Q & A with the Menahel Week 1

Before we discuss teaching אמונה in the classroom, we first must define what אמונה is and how one develops it. People tend to think that אמונה is built through learning; seforim such as Nefesh Hachaim, Derech Hashem, or Daas Tevunos teach us the fundamentals of our faith. The thought is that אמונה is based a set of hashkafos that one has to learn. For example, אמונה consists of proofs that Hashem created the world and it didn’t just occur by chance.

This, however, is not the point of אמונה. These hashkafos may be necessary to learn, especially for a person who has doubts, who wonders about this topic, but it’s not the main thrust of אמונה that we teach our students in the classroom. For the main focus of אמונה, let’s turn to the רא”ש in the Orchos Chaim:

לבטוח בה’ בכל לבבך ולהאמין בהשגחתו פרטית ובזה תקיים בלבבך היחוד השלם בהאמין בו כי עיניו משוטטות בכל הארץ ועיניו על כל דרכי איש ובוחן לב וחוקר כליות כי מי שאינו מאמין ב”אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים” אף ב”אנכי ה’ אלקיך” אינו מאמין ואין זה ייחוד שלם כי זה הוא סגולת ישראל מכל העמים וזה יסוד כל התורה כולה

אורחות חיים אות כו

The רא”ש states that we have to have אמונה in השגחה פרטית, which is the idea that Hashem is intimately interacting with everything in the world. The רא”ש goes on to say that anyone who doesn’t believe that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, which is a significant example of His interacting with the world, doesn’t believe in “אנכי ה’ אלקיך” – the very existence of Hashem.

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Hashem must exist to take us out of Mitzrayim. He must first exist and then He can be involved. The רא”ש teaches us that when it comes to our אמונה, the opposite is true. אמונה is believing in השגחה פרטית – that Hashem is involved in the world, interacting with us, even interfering, as we go through our lives.

השגחה פרטית

Where do we see השגחה פרטית in Chumash? A good start is פרשת לך לך. In a most obvious way, Hashem involves himself in Avraham Avinu’s life. He cares about what Avraham does, instructs him in how to grow, to become better. He tests Avraham repeatedly, certainly interfering with his life. One could say that this main message of אמונה is symbolized by פרשת לך לך, not פרשת בראשית.

We tend to limit the meaning of השגחה פרטית to the idea that everything that happens to us happens for a reason. Of course, this is true, but it’s so much more than that. Let’s look again at the words of the רא”ש. He states, “כי עיניו משוטטות בכל הארץ ועיניו על כל דרכי איש ובוחן לב וחוקר כליות”. Hashem’s “eyes” are focused on the Earth and what we think and do. He is interested in what we do. We are engaged in something and the בורא עולם is interested in that. He investigates and checks what we’re doing and even what we’re thinking and feeling in our hearts. No one investigates or looks into something that doesn’t interest him or is not important. If Hashem is interested in us, we must be important!

We see that a significant component of השגחה פרטית is the understanding that we’re important in the eyes of Hashem. So, the two big parts of אמונה are the knowledge that Hashem is intimately involved in the world and our lives, and that he cares about each one of us and our growth, our education.

Teaching אמונה

How can we teach our talmidim אמונה in the course of Chumash study? The רמב”ן, in the introduction to his commentary on Chumash, gives us a perspective on how אמונה is built:

“עלה אלי ההרה והיה שם, ואתנה לך את לוחות האבן והתורה והמצוה אשר כתבתי להורותם”. כי ‘לוחות האבן’ – יכלול הלוחות והמכתב, כלומר עשרת הדברות, ו’המצוה’ – מספר המצות כולן, עשה ולא תעשה. אם כן, ‘והתורה’ – יכלול הספורים מתחילת בראשית, כי הוא מורה אנשים בדרך בענין האמונה

The רמב”ן quotes the pasuk that states on Har Sinai, Hashem gave משה three things: the לוחות, the תורה, and the Mitzvah. He explains that the word לוחות refers to the tablets and the words on them, which is the עשרת הדברות. The word מצוה refers to all the mitzvos. What, then, is תורה? He explains that this refers to the stories found in the תורה, because it’s these stories that teach people how to have אמונה.

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