Yitro Torah Emunah

This week’s Parashat Yitro is known for the Aseret HaDibrot/Ten Commandments , and the opening words are Anochi Hashem Elokecha, Asher Hotzeticha Me’Eretz Mitzrayim I am Hashem, your God, that took you out of Mitzrayim , which means that the first words that we heard from God as a nation were the Mitzvah of Emunah That’s what Anochi Hashem Elokecha tells us. That's the commandment- there's nothing to do , it's about the belief. Because if you don't have Emunah, then you don't believe in Hashem, and there is nothing. Many times, we’ve discussed the famous question asked by the Rishonim: Why doesn't it say “ I am the God that created the world? ” Why does it say “ I am the God that took you out of Egypt? ” There are different answers. The Hovot Halevavot’s whole approach is that we build our religion on gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, our relationship with God is based on what He gave us . If He would've said, Anochi Hashem that I created the world, one could say, “But He created the world for everybody.” What did God do extra for us , that requires more reciprocation and more gratitude? It’s the fact He took us out of Mitzrayim. That's the Hovot Halevavot’s answer. The answer of the Kuzari is that we have to look at God through the lens of Yetziat Mitzrayim . It's not enough to just believe that He created the world and then technically left . Rather, God created the world and is still involved in the world. And the Rosh adds that not only is He involved in the world, but there is Hashgacha Pratit- individual supervision. That's the fundamental belief of the Jewish people. And, as the Rosh says, if you don't believe in that, then you don't have that special Jewish belief. In his words, “If you don't believe that I took you out of Egypt then you don't believe in God, because that's not our God.” That is what he calls Yechud HaShalem- Hashem Echad is believing that He’s supervising the world. That is the fundamental of the whole entire Torah. It’s the reason for the famous explanation for why the Torah starts with the letter ב Bet - Bereshit Bara- Because creation still has room for two, (the Bet is two), but Matan Torah starts with an Alef , Anochi Hashem Elokecha , because the goal of the Torah is to bring us the Emunah of Hashem Echad The Gaon of Vilna says, in his perush in Mishleh 22,19 “ The main reason that God gave us the Torah, is so that we put our reliance on God.” And the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat tells us that the word אנכי Anochi is an acronym for God saying, אֲ נָא נַ פְשִׁי כְּ תַבִית יְ הַבִית. I, My soul wrote down and gave you, God, so to say, put His soul into the Torah. So when a person learns Torah, he gets that Emunah. He gets that feeling of Hashem Echad. There's no better way to get Emunah than Limud Torah . In the words of Rav Yerucham Levovitz, When you open up a Torah, it's like God took thunder and lightening of Har Sinai and put it into a thermos. When you start to learn, that fire comes out. There is an argument between the Rambam and the Ramban about whether or not we have to remember Matan Torah every single day. The Rambam does not list Har Sinai as one of the 613, and the Ramban does. But Har Sinai is one of the Ten Remembrances we say at the end of the tefilah every day, so why doesn't the Rambam say we have to remember it? One of the answers given is because you only have to remember things of the past. When you're sitting down and learning, the thunder and lightening is right there with you. You have Matan Torah right now. And that's why learning Torah is one of the best ways to strengthen our Emunah The Ramban, in his derasha Torah Temima, says we can find this lesson in Tehilim, chapter 19, the lesson that we get our Emunah from Torah learning itself. David Hamelech says, הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם מְֽסַפְּרִ֥ים כְּבֽוֹד־אֵ֑ל The heavens describe the honor of God. It describes how the sun comes out every day, and other statements of creation. Then it says, תּ֘וֹרַ֤ת ה׳ תְּ֭מִימָה מְשִׁ֣יבַת נָ֑פֶשׁ Hashem’s Torah is complete, it returns our soul. עֵד֥וּת יְהֹוָ֥ה נֶ֝אֱמָנָ֗ה מַחְכִּ֥ימַת פֶּֽתִי׃ The testimony of God is loyal. It gives wisdom to the fools. And it goes on to describe the Torah's messages. The Ramban says that as clear as you can get Emunah from creation, you look at the Swiss Alps, or any wonders of creation, it's even clearer when you focus on the Torah. This is the week of Matan Torah , and B’Ezrat Hashem, we will use the Torah to strengthen our Emunah.

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