Rabbi's Blog

The famous cliché' 'if I am not going up I am going down' actually describes our challenge to keep on working and pushing harder or else we will start to fall back. If you have ever been in a row boat, you know you must continuously paddle in the direction you want to reach, otherwise you will drift away from your target. Life requires constant paddling upstream; failure to do so will cause us to lose ground. As we age many of us fight the battle of the bulge, and it takes a yeomen's job just to maintain our weight and not gain more.

The battles which rage around us are not only physical but spiritual as well. If we don't constantly push ourselves to go to minyan, to learn at a specific time and place, to train ourselves to give Tzedakah, then we will stop performing these obligations. One particular area of our service to God that is somewhat lacking is the strengthening of our Emunah, our belief in Hashem. The job and obligation to work daily on deepening our belief in God is lacking today. When we work on our belief on our Emunah, we need to root it in our hearts. We say in Aleinu: "V'Yadata HaYom Vahasheivosa El L'vavecha", "You are to know this day and take to your heart". The navi Chavakuk says, "V'Tzadik B'Emunaso Yichyeh":" A righteous person through their belief they will live". The navi is teaching us that we all need to strengthen our system of belief and make it come alive in our hearts. It's not enough just to believe in God on a logical level; emunah requires a wellspring of emotion as well.

The Rambam in his sefer Hamitzvos (Mitzva 1) counts "I am Hashem your God" as a positive commandment. Some ask regarding this quote: "How can that be a Mitzva? First you have to believe that there is a mitzvah. Second, how can there be a commandment to believe?" There are those who answer as follows: the obligation is to strengthen and root in one's heart the belief in God. THAT is the Mitzvah. It is possible to be commanded to work on a certain Midda (character trait), to make it stronger, to solidify it to our core essence. It is with this understanding that we can come to understand a Passuk in this week's parsha.

In this week's Parsha Lech Lecha 15:6 the Torah states: "V'Heemin BaHashem V'Yachsheveha Lo Tzedaka": " And he trusted in Hashem, and HE reckoned it to him as righteousness". Rashi explains that Hashem reckoned it for Avram as a credit and righteousness regarding the trust that Avram had for God. The trust was Avram asking Hashem through what merit my offspring will last in the land of Israel and not asking for a specific sign. The Ramban asks, "How is it that someone like Avraham avinu, who withstood such tests as the Akeidat Yitzchak and other tests, wouldn't believe in a promise of goodness?" The answer is there are many levels when it comes to Emunah/belief. Even when the B'nai Yisrael saw great miracles (Shmos 4:34) and believed in Hashem, they strengthened their commitment to God. After the splitting of the sea the Jewish people said, "Vayaminu BaHashem Uv'Moshe Avdo", "And they believed in Hashem and in Moshe his servant". The more a person tries to believe, the more he will believe.

Unfortunately in today's day and age we do not strive for nor place an emphasis on this integral facet of Judaism. I am not saying that people have become skeptical and don't believe. More profoundly this is a question of do they really believe? The encounters we face today from other beliefs systems and religions threaten us, contesting our belief and faith in Hashem.

In the end of gemara Sotah 49a/b the Rabbi's discuss the period which will precede Moshiach (Ikvisa D'Meshicha). The list includes the following: insolence will increase, costs will soar, the government will turn to heresy, the wisdom of scribes will decay, truth will be absent, those who dread sin will be despised, youths will blanch the faces of elders, sons will deride their fathers, the face of the generation is like the face of a dog, and other things as well. At which the Gemara concludes :"During such difficult times upon what, then,can we lean? Upon Avinu Shebashamayim - upon our Father in Heaven. Rabbeinu Meir HaLevi, who lived some eight hundred years ago in Spain 1180-1244, asserts in Yad Ramahto Sanhedrin 97a: "I am amazed, in light of all these omens (the signs of imminent redemption as enumerated) that the Son of Dovid HaMelech (Moshiach) has not arrived in our generation. If this was the sentiment of one of the great Rishonim, how much more so does it apply today!

Up until writing this piece I felt that saying the words 'Im Yirtzeh Hashem','if God wants' or 'B'Ezras Hashem', 'With God's help' was just lip service. We just spit these and similar phrases out without any real conscious understanding or meaning of what we are saying. I now have a different perspective regarding these catch phrases and deem them a crucial addition to our Jewish lexicon. A great Chasidic master once quoted the navi Yirmiyahu: "Avda Ha'Emuna V'Nichrisa MiPihen ". Loosely translated as: "When you lose your belief it is cut away from your mouth". Why does a person's emunah/faith get cut away? Because it got lost from one's mouth.We stopped talking about Emuna, and we ceased to learn about Emunah.

Avraham Avinu gets the ultimate promise of redemption from Hashem because he believed in Hashem totally, without question, throughout every facet of his life. Today we face great challenges from every aspect of life. The first step in dealing with all of the challenges is to put our trust in Hashem. We all need to make a conscious, concerted effort to learning and studying areas directly focused on belief in Hashem. Let us strive to be true believers, emulating Avraham Avinu, and may we then be the generation of Hashem's guaranteed Blessings! Amen!

Ah Gut Shabbos Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky