Summarized by Aviad Lipstadt. Translated by David Strauss
The revelation at Sinai opens with the following words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. (Shemot 20:2)
The main mitzva in this week's portion is the mitzva of faith. The first of the Ten Commandments instructs us about the existence of the Lord our God, who took us out of Egypt. What next?
It is well-known that the Halakhot Gedolot is of the opinion that the mitzva of belief in God is not counted as one of the 613 mitzvot. The Rishonim explain that in his opinion, it is impossible to command faith in God, because in order to accept even the simplest command, one must recognize the power and authority of the one giving the command. In light of this, it follows that a person who does not believe in God cannot fulfill the mitzva of faith, and once a person already believes in God and recognizes His authority, there is no point in a renewed commandment to believe in Him.
However, the vast majority of the Rishonim listed belief in God as one of the 613 mitzvot. For example, the Sefer Ha-Chinukh writes:
And the content of the belief is that he fix in his soul that such is the truth [namely, God's existence] and that a change of this in any way is impossible. And if he be asked about it, he will respond to any enquirer that his heart believes this and he will not assent to a change in it, even if they say they will kill him [as a result]. As all of this – when he takes the thing from the potential to actuality, by which I mean to say when he puts into the words of his mouth what his heart decides – strengthens and fixes the belief of the heart. And if one merits to rise in the levels of wisdom, his heart will understand and his eyes will see with a sealed proof that this belief that he believed is true and clear – it being impossible that there be something besides this – then he will fulfill this positive commandment [in the best way]. (Sefer Ha-Chinukh, Parashat Yitro, 25)
The author of the Sefer Ha-Chinukh establishes in our parasha that there is an independent commandment to believe in God. In his opinion, the commandment does not merely involve simple faith, but there is an obligation to "fix in his soul that such is the truth." In other words, a person must internalize that God is the Creator of the world, and reject any other opinion or possibility.
In light of this understanding, the author of the Sefer Ha-Chinukh demands that the individual apply his faith in everyday life as well. In addition, he understood that there are many varied commandments whose sole purpose is to express belief in God and to strengthen it in the heart of the believer.
Rabb Tzvi Yehuda Kook used to say that faith is neither knowledge nor thought, but life itself. It seems that the most appropriate word for Rav Tzvi Yehuda's explanation is "identification": a person must identify with the existence of God, and focus his life on it.
In this, Rav Tzvi Yehuda explained, faith differs from knowledge: Knowledge relates to a "cold" reality that can be tested by a simple "yes or no" question. One can ask a person whether there is a Creator of the world, and if he answers in the affirmative, he knows that God exists. But such an answer cannot testify to a deep faith. A person who testifies that God exists and then goes on to engage in various mundane matters does not identify with the Creator of the world on a deep level. It is impossible to believe wholeheartedly in the existence of God, and at the same time, while engaged in the mitzva of belief, think about a basketball game.
Such an approach is suggested by the order of the passages in the book of Devarim: In Parashat Vaetchanan, we find a second appearance of the Ten Commandments. Immediately afterwards, we find the Shema, which includes the commandment to love God. The message is clear: a person who fulfills the mitzva of belief in God in a complete manner is a person who will, through his faith, also reach the love of God and identification with His aspirations.
A similar, though slightly different, approach is brought by the Ramban in his commentary to the Torah:
"I am the Lord your God" – This [Divine] utterance constitutes a positive commandment. He said: "I am the Lord," thus teaching and commanding them that they should know and believe that the Lord exists and that He is God to them. That is to say, there exists an Eternal Being through whom everything has come into existence by His will and power, and He is God to them, who are obligated to worship Him. (Ramban, Shemot 20:2)
According to the Ramban as well, faith in God is a commandment. However, according to him, faith is not supposed to lead necessarily to the love of God, but rather to a consciousness of servitude. A person who believes in God is a person who sees himself as a servant before his master, that is to say, as totally subjugated to God.
The Ramban's interpretation seems to be more in line with the words of the prophets: All the prophets of Israel prophesied and demanded of the people of Israel that they internalize their belief in God and completely submit to Him. The emphasis is not on faith as leading to love for God, but on faith as leading to a deep consciousness of servitude to Him.
Here we can only conclude with the hope that we too will merit to hold on to the hem of the prophets' garments and to serve God with complete faith, and to live our lives out of deep identification with God and His word.
[This sicha was delivered by Harav Yaakov Medan on Shabbat Parashat Yitro 5780.]
Edited by Yair Lichtman
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