Yisrael, the Kingdom of G-d on Earth. In his book “Orot” Rabbi Kook emphasizes this awesome explosion of life which occurs when the Nation of Israel returns to its Land (“Orot,” Chapter One, Eretz Yisrael). It is what he terms “a living connection” which vitalizes all aspects of the Nation’s existence, including the learning of Emunah. The return to the Jewish People to Israel and the T’shuva of the Nation are bound up with Emunah. Therefore, the learning of Emunah is most fruitful in the place where prophecy is a natural potential talent and intrinsic character of the Land, and where Divine Providence is most manifest the life of the individual and the Nation as a whole – “in the Land that Hashem cares for; where the eyes of the L-rd thy G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Devarim, 11:12). Eretz Yisrael is the Divinely-chosen place where Emunah in Hashem and the study of Torah can be achieved in the purest and most holy fashion (See “Orot” 1:4-6). Rabbi Kook makes clear that while Emunah can be studied in foreign Gentile lands, it remains an intellectual endeavor alone, negatively influenced by the spiritual impurity which reigns throughout the Diaspora, making the goal of its true learning impossible. Studying Emunah in the Holy Land facilitates the spiritual purification of a person and his character, and sanctifies a person with the broader and far more elevating attachment to the concerns of the Jewish Nation as a whole and to its Divine Mission which unfolds in the Land of Israel: “For from Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.”
[Translated by Tzvi Fishman]
