Why Real Emuna Cannot Fizzle Out

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

In Parshas Shemos, Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded to return to Egypt and begin the process of redeeming the Jewish nation. Hashem gives him a specific message to deliver to Pharaoh. However, before Moshe goes to Pharaoh, he goes to the people and informs them that soon they will be redeemed. He then performs for them miracles.

Rav Yerucham Levovitz asks: Why go to the Jews at this stage; just go to Pharaoh! At present, the Jews were enslaved, the Plagues would begin only a few months later, and once they began, it would be another year before they actually left Egypt (see Ramban, Shemos 5:22). What need was there to summon the people at this stage? Was there any reason why they would object to being freed? Why not just raise the subject with Pharaoh?

Rather, Moshe was not simply informing the Jews of their redemption, he was trying to strengthen their emuna in the redemption. This emuna was critical, because the Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Hoshea 509) states about the Jews’ emuna that they would be redeemed – this emuna itself was what led to their redemption. Had they not believed that they would be redeemed, Hashem would not have redeemed them. Therefore, Moshe revealed to them the mission he had received from Hashem. He told them pakod yifkod (Shemos 3:16) – which the nation knew by tradition would be the declaration that their redeemer would make (ibid. 3:18, Rashi). Moreover, Moshe performed miracles for them. All this was in order to instill in the people a strong belief in their approaching redemption.

Rav Yerucham notes that since this meeting between Moshe and the people took place months before the first of the Ten Plagues began, there was a risk that the emuna the people gained at this time would fizzle out. Perhaps closer to the actual redemption would have been a more appropriate time, he asks.

Rav Yerucham explains that this is an error, because “getting emuna” is not a one-time thing. Acquiring  emuna is a step-by-step process. If emuna “fizzles out,” that means it was never emuna in the first place. Just seeing Moshe turn his staff into a snake and then back into a staff didn’t change anyone into a permanent “believer.” Of course, any onlooker would have claimed: “OK, now I believe,” but just saying the words doesn’t make emuna part of you. The Jews still had to do the work of contemplating what they had heard and seen, thinking it over and discussing it with others, to make this emuna a part of them. This takes time.

As the redemption neared, the exercises in this “emuna training course” grew in intensity. On the night before leaving Egypt, the Jews were commanded to fulfill the mitzvos of Pesach in a unique way that applied only for that year: As they ate the korban Pesach, they had to be dressed in a way that showed that they were ready to set out on a journey at any moment (Shemos 12:11). Moreover, they were not allowed to bring provisions for this great journey (ibid. 12:33)! These were more rigorous “exercises” in the training course of belief that they were undergoing.

In their times, the Jews had to internalize the emuna that they would be redeemed. Today, we have to internalize the emuna that we were redeemed at that time, amidst the greatest miracles witnessed by mankind. This is the basis of our emuna, as we see in the Ten Commandments. The first declaration of the Ten Commandments is not “I am Your G-d, creator of heaven and earth,” but rather “I am Your G-d, who took you out of Egypt (Shemos 20:2).

We must make this emuna so real to us that it enables us to withstand any test of faith. For example, the false prophet was one who would declare that miracles would occur, and they in fact occurred when he said they would. This could potentially have inspired the public to follow them. After all, here was a human being declaring that the following day, something significant would happen, and then it happened! It seemed clear that this man had divine powers.

The test of a false prophet is to verify that the Jewish nation will not to listen to him, and will instead execute him, because the Exodus from Egypt is so much a part of us that it leaves no room for “competition.” This only works if a Jew integrates belief of the Exodus into his being (see Ramban, Devarim 23:1).

Every morning and evening, there is a mitvza to remember the Exodus. As we are fulfilling this mitvza, during keriyas Shema, we should picture the Exodus in our mind. Also, the Torah relates that the miracles of the Exodus were done “in order that you should say into the ear of your son and grandson what I wrought upon Egypt” (Shemos 10:2). This mitvza applies all-year round, not only on the night of the Seder (about which there is another verse: “And you shall tell your son on that day…”). This is a command to discuss in detail the events of the Exodus with our families, giving each element expanded treatment. This mitvza applies throughout the year, and especially now, when we read the parshiyos that relate the Exodus.

Rav Chaim Kamil would note that a prime example of one who integrated emuna in the Exodus into his being was Onkelos. When Onkelos converted, this enraged the Roman Emperor, and he sent a division of soldiers to Eretz Yisrael to bring Onkelos back to Rome. When they arrived, Onkelos began speaking to them about the Exodus, and they were so impressed that they decided to convert right then and there. The story of the Exodus was so real to Onkelos and so much a part of him that simply talking about it with gentiles brought them to emuna as well! (Avoda Zara 11a)

When Rav Yechezkel Levinstein spoke in public, he would often say over the basic details of the Exodus. Once, some of his listeners asked Rav Shlomo Wolbe (a talmid of Rav Levinstein), why didn’t he delve into deeper insights on the subject?

Rav Wolbe explained: “Rav Levinstein is not trying to show us novel approaches on the Exodus. He is trying to strengthen his own emuna in the Exodus and then share it with others. The more he talks about the Exodus, the more of an effect it has on him. And the more it has an effect on him, the more it has on us, too.”

In the Hagada, we note that “in every generation, there are those who rise up against us to destroy us, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu rescues us.” The Avudraham explains that not only the Exodus can bring us to emuna, but also the many redemptions of the Jewish People from the different enemies of each generation should bring us to emuna.

I was once at a Shabbos table with various people, and each of us was asked to say something to strengthen emuna. The words of one of the people made a great impression on me:

“How is it we Jews can survive here in Eretz Yisrael for even a day? We’re one sheep surrounded by a pack of the most vicious wolves. We’re outnumbered by Arabs who are brimming with hatred, and they have armies. It’s a constant miracle that we’re here. We should feel emuna in Hashem every second; just open your eyes! And whoever lived through the Six-Day War, or the Scud War — he surely should feel this emuna.”

May we make emuna in the Exodus a part of us!