By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
The Torah commands us never to forget what we experienced at Har Sinai, and to pass this knowledge on through the generations. The saintly Mashgiach, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein zt”l, gave a talk in Yeshivas Ponevezh that has been transcribed in his sefer Ohr Yechezkel. I had the privilege to be in Ponevezh and hear the Mashgiach speak numerous times; I can picture it as if it were yesterday. As a fitting introduction to Matan Torah, allow me to present a few excerpts of his talk.
“I was motivated to speak today on the topic and the manner of our obligation to clarify emunah. This is due to a particular occurrence that happened to me. One time, I asked one of the yeshivah students, ‘Do you know that there is a Creator of the world, One who controls everything?’ .... And he answered ‘Certainly,’ for is he not a believer? I continued, ‘Certainly you are a maamin, but what is the basis of your knowledge and understanding? What is the foundation that your belief is built upon?’ And for this he had no answer.
“As a result, I am compelled to ask: Is it possible for a man to live a long life of seventy or eighty years without knowing the source of his belief, all his knowledge relying only on the fact that he is ‘a maamin’? Yet he does not know the meaning of emunah at all; his words and sayings have no meaning. He does not recognize what hides behind his words and beliefs. What purpose is there for all the mitzvos he does throughout his life? Is the foundation of mitzvah observance not the knowledge and fulfillment of Hashem’s command?
“Only when I enlightened him and said to him that the foundation of emunah is built on Yetzias Mitzrayim and the Revelation at Har Sinai, as we say in the tefillah of Emes Veyatziv, did he nod his head and agree.
“When all belief is superficial and simple, like the answer of this student who did not know how to explain the source of his emunah, can this be called emunah? From this strength, can one fulfill the decrees of Hashem?”
We must live our lives by the holy words of the Mashgiach, with the knowledge that our emunah comes from the memory of standing at Har Sinai and shouting Naaseh V’nishma.
