Fundementals of Faith - 001 Emunah Is Recognizing Reality

Introduction

With siyata d’shmaya, we will now study the subject of emunah (the faith of the Jewish people) by discussing the 13 Principles of Faith, as listed by the Rambam.[1]

The Rambam, in his commentary to the Mishnah in Tractate Sanhedrin (chapter 10) states that all of the Jewish people have a share in the World To Come. Listed are the main principles of faith, which are necessary for one to understand the purpose of our creation and the concepts of reward and punishment. The Rambam, after stating that the purpose of our life on this world is to attach ourselves to the “G-dly light” of the Creator, says that there are 13 principles of faith that a Jew must know. He calls them the basic tenets of our faith.

It is said that the text of the Ani Maamin which is in the Siddur, after the Shacharis prayer, is only a brief listing of these principles. The full explanation of these principles is explained elsewhere by the Rambam, in the commentary of the Rambam that we are currently quoting, and it is arranged in a different order than the order that appears in the Siddur. The text that appears in the Siddur was changed throughout the generations for the sake of simplicity, so that everyone would be able to understand. But here we will not explain the text that appears in the Siddur. Here we will study the exact words of the Rambam about these matters.

It is not coincidental that there are 13 principles. The 13 principles of faith reveal the unification of Hashem’s Name, which we declare in Shema Yisrael every day. These 13 principles are parts of one whole, and in addition, they are all integrated into the very first principle, which is the most central principle of all of them – to believe in the reality of Hashem.

The Rambam first calls them the 13 “ikarim” (principles) of faith, and later, when explaining them in detail, he calls them the 13 “yesodos” (fundamentals) of faith. Later, with help of Hashem, we will explore the difference between these terminologies. First, let us learn the words of the Rambam.

The First Principle of the Rambam

The Rambam begins by saying that the first yesod\foundation of our emunah (faith) is: “To believe, in the existence of the Creator, and that He is the most perfect, complete existence of all that exists, and that He is elevated above all creations, and He sustains all of existence, and from His everything is sustained.”

The Power of Emunah\Believing

The first part of this principle is to “believe in the existence of the Creator.” What does it to mean to “believe” in this, to have “emunah” in it, as opposed to having daas (knowledge) of it, or to feel it? What does it mean to be a maamin (believer)?

Man has the ability of hargashah, to feel and sense things. There are five physical senses, which can feel things. However, feeling is but the external use of hargashah. The inner use of hargashah, its core, is called daas (knowledge). The power of emunah (faith), though, is above the senses. This does not mean that emunah is something which we cannot feel and something which is not known. That does not define emunah. Rather, emunah is to believe that there is a reality that there is a Creator. Just like you have the ability to feel and just like you have the ability to know, so can you “believe”, in the reality of the Creator.

When you use your physical senses, this is one kind of recognition. You hear something, and you recognize it through hearing it. You smell something, and you have a certain recognition of it. You taste something, and that is a different way to recognize it. You touch something, and that is another way of recognition.

When you know something, that is an entirely different kind of recognition than physically sensing it, because your intellect brings proof that the thing must exist, so you recognize the reality through your ability of daas.

But the root of all ways to recognize something is through the power of emunah, to believe. Emunah is about recognizing realities. With emunah, you believe in the existence of the Creator – meaning that you recognize the reality of the Creator, through your emunah. It is the root of all recognition.

Your mental abilities, which are called chochmah (wisdom), binah (contemplation), and daas (understanding) – and the physical senses which branch out from these, which are hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch – are all but branches of recognition. The power itself to recognize reality is called emunah.

An external definition of emunah is that if something cannot be physically sensed, one can still believe that it exists. But that is not the actual definition of emunah! Emunah means that I can recognize its existence, because I am recognizing it through my emunah. It means to recognize the intrinsic existence of something, as opposed to recognizing its branches and garments.

There is a reality, and there is a way to recognize a reality, and that is how the reality is revealed. If something is not recognized, it is not revealed, and it not considered to be existing. The Leshem writes that something can only exist only when it is revealed from potential state. If it is not revealed, it is not considered a reality.

The reality of Hashem therefore implies the revelation of Hashem. Recognizing reality is only through emunah. Only through emunah can we recognize a reality, whereas any other abilities of recognition, such as the physical senses and our abilities of daas\intellect and emotion, cannot recognize the intrinsic reality of something. All they can see is the “branches”, the results of a certain reality; but they cannot recognize the reality at its root. Only through emunah can a person recognize reality at its root.

The prophet Chavakuk said that the righteous person will live by his emunah (“And the righteous person shall live by his faith”), meaning that emunah is the only power which can recognize reality. If someone feels that this is not so, it really means he has never recognized a reality yet! A reality itself cannot be recognized except through emunah. The “movements” of reality can certainly be felt by other forms of recognition, but reality itself, its root, can only be felt only through emunah.

So, when the Rambam says that the first principle is to believe in the reality of the Creator, he means that only through emunah\believing can a person recognize this reality.

If a person does not use his power to believe, then he is being imaginative. But even more so, the only way to recognize a reality is to use the power of emunah. We have many other abilities of recognition as well, but those abilities cannot recognize reality itself, and if we can only recognize things through these abilities and never through our emunah, then it means we have never yet recognized a reality!

In fact, most people are not using emunah as their main source of recognition, and therefore, their recognition of reality is very minimal. One who does use his emunah as his main source of recognition is always living with reality, and therefore he will always be living with Hashem in front of him.

The Higher and Lower Uses of Emunah

The higher, root use of emunah is to believe in the reality of Hashem. The lower use of emunah is to believe in any reality in general.

For example, if we show a person Har Sinai and we tell him that the giving of the Torah took place here, and he believes this, he will also be to experience this reality. This is only the lower use of emunah, for the event of the giving of the Torah branches out from the reality of the Creator. If a person just believes and thinks about something, this is not yet the sense of emunah. If he believes it and comes to have an experiential understanding of it, that is emunah.

When people believe in something and they see results from it, like if they believe that certain people can do things that go above the laws of nature, because they see results, this is not emunah, but the imagination (dimayon). Because they imagine what they are seeing, based on the results that they see, they see whatever they see - but all they are seeing is an imagined reality. They are not seeing a reality itself, because imagination cannot show a person reality itself. Only emunah can bring a person to see a reality.

Only when something is revealed, can it be reality. Revelation of something means that this is a reality. Hashem created a universe where everything is a reality that is part of a greater reality. All of reality are parts of one reality, one revelation: the existence of Hashem. If a person thinks that there are other things that exist besides for the existence of Hashem, it essentially means that he lives with delusions. 

To believe in reality thus means to use the sense of emunah to recognize reality, as opposed to use our physical senses, daas and emotions, to recognize things. The mind and the senses can only recognize in a limited way. These means of recognition cannot attribute all of reality as being part of the reality of Hashem. The eyes see something and the mind can then know it exists, but all it sees is this detail, and it cannot see it as part of the greater reality, which is the existence of Hashem. The senses, the mind, and the emotions can only see and understand things at face value, as they are, without seeing them as part of the one, single reality that exists – the reality of Hashem’s existence.

There is only this one reality! Everything else is but revelations of this reality. There is nothing else in Creation other than the reality of Hashem. Everything we see is a part of this reality, and not an existence unto itself. All of Creation, and all that is in, are parts of this one reality – the reality and existence of Hashem. If a person thinks that he is his own existence and not a part of this greater reality, he is living in a delusionary kind of existence.

Believing In The Reality of The Creator: Seeing All Of Reality As A Revelation of the Creator

We have defined what reality is. Now let us define what it means to believe in the reality of Hashem.

We have explained that we perceive reality through our five senses, and, higher than the senses, is our intellectual perception of reality: through our mental abilities of chochmah, binah and daas. Higher than this sense is the power to recognize reality through our power of emunah. It was also explained that recognition through the mind, and recognition through emotions and senses, cannot recognize reality as it is, only the movements of reality. Now we will explain this difference in more detail.

Our mind, emotions and senses cannot perceive anything in reality as being part of the revelation of Hashem. The eyes see an object in front of them. The ears hear whatever they hear. The mind and the five senses can only perceive things at face value, without seeing the revelation of Hashem in it.

Even if the mind can wonder about Who created all these things and the eyes can see that it must have come from a Creator, the mind and the sense of sight does not actually grasp reality as being part of the reality of the Creator. The mind and senses may be aware that Hashem is the Creator, but when actually viewing reality, it will see “other” things in reality than Hashem, because these faculties can only see things at face value. Therefore, these faculties are not capable of seeing reality as being a part of the reality of Hashem. They can see many realities, unaware that there is only actual reality.

For example, one person does chessed, another davens, and another person learns Torah. If we look at this simply, with our physical eyes, all we see are three different kinds of people, and three different realities. But if we look at it with a more inner look, we can see all of these people as part of one reality. There are many angles of how reality is revealed, but there is only one reality. All realities we see are but facets of one, perfected reality – the revelation of Hashem. That is what it means to believe in the reality of Hashem.

Examples of Seeing All of Reality As Part of A Greater Reality

Now we will examine this deeper.

We have explained that when a person sees or hears, or thinks about something, he only senses and perceives the movements of reality, not reality itself. But when a person perceives reality through emunah, he perceives only one reality in front of him, the reality of Hashem. There are many movements in reality, but there is only one reality.

Consider the following. Why does a person feel drawn towards a particular item? Let’s say a person cherishes a certain antique item in his house, which he inherited from his grandfather or which someone gave to him. Why does he feel attached to this item? It is usually because the person views the object as an existence unto itself, not as a means that reveals the reality of Hashem. If everything would be seen by a person as a means that reveals Hashem, it would be seen entirely different.

Here is a simple example from our world which greatly illustrates this point. It is human nature to love people. Is this a purpose unto itself, or is it a part of something greater? Does it exist solely for the sake of loving other people, or is it all a tool that can be used to connect to the Creator?

If a person sees love as a purpose unto itself, for the sake of simply loving people with no greater purpose, of such a person, we can apply the statement, “Either a friend, or death.” But if one sees friendships with others as a tool to become more connected to the Creator, although he will also have to deal with the painful fact of “Either a friend, or death”, he will be able to choose if his main companion is a human friend – or if it will be the Creator. If a person sees friendships with others as a tool to connect to Hashem, he has a true friendship. But if the friendship is for its own sake, and nothing to do with Hashem, this is a connection to the “world of falsity”.

Reuven may view Shimeon as a tool to connect with in order to become closer to Hashem, whereas Shimon may view Reuven as nothing but a friend for the purpose of the friendship. Shimon may discover that deep down, he feels that Reuven is not so close to him! Where does this come from? It is not because there is no bond here. It is because Shimon lacks the proper perspective. Reuven has the right perspective towards Shimon, but Shimon does not have the right perspective towards Reuven.

The true meaning of ahavas Yisrael (love of the Jewish people) is when one is aware that all of reality serves to reveal but one thing alone: the Creator. Reality can be revealed in a countless amount of ways, and one of them is through the love for other people. This should not be misconstrued as a way to belittle others and take away their value. To the contrary, it serves to elevate the value of others in our eyes. There is no greater way to value others, than viewing others as a means of revealing Hashem.

We can bring so many more examples, but the point we have seen is that “believing in reality” [of Hashem] means to connect to what reality is, to have the attitude that all of reality that we see is part of one greater reality, and that all of reality only serves to reveal one thing. That one reality is Hashem, but first, one has to know what it means to believe in a reality in the first place – to perceive all of reality as a means of revelation.

The Sense of Emunah – Recognizing All of Reality As A Revelation of Hashem

Why is all of this called emunah?

When we see a table or chair in front of us, our eyes will see an object which we can sit and eat on, but when we view this through the sense of emunah, we can see a table and chair as a means of revelation of Hashem. The Creation in front of us seems to be its own existence which is not part of a greater reality: a chair is for sitting on, a table is for eating on, etc. That is what our senses see. But when we view Creation through emunah, there is only one reality we will see. This contradicts all of our simple senses that we know of from this world, where everything seems to exist as its own independent reality that has nothing to do with the Creator.

(We are first explaining the very idea of this concept, before attempting to internalize this in our hearts. One needs to eventually internalize all of this in his heart, and then into the rest of his lower faculties, but that comes at a later stage. First, he must simply understand the concept. That is the elementary stage, which we are learning about here).

Thus, to believe in the reality of Hashem, which is the emunah that we must live our lives with, is that the entire perception of our soul should see things through the view of emunah.

Practically Working Upon This Concept: Identifying The Source of Your Actions

Until now, we have explained the root perspective. Now we will try to explain how we can practically implement this.

Our soul is always active. A person is often using his physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, etc. Each thing has its raw, beginning state, as well as its extension. One should therefore try to identify the source of any action he is doing. For example, a person can try thinking: What was the beginning of the thought I just had? Where did it come from? If a person heard something, he should think: Where did what I heard come from?

When a person is talking, where does the speech come from? It seems to be coming from the mouth. But the Vilna Gaon said that speech stems from several abilities: will, thought, voice, and speech. If a person thinks into where his speech come from, he can discover that his speech did not begin simply from his power of speech, but from the will, which empowered the speech. But if he has an even deeper perspective, he can discover that the speech came from emunah!

All movements of the soul stem from the power of emunah. What does this mean? Simply speaking, it is because I believe I can speak, therefore I am enables to speak. This is true, but it is only scratching the surface. The inner perspective is that all movements reveal reality.

And what is the motivating force behind all of the movements in Creation? It seems that human beings are motivated by the three main negative traits – jealousy, lust, and seeking honor. (From a deeper perspective, these are all forms of pleasure). While this is true, it is only the lower source of the motivation. The higher source of all motivation is, that since all of reality serves to reveal Hashem, it is this which moves all of Creation. Nothing else is causing Creation to move and to be motivated to do anything.

Thus, all movements in the soul stem from emunah. Therefore, one should identify what motivates him right now to do a certain action. Without knowing this, a person is like a body without a head, because he is disconnected from his own source, like a person without a head.

We should not think, chas v’shalom, that we can attain the first fundamental of our faith, believing in the reality of Hashem, simply by repeating this every morning for several days and months, for all of our lifetime. To believe in the reality of Hashem means that a person is aware, as he is about to do something, that his action stems from nothing other than the reality of Hashem. That is emunah – to believe that the beginning of all action stems from this single reality. It means to begin all actions from this perspective!

Without this awareness, a person will simply be stuck in a cycle of ups and downs, and he will not be able to maintain emunah for that long. But when one is aware of this concept, he can reach the most perfected level of emunah possible right now. There is no such thing as perfect emunah, in the current state of affairs, until Mashiach comes. But we can still direct our souls towards this emunah as much as possible right now.

To believe in the reality of Hashem thus means to begin all our actions from this perspective. To begin doing everything with the awareness that everything comes from the reality of Hashem, and not from any other source. For all movements are nothing but a revelation of the one reality, the reality of Hashem.

The Deeper Perspective About Serving The Creator

Let us now go deeper with this.

From a superficial perspective, it appears to a person that there is Hashem, there is my “I”, and that there are all people which I am another of; and that “I” should serve Hashem. But the deeper perspective, of believing in the reality of Hashem, is totally different. It is for a person to sense that there is only one reality, one existence, and that everything in existence is nothing but a part of this one reality. All of reality are but parts of the revelation of reality.

Thus, my “I” serves Hashem when I am aware that my entire existence is nothing but a revelation of this reality. That is how I become His eved (servant). Thus, serving Hashem is not an “act” of serving Hashem. We need to act in order to serve Hashem, of course, and if we do not, we are being delusional (as the Sages said, “If someone says I have nothing but Torah, even Torah he doesn’t have.”).

The Sages said, “The mitzvos were not given except to be metzaref (purify, or, alternatively, to connect) together the creations.” Simply speaking, the mitzvos purify from sin. But the deeper meaning of “metzaref” is “connection”. The “connection” is that all parts of reality serve to reveal one thing alone.

With such a perspective, a person lives life above the perspective of “avodah” (servitude),and it is also what it means to believe in the reality of Hashem. In our world, in the current era, the average perspective of [even spiritual] people is that there is an “I” that is apart from the Creator, which must serve the Creator. But the perspective should be deeper. One should view his entire existence as nothing but a means to recognize, and reveal, Hashem.

The avodah (inner task) of a person is not just to be an eved (servant) of Hashem. The servitude is but a tool to reach a higher goal. Of course, if a person tries to skip all avodah because he wants to reach the higher perspective, this is a fantasy, and he won’t be able to grow spiritually.

The true perspective is for a person to view his entire reality as nothing but a revelation of Hashem. I must do mitzvos for the same reason that fire burns. It is because all of creation serves to reveal Hashem! The Mesillas Yesharim says that “everything in Creation performs according to the natural design that has been carved into it” – because all of Creation serves to reveal Hashem.

This is a very deep concept, found deep in the soul, and this is what it means to have true emunah. If one tries to deny this, he is denying reality. In the current era, where we have free will, it seems that people can choose to serve Hashem, or not. But in the future, there will be no more free will, meaning that every person then will see his entire existence as a nothing but a revelation of Hashem, so there will be no possibility of choosing not to serve Hashem.

To live a life of emunah is to recognize the reality of Hashem, which means for a person to deeply realize that “My entire existence is entirely a revelation of the reality of Hashem.” It does not mean that man has the avodah to reveal the reality of Hashem. That is only the lower perspective, and it is the perspective from our daas. The higher perspective, which comes from our emunah, is to perceive all of reality as nothing but a revelation of what reality is – and that one reality is, the Creator.

If so, what is reality, what is the Creation, and what are the creations that are in it? Creation, and all that is in it, are but details, parts of a greater reality. The reality itself is, the revelation of Hashem. The power to perceive this reality is through emunah. A life of emunah is thus for a person to realize that there is only one reality. In the language of our Sages: “There is nothing else to know, other than this knowledge.”

Some people were mistaken about the meaning of this concept, Ain Od Milvado, “There is nothing besides for Hashem”, and they thought that there are literally no creations, since “there is nothing besides for Hashem”. They ignored all creations, taking the concept of “Ain Od” quite literally. The Nefesh HaChaim, and other holy sefarim, dealt at length with this question, and why this perspective is wrong. But to be brief about this, there is Hashem, and there is His revelation. In the words of the Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer, there is “Him and His Name” - “Him” refers to His actual essence, and “His Name” refers to His revelation. And what are we, His creations? We are all but parts of His revelation. Thus, the soul is called “portion of G-d above”, because our entire reality is nothing but a “portion” of His revelation.

When a person knows and is aware that “My entire existence is nothing but a revelation of Hashem”, this is the only true knowledge he can ever really know of, as the Sages said.

In Conclusion

The words here were very deep and subtle matters, of the soul. With the help of Hashem, we shall explain these concepts further. We have said here what the roots are of the very concept that is known as “emunah”.