Unshakable Emunah

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

Parshas Yisro starts (Shemos 18:1) by relating that Yisro heard what Hashem did for the Jewish nation, and he set out to meet them. Rashi cites the Mechilta, asking what Yisro heard that motivated him to come. He answers that he heard about the splitting of the Yam Suf and the war against Amalek.

This Mechilta raises a question: Yisro had already abandoned his false beliefs years earlier, and he had acquired emunah in Hashem. Yet, the Exodus from Egypt alone was not sufficient inspiration for him to join the Jewish people. Why did he decide to come now, after kri’as Yam Suf and the war against Amalek? We can understand that the splitting of the Yam Suf was a dramatic revelation of Hashem’s Hand in the world (see “Bo: Gemara and Tefillin”), but what was special about the war with Amalek? The Jewish victory was certainly not more miraculous than the miracles accompanying Yetzi’as Mitzrayim.

The Slonimer Rebbe explains that what shocked Yisro enough to cause him to come was that there could still be a nation brazen enough to make war against the Jews after kri’as Yam Suf. The passuk states (Shemos 15:14–15), “The nations heard [about the splitting of the Yam Suf] and trembled. . . . The dwellers of Cana’an melted away [in fear].” From these verses we see that all of humanity now recognized and feared Hashem as the Creator and Master of the world. Amalek, too, was one of the nations of Cana’an (Bamidbar 13:29), yet they instigated a battle against Bnei Yisrael! Yisro realized that even after reaching intellectual clarity of Hashem’s existence, it was still possible to revert back to the ways to which one is accustomed. He resolved to join the Jewish people, who possessed an emunah that was unshakable.

What makes our emunah so strong?

This is addressed in the introduction to the Sefer HaChinuch. In Egypt, we already had a tradition of Hashem’s existence as Master and Creator of the universe that we inherited from our forefathers. This emunah was given the ultimate validation when Hashem fulfilled His promise and took us out of Mitzrayim accompanied by open miracles. From that point on, the story of the Exodus was passed down from father to son over the millennia in an uninterrupted chain, each relating what his ancestors had seen with their own eyes. Thus, the Exodus serves as an impeccable basis for emunah in Hashem.

We also have another basis for emunah, leaving no room for error whatsoever: our receiving of the Torah at Sinai in the presence of the entire nation. We all reached the level of prophecy and heard Hashem directly as He commanded us, “I am the Lord, Your G-d, who took you out of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Shemos 20:2–3) Over two million Jews saw and heard Hashem Himself. After such an experience, there can be no question remaining over His existence and power. In Jewish Law, even when two witnesses give testimony, life and death can be determined based on it. Millions of witnesses passed on testimony of this revelation to their children and grandchildren, and the chain continues to this day. The Torah itself promises that this emunah will continue forever, as Hashem said to Moshe that He was doing this “So that the people will hear as I speak to you, and they will believe in you as well, forever.” (Shemos 19:9)

If, regardless, a person would still try to squirm out of this belief, saying, “I want to look into it a bit more,” the Sefer HaChinuch responds with the following analogy:

There was once a polluted river that flowed through many areas. Wherever this poisonous river reached, there were documented cases of people dying from drinking from it. This had been the case throughout all of recorded history; no one ever survived drinking from these waters. One day, a doctor arrived and took a sample of the water back to his laboratory. Sometime later, he announced that he had conducted a comprehensive series of tests, and concluded that the water was perfectly drinkable.

Would anybody dare to drink from this river? No. Why not? Didn’t the doctor say the water was clean?

Of course, the answer is that human knowledge is fallible. Theories often gain popularity, only to be discarded later. To ignore the fact that so many people have died based on what one doctor says would be a folly.

We know that our knowledge is limited. Can we confidently ascertain what truth is based on our own experimentation? If so, how can anyone rely on experimentation or man-made theories, and disregard the Jewish people’s emunah, which is based on eyewitness testimony and an unbreakable chain of tradition? No amount of “looking into things” can be at all relevant.

We are encouraged to bolster our emunah. It is recommended that we study the wonders of creation, read stories about tzaddikim and Divine providence, and explore codes hidden in the Torah. However, the foundation of our emunah must always remain our uninterrupted chain of testimony that reaches back to the Exodus and the Giving of the Torah.

When the issue of military service for yeshivah students first came up in the fledgling State of Israel, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion traveled to Bnei Brak to speak with the Chazon Ish.

“The religious community is so small in number,” he said. “This state is a democracy. We are the majority, and we say everyone should serve. Why should the will of the majority have to conform to that of the minority?”

The Chazon Ish replied, “The Talmud states that when two wagons meet at a crossroads and one must yield the right of way to the other, if one wagon is full and the other is empty, the empty wagon must yield to the full wagon.” He concluded, “Our wagon is full, and yours is empty.”

The Chazon Ish was saying that the “wagon” of the Torah-observant Jewish nation represents far from the minority. In fact, it is laden with the Jewish people and events of all history, linking the current generation to the Tanna’im and Amora’im, Nevi’im, and, ultimately, to Moshe Rabbeinu. On the other hand, the secular Zionist “wagon” had no backing of any sort, and was nothing more than an idea that had cropped up recently in European intellectual circles.

Ben-Gurion had no answer.

May we be zocheh to unshakable emunah, based on our chain of tradition!