Lessons in the Service of Hashem from the Maamar

Lessons in the service of Hashem from the Maamar:

1. There are two mitzvos: One to “Know Hashem” and another to “Believe in Hashem.” The mitzvah of “knowing” Hashem means to realize that Hashem is the Creator of the world and is giving it life and guiding everything that happens. It is not sufficient to learn about this topic. Rather, we must reflect on these concepts sincerely and frequently, so that they will permeate our way of thinking and our feelings.
2. The mitzvah of “belief” in Hashem is to contemplate the fact that Hashem’s true existence is way beyond anything we can understand directly from His creation of the world. Hashem didn’t change at all as a result of creation, and His Unity also didn't change. Just as before the world was created, He was alone and the only existence, so too now, He is exactly the same and is the only existence, with no change, whatsoever. His reality encompasses all worlds equally, since He is not limited to any definition or level. Hashem’s truth is something that we can only believe is true, even though we cannot understand how it is true.
3. The power that we receive to connect to Hashem’s ultimate truth is through the Torah and Mitzvos that we perform, since they derive from Hashem’s Essence. This goes together with prayer, when we awaken a yearning to experience this ultimate Truth of Hashem in our lives.
4. However, in addition to our good deeds, learning, and prayer, we also need to remove any blockages that could prevent us from experiencing this belief in the ultimate Truth of Hashem. The main blockage comes from false beliefs, believing bad things about other people. Only by training ourselves to think good things about other people and believe good things about others, are we able to use our power of belief to connect to Hashem in an unlimited manner.