The first of the ten commandments we received at the foot of Mount Sinai is: "I am the Lord your G-d ... who brought you out of the land of Egypt."

In this single verse two fundamental ideas are mentioned which are the foundation of all of Judaism; namely, the existence of G-d as the Creator of the universe (I am your Eternal G-d) and His decisive intervention in human history to bring the Jewish people first (Who brought you out of the land of Egypt), and then the whole of humanity to a very precise goal which is that of the universal recognition of the Creator.

What is Emunah?

How can Emunah be defined? Emunah is the capacity of the human being to recognize the existence of the Creator. How can we achieve this recognition? The discussion between Rabbi Akiva and the heretic, as reported by the Midrash, sheds light on this. The heretic asked Rabbi Akiva to prove to him that G-d existed, to which Rabbi Akiva replied: "Who made your suit?'' The heretic answered: "the tailor". Rabbi Akiva then asked him to prove it. The heretic then declared: "The very existence of my suit proves that it was made by a tailor''. Rabbi Akiva then retorted: "In the same way that the suit testifies to a tailor, so the world testifies to the existence of a Creator."

Rabbi Akiva's argument is of an overpowering logic and only a weak or dishonest mind would be able to refute it. No one can deny the evidence that a suit is made by a tailor. It would not occur to anyone to say that the suit was created by itself. And yet there are fanciful minds who assert that the world was created by itself.

In connection to this we will report an anecdote involving Rabbi Yehuda Halevy, a great Sage of the Spanish era, author of the famous book "Kuzari". Rabbi Yehuda Halevy had a neighbor who had a window adjoining his, that is to say, a window which belonged at once to their two apartments. This neighbor was a famous poet but also known for his atheism and he would assert with much presumption that the world was created by itself.

One day, Rabbi Yehuda Halevy noticed that his atheist neighbor was writing a poem. Then the poet paused for a moment and went away. Rabbi Yehuda Halevy opened the window and read the poem, which he found was very well written. Wanting to give a good lesson to this insolent spirit, he added a few lines to the poem that was not yet finished.

The neighbor returned and was extremely surprised to see that his poem was completed in his absence. He knocked on his illustrious neighbor's door and showed him the finished poem, expressing his astonishment. Rabbi Yehuda Halevy retorted with great subtlety: "My dear neighbor, certainly the bottle of ink overturned and the poem wrote itself...

''Rabbi, you know that is impossible...Such a beautiful poem cannot be written by itself!

''My dear friend! You refuse to believe the idea that a poem can be written by itself; but on the other hand, to affirm that the whole universe was created alone does not disturb you... "

The debate was closed to the advantage of Rabbi Yehuda Halevy. His neighbor had no choice but to recognize the futility of his words and the truth of Rabbi Yehuda Halevy's words.

The Reason for Atheism

Rav Elchanan Wasserman, in “Kovets Maamarim”, explains the reason for atheism. He first asserts that since Emunah is a Mitzvah from the Torah, every young boy of thirteen and every twelve-year-old girl are bound by it. Therefore, this implies that there is no need to be a great philosopher or a very enlightened mind to achieve this.

How then can we explain that brilliant minds such as Aristotle, who only lacked prophecy, according to the words of Maimonides, did not achieve this? The reason is a phenomenon called Shochad (corruption). What is the measure of Shochad according to the Torah? This is a Pruta, the smallest monetary unit at the time. This implies that if a plaintiff gives a judge a Pruta and the judge takes this coin for himself, the judge is no longer able to judge "For corruption blinds the eyes of the wise and diverts the words of the righteous" (Devarim 16,19). This implies that if a complainant has given a Pruta, even to a judge of the stature of Moshe Rabbeinu, this renders the judge unfit to judge.

If this is so for characters as great as Moshe Rabbeinu and the Sages of Israel who were men of exceptional stature and sanctity, then much how much more so for non-Jewish philosophers immersed in the pleasures of this world...Indeed, there is no greater corruption than the pleasures of this world which prevent even the most brilliant mind from arriving at the conclusion, however obvious that the world has a Creator.

Contrary to popular belief, achieving Emunah does not require exceptional intelligence, but rather an upright mind. Whoever does not succeed must know that he is like a drunkard under the influence of alcohol. He will first have to unwind and then undergo a detoxification; to get away from the pleasures of this world, to eat strictly kosher, to lead a Jewish life in the true sense of the word... To achieve Emunah constitutes an indisputable spiritual acquisition, however authentic Emunah must be accompanied by Bitachon which constitutes its practical application. What is Bitachon?

Bitachon: Definition

Rabbeinu Yona in his commentary on Mishlei defines Bitachon: "the Mitzvah of Bitachon is that one knows in his heart that everything is in the hands of G-d. This means that G-d can change the inclination and therefore the destiny of a person. Nothing can prevent Hashem from rescuing an individual, from small as for great things. And even if a person senses danger, he must know that help is near because G-d can do everything and nothing is impossible for Him. In any difficult situation, it is necessary to have confidence in G-d and to know that divine deliverance can intervene in the blink of an eye. As the verse says, "Have faith in Him at all times" (Tehillim 62,9), even if man is in a situation in which he sees no way out. The verse also says: "Trust in G-d forever, because G-d is the Creator of the worlds" (Yeshayahu 26,4). Indeed, Hashem created this world as well as the future world. Therefore, everything is in His hands and we must place our trust in Him."

These words of Rabbeinu Yona allow us to understand that if Emunah is the belief in the existence of Hashem, then Bitachon is its concrete application, that is to say, to believe in His providence. A question then arises: to what extent should man endeavor to act, and to what extent, on the contrary, should he abstain from acting and put his trust in Hashem?

Bitachon and Hishtadlut

The world in which we live is described in the language of our Sages as the world of action. In the book of Bereishit, chapter 2, verse 3, it says, "G-d blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for He rested on this day from all the work that He had done to perfect it." Rabbi Yaacov Galinski, in his book "Vehigadta" on the book of Bereishit, explains that the words "to perfect it" (Laassot in Hebrew) does not strictly speaking refer here to divine work, but to the work of man. In other words, after creating the world, Hashem expected man to act, what is referred to in Hebrew as “Hishtadlut”.

The balance to be achieved between Bitachon and “Hishtadlut” is quite delicate and depends on the spiritual level of a person. The higher the spiritual level of a person, the less the “Hishtadlut” expected of him. Let us take Yosef Hatzadik (the Just) as an example. Yosef Hatzadik, the darling son of Yaakov Avinu (the patriarch Yaakov) at the age of seventeen years old, was sold by his brothers to a caravan of Ishmaelites who brought him to Egypt and sold him as a slave to Potiphar, a senior Egyptian dignitary.

Yosef succeeded brilliantly as a slave to his master. Indeed, the blessing of G-d accompanied him. His master noticed his talents and only saw his success. As a result, he decided to make him his steward. Potiphar's wife noticed this young Hebrew who succeeded at everything he did. Rejecting all morals, she decided to seduce this charismatic young man. Of course, Yosef rejected her advances until the day she trapped him. It was a feast day for the pagans, and the house was empty of its employees. Yosef decided to come to work, as the idolatrous celebration did not concern him.

Potiphar's wife, taking advantage of the situation, grabbed Yosef by his clothes to make him sin with her. Yosef then decided to flee, leaving his tunic in the hands of this sinner. Seeing this, the latter shrieked and told anyone who wanted to hear that Yosef had tried to violate her. Following this unfortunate episode, Yosef was thrown into prison. Yosef spent ten years in the Egyptian jails, during which he made the acquaintance of high Egyptian dignitaries, notably the master baker and the master butler who, before their disgrace, had exercised their specialty at Pharaoh's court.

During these ten years, Yosef showed extraordinary Emunah and Bitachon. Moreover, from the beginning of this long ordeal, Yosef had always shown remarkable trust in G-d. When he was sold to Potiphar and throughout his stay at this Egyptian noble, the name of G-d did not leave his lips. Yosef knew that everything Hashem did was for the good. In prison too, he had never departed from his faith. The Midrash Bereishit Rabbah in chapter 6 tells us in the name of Rabbi Berechiah that Yosef was nicknamed "A dancing man". This means that because of his intense faith in G-d, not only did Yosef not sink into depression, but even more so, he beamed with joy to the point of dancing... This is a typical example of Emunah and a very high-level of Bitachon.

During his stay in prison, Yosef interpreted the dreams of the master baker and the master butler perfectly accurately and his predictions were fully realized. The master baker was hanged, and the master-butler was reinstated. Before the release of the butler, Yosef begged him to intervene on his behalf to Pharaoh and plead his case in order to end his stay in prison for a sin that he had not committed.

What was the result of this “Hishtadlut”? The master butler made no move with Pharaoh. Yosef at the time of the liberation of the master butler had already spent ten years in prison. His release finally came only two years later, following Pharaoh's dream about the lean cows. Our sages teach us that following Yosef's “Hishtadlut” vis-à-vis the master butler, two more years in prison were decreed in heaven.

In other words, Yosef Hatzadik should not have asked the master butler to intervene on his behalf with Pharaoh. If Yosef Hatzadik had refrained from doing this, he would have been released from prison after ten years. Proof of this is that our sources report that Pharaoh, following the liberation of the master butler, made the same dream every night and forgot about it, a dream that Yosef brilliantly interpreted before his liberation two years later. As soon as Yosef Hatzadik became aware of his mistake and realized that in relation to his high spiritual level and especially his level of Emunah and Bitachon, he should not have asked the butler to intervene for him, Pharaoh remembered his dream and called Yosef.

Conclusion

If Emunah is a Mitzvah accessible to everyone, as Rav Elchanan Wasserman brilliantly demonstrated, to the point that one can demand of a young man of thirteen years (Bar Mitzvah) and a young girl of twelve years a real level of Emunah, it is quite different from the Bitachon which is, as we have seen, the concrete application of Emunah. Knowing how to act in this world, what place to leave to personal initiative, “Hishtadlut”, and what place to leave to Bitachon requires great reflection and a lot of Torah study.

Thus, during the crossing of the Red Sea (Yam Suf), after the exit from Egypt, the Jews had to throw themselves into the water and advance into the sea until that water reached their necks; and only then did Hashem split the sea for them...

Be that as it may, Emunah and the Bitachon are indispensable tools for the Jew to move in this world and to realize the will of his Creator. It is up to everyone to study the many and varied nuances and to find concrete applications in all areas of life.