Emuna: Faith is not Just an Add-On

by Rav Tal Haimowitz, Yeshivat Hesder Maalot , yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The Torah begins with the story of Divine Creation, and not with commandments, in order to emphasize the importance of developing faith in G-d.

We have been reading the Torah portions in B'reshit (Genesis) of late, particularly the ones dealing with our Patriarch Avraham and his interactions with G-d and man. Certainly the lessons taught here are profound and critical, but yet a sharp question constantly seems to sneak into our consciousness: "For what? Why does the Torah have to tell us in such detail what our righteous forefathers did and didn't do? Isn't the Torah supposed to be a book of rules and practical guidance, as indicated by the Hebrew word 'Torah' [from the root meaning teach or instruct]? In B'reshit there are altogether no more than three commandments!"

Actually, we can ask as follows: Is Judaism a religion of orthopraxy - correct conduct, both ethical and liturgical – or is it one of orthodoxy, true faith and beliefs? During the 18th-century days of Moses Mendelsohn, who was an observant Jew, very many modern German Jews held, like him, that their religion was one of orthopraxy, and that the Torah did not intend to teach us what to believe, but rather what to do and what not to do.

The very first Rashi in B'reshit seems to support this position: "R. Yitzchak asked, why did the Torah begin with the story of Creation, and not with the first commandment issued to Israel?" The implication is that the Torah's job is to give laws. The Ramban (Nachmanides) did not accept this question, explaining that Judaism is actually a religion of Orthodoxy: "There is a great need to begin the Torah with the story of G-d's creation of the world, for that is the source of faith altogether, and one who does not believe this but feels rather that the world has always existed is a heretic who has no share in the Torah at all!"

How then does the Ramban explain R. Yitzchak's question? He says that R. Yitzchak was merely asking why the story of Creation takes up so much space in the Torah, when it could easily have been told briefly, as in the Ten Commandments: "Remember the Sabbath day… for in six days G-d created the Heavens and the Earth."

In fact, the Ramban is correct: Whoever is lacking the fundamentals of faith, even if he fulfills the Torah's commandments, truly cannot be considered a Torah-observant Jew. The great teacher of Israel, the Rambam (Maimonides), makes this very clear in his Laws of Repentance (3,6). He includes there, based on our Sages' teachings, a list of those who have no share in the World to Come – and a quick perusal thereof shows that more than half of them are guilty not of practical sins, but of heresy and false conceptions!

The Rambam writes: "And those who have no share in the Next World, but who will be cut off and lost and judged forever for their great sins, are the atheists, infidels, rejecters of the Divine origin of Torah, deniers of resurrection and the coming of the Messiah…"

The fact is that a deficiency in faith can prevent ideal fulfillment of mitzvot altogether. One who does not believe in a Creator Who watches over the world and hears our prayers – how can he stand and pray? Or, one who believes in some kind of dual cosmology, such as the once-popular Zoroastrianism, is not recognized as a Kosher Jew in terms of his ritual slaughter and other Halakhic matters (Tr. Hullin 13a). As such it is clear why our Sages taught that one must first accept upon himself the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and only afterwards the Yoke of the Mitzvot; this explains the order of the passages in Kriat Shma (Mishna B'rachot 2,2).

Not only that, but our historic experience has shown that Torah observance does not last if its main pillar is a list of do's and don'ts. The famous historian Tzvi Hirsch Graetz, author of the classic "History of the Jews", wrote that with just 60 years after Mendelsohn's passing, half of his followers had already converted to Christianity.

We learn in the Talmud in the name of R. Samlai: "Six hundred and thirteen mitzvot were told to Moshe… David came and 'stood them' on 11… Micha came and 'stood them' on three… Havakuk came and stood them on just one, as is written, 'The righteous man will live by his faith'" (Tr. Maakot 23b). The pillar of faith thus encompasses the entire Torah. This shows us how pointless is the attempt to shape a Torah life on deeds alone.

Believers, Sons of Believers

Why is there such resistance to the idea that the Torah is essentially founded upon specific principles of faith? One reason is because of the notion that people cannot be commanded to think a specific thought. But in fact, the opposite is true. The Torah demands that we believe specific truths – and also explains how this is possible! Thoughts and beliefs are actually quite dependent on our free choice, and we can shape them as we wish. For instance, the Torah specifically exhorts us not to be stubborn (Deut. 10,16) by denying clear manifestations of Divine Providence and attributing them to mere coincidence and the like.

This principle is a function of the way our souls are designed: We set and determine our beliefs only after we have interpreted a given situation in a particular manner. The situation exists, but it is given to various explanations – and these are dependent upon the way we want to explain them. One who chooses to interpret events in the light of Divine Providence, will merit to see Divine Providence clearly in everything that happens to him. This is precisely what the Torah commands us to do. The ability to believe and have faith hinges upon our desire not to reject what we see by employing crooked and negative logic.

Aside from all this, we must also note that belief in G-d and His providence is a permanent fixture in our souls, as the Sages taught: "Israel are believers, descendants of believers." A deficiency in faith that we might find in ourselves is nothing more than a speck of dirt on our souls, preventing us from expressing our true nature, and must be simply cleaned off.

This ability to believe in and cleave to G-d and His mitzvot and desires is something we inherited from our Patriarch Abraham, the father of Jewish faith in the living G-d. This critical point, on which the entire Torah and Judaism are founded, must be emphasized at the beginning of the Torah – and this is why the stories in the Book of Genesis that we read so eagerly recount the details of the lives of our Forefathers and thus shape our faith (Nachmanides, Introduction to Genesis).

When we continue to grasp on to this rock of our national existence, it will also illuminate the way to victory over our enemies and will lead us to a secure and joyful national existence in our Land.