The highest level of emunah is emunah peshutah, to believe in Hashem with simplicity.
The Baal Shem Tov zt'l said that even after attaining all his lofty madreigos, he believes in Hashem as a young child believes in Hashem. When you tell children ideas of emunah (such as that Hashem sees us, guides us with hashgachah pratis, gave us the Torah, rewards those who keep the Torah, etc.), they swallow up these truths without questioning them. They don't debate, philosophize, or doubt. It is as true to them as everything else they know.
The Yeitev Lev zt'l says that this is the reason Yosef is called in Tanach ילד and נער, as it states (Bereishis 37:2), זלפה בני את נער והוא, and it states (Bereishis 37:30), איננו והילד. The words ילד and נער represent a youth, and this describes Yosef HaTzaddik's perfection in emunah. He believed in Hashem with the certainty of a child.
ילד is roshei teivos for דבר לכל יאמין, someone who believes everything. Whatever you tell a child, he believes it as fact and truth. It is therefore beneficial to speak to children about emunah.
We say in the tefillah of Rosh Hashanah (Yirmiyahu 31:19), שעשועים ילד אם אפרים לי יקיר הבן "Efraim my favorite son, or a delightful child..." This pasuk tells of Hashem's special love for Bnei Yisrael. The word ילד is used, which represents דבר לכל יאמין (someone who believes everything) because this is the trait that makes us beloved to Hashem.
The mazal of chodesh Shevat is דלי (bucket) which is roshei teivos for דבר לכל יאמין. This is an ideal month to acquire this perfection and purity in emunah peshutah.
The Ropshitzer Rav zt'l said that emunah peshutah is the highest form of emunah because when the emunah is based on the intellect, the mind is limited, so automatically, his emunah will be limited. But when one believes in Hashem with simplicity, this belief isn't dependent on any rationale; it isn't contingent on the mind's capacity and, therefore, is the highest form of emunah.
It states (18:9), 'ה עשה אשר הטובה כל על יתרו ויחד לישראל, "Yisro rejoiced over all the good Hashem did for Yisrael." Rashi writes two translations for the word ויחד: ,חדודין חדודין בשרו נעשה ומדרשו פשוטו זהו יתרו וישמח מצרים אבוד על מיצר. "Yisro was happy. This is the simple translation. The drash is that his flesh became prickly because the deaths of the Mitzrim pained him."
I heard from a talmid chacham that Rashi hints that emunah peshutah results in happiness. Rashi writes, פשוטו זהו יתרו וישמח, when one follows פשוטו, the simple approach of emunah, it results in happiness. ומדרשו, but when one darshens, and asks questions on Hashem's hasghachah, his flesh becomes prickly, and he hurts all over. He is left with questions about Hashem that disturb him.
The Chovos HaLevavos tells a mashal of blind people who were in a home, and kept bumping into the furniture. They complained, "Why did the baal habayis put us here? This place is a mess. He purposely placed obstacles in our path to harm us." Sometime later, after a great doctor healed them, they were able to see. Now, they recognized that everything in the room, which they had thought was harmful and unfriendly, was there for their benefit. This is what occurs when we acquire the bright light of emunah. We then recognize that everything happens b'hashgachah pratis, for our benefit.
7. Years ago, in Communist Russia, a Jewish couple was blessed with a child. The mother wanted her child to have a bris milah, but her husband refused because every Jewish ceremony in those days came with a risk of imprisonment. She knew of a day in the near future that her husband was scheduled to travel, so she wrote a letter to the Ribnitzer Rebbe zt'l (known for his mesirus nefesh to perform bris milah) and requested that he come and circumcise her son. The Rebbe arrived together with his friend, Reb Mendel Futerfass zt'l. It was very risky to perform the mitzvah, but they did the mitzvah with joy and mesirus nefesh. After the milah, the child began to bleed profusely and needed medical care. They couldn't call a doctor because the doctor would report them to the KGB. The Ribnitzer Rebbe went into a side room for a short time, and when he came out, Reb Mendel Futerfass said with relief, “You performed a miracle! The child stopped bleeding! What did you do there?” The Rebbe replied, “I prayed. I said, 'Ribono shel Olam! We came here to do a great mitzvah. Protect us,’ and Hashem heard my tefillos.” When Reb Mendel Futerfass would repeat this story, he would express his admiration of the Ribnitzer Rebbe's emunah peshutah. "I was so afraid, I couldn't think straight, but the Ribnitzer Rebbe knew that the solution was tefillah. With his emunah peshutah, he saved the life of the child and our lives."
8. Rebbe Bunim of Peshischa related the following parable: Three people were locked up in a prison cell that had no windows. It was pitch dark inside, even during the daytime. The guards would bring them food daily, but eating in the dark was hard. To make matters worse, the guards brought them different eating utensils every day, complicating matters even more. Two of the prisoners always managed to figure out how to eat their meals, but the third prisoner wasn't too clever and wasn’t managing. So, one of his cellmates took it upon himself to help him. Every day, during mealtime, this prisoner would describe to his cellmate what was on the plate and how to eat it. The third prisoner never participated in these lessons. Instead, he spent his time drilling a little hole in the wall of the dark prison. One day, the “instructor” confronted the one who drilled, "Why can't you help me out once in a while with teaching our cellmate how to eat? Why does it always have to be me?" "I am helping our cellmate immensely," he replied. "I'm drilling a hole in the wall. When I succeed, there will be light in our cell, and this fellow will understand how to eat on his own." The nimshal is about emunah. When there is emunah, life is bright, and there is happiness. The greatest favor you can do for yourself and others is to introduce the bright light of emunah. When there is emunah, everything becomes clear and joyful.
