Hands of Emuna

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

When a person connects to Hashem by way of emuna, he receives a wonderful gift: Hashem illuminates his brain with insights that he is capable of understanding. Not only that, but he receives these insights in a blessed way; despite the fact that Hashem is lifting him to a higher spiritual level, he remains humble. He flows in harmony with creation and creation flows with him. Hashem takes a person on the path that he chooses, as King David said in Psalm 121, “Hashem is your shadow.” If a person nullifies himself to Hashem and His Torah, life progresses as it should. But, if a person thinks that he can circumvent the Torah’s commandments, then peace of mind circumvents him.
 
Just as in creation, night comes before the day, we must also put the “night” before the “day”, placing emuna before logic and intellect. No matter what happens to us in life, we should first assess things through eyes of emuna. Once we do, we’ll know the correct and logical path to pursue.
 
Rebbe Nachman explains (see Likutei Moharan I:91) the passage in Torah (Exodus, Ch. 17:12), “And his hands were emuna until the coming of the sun”: He says, “There are several types of emuna. There is emuna that is only in the heart. But most important is that a person should have emuna that permeates all of his extremities. For the Ariza’l explains that a person must uplift his hands at the time of washing for bread so that the hands reach the level of his head, so that they can receive holiness. It turns out that in order to do this, one needs emuna in the hands, to believe that by virtue of uplifting them to the level of his head, he receives holiness. For without emuna, there is no mitzva, as King David says (Psalm 119:86), ‘All Your mitzvot are emuna.’ And when a person has emuna like this, the emuna spreads to his mind. The more he keeps himself in emuna, the more he attains intelligence. What he once had to believe in, he now grasps with intelligence since he has attained a higher level of emuna. Such was the faith of Moses – it was so strong that it permeated all of his limbs. His hands had so much emuna, until the ‘coming of the sun’, in other words, when he could grasp the underlying wisdom of everything, for the sun is a metaphor for wisdom.
 
Ever since Hashem revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, the People of Israel have understood the secret of, “We shall do and we shall hear” (see Exodus 24:7). When Hashem gave them the Torah by way of Moses, they realized that they must commit to fulfilling the Torah’s commandments by way of emuna, despite the fact that they didn’t understand the underlying logic and rationale of each commandment. But, by first fulfilling the commandment, they would ultimately gain an insight and understanding of the commandment. By virtue of emuna, they were able to “do” before they could “hear”, or understand.
 
The mindset of emuna, when we do Hashem’s will even before we understand why, is something we should we apply to every facet of life. Every time a person acts in this manner, he in effect renews his own personal reception of the Torah. Emuna should be second nature to us, just like drinking when we’re thirsty. Indeed, we should fear putting our intellect before emuna just as we fear touching burning hot coals.
 
How does one make emuna second nature, when he or she can automatically activate emuna before logic and intellect? The answer is that whatever happens to a person, he must say to himself – audibly – “this is what Hashem wants and it’s all for the best!” His first reaction should be one of emuna, whereby he looks at the Divine providence and the inherent good in everything that happens in his life. Rebbe Nachman warns us never to attribute any happening to chance or fate, for everything is the outcome of Hashem’s will. Therefore, one’s initial reaction both in thought and deed should be an emuna-oriented reaction.
 
Were you fired from your job? Did someone cheat you or steal from you? Did you get a parking ticket or a speeding ticket? Was your child suspended from school? Did someone dent your car in the parking lot? First of all, tell yourself right away that everything’s for the very best. Even if you don’t understand why, this is what Hashem wants and it’s all for the best even if your logic is trying to dictate otherwise. Instead of falling into the traps of anger, anxiety and depression, do the exact opposite: smile and react with emuna. This is the first stage of internalizing the emuna mindset of “emuna before intellect.”
 
Once a person becomes accustomed to reacting with emuna in deed and speech, the emuna mindset will become a behavioral pattern that not only penetrates the heart and the brain, but every limb of our body. When training in gymnastics, an athlete must repeat a certain exercise hundreds of times before it becomes polished and second nature. By “exercising” our emotions with emuna, and vocally telling ourselves that everything is from Hashem and all for the best, our emuna becomes “polished” and second nature as well. We can also remind ourselves that whatever happens to us is also the result of Hashem’s compassion, mercy and love for us, and therefore certainly for the best no matter how it seems otherwise. In time, by training ourselves in emuna, our intellect becomes subservient to our emuna. Eventually, the emuna will spread to every part of our body, to the extent where we’ll be virtually be able to see how everything Hashem does in our lives is for the very best, amen!