By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
According to the Rambam, idolatry began slowly, but right away. Three generations from Creation, people were already beginning to think that it would be a sign of reverence to Hashem to honor His servants, such as the sun, moon and stars. They began to praise, bow to, and bring sacrifices to them. They built special temples to worship them and made statues in their honor.
In the beginning, they still believed in Hashem. But as time went on, the people began to completely forget Him. They recognized only the statues to whom they had been trained to bow. And so the world carried on, for all the generations from the time avodah zara was introduced, until Avraham Avinu came along.
Rambam continues: Even as a very young child, Avraham wondered constantly, day and night. How was it possible for the universe to exist without someone controlling it? He had no teacher and was alone in his thinking. His parents worshipped idols and tried to teach him to do the same. But even as he bowed alongside them, he realized that it was not the truth.
Chazal tell us that Avraham Avinu recognized his Creator at age three. The Rambam, however, says he recognized Him at age 40. Rav Yosef Karo explains that there is no contradiction. The process began at three, and he came to full emunah by 40. By the time Avraham reached his conclusion, he possessed full emunah that his descendants would later have revealed to them at Har Sinai.
There is much to learn from this story. Rav Chatzkel Levenstein is quoted as saying that when one finishes learning the aleph-beis, he need never return and learn it again. But with emunah, one never takes his eyes off the basics: the Creator, Yetzias Mitzrayim, Maamad Har Sinai.
Going through the motions is not enough. The first paragraph in Shulchan Aruch is “I place Hashem before me always.” When we daven, we must remember that there is Someone listening, that everything in the world is under His control, besides for our free will.
The distractions of life may pull us away, but we can, and must, always think about our Creator. This is our heritage from Avraham Avinu.
