In Parashat Hazinu Hashem says,
אַסְתִּ֤ירָה פָנַי֙ מֵהֶ֔ם
“I will hide My face from them (which is what we call Hester Panim, when we don't see God in our lives)
אֶרְאֶ֖ה מָ֣ה אַחֲרִיתָ֑ם
I'm going to see what their end will be.
כִּ֣י ד֤וֹר תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ הֵ֔מָּה
For they are a generation that flip flops
That means they're not steady
בָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם
Sons that don't have Emun.
What does Emun mean?
The Gaon of Vilna says it means to be solid, steadfast, lasting. There's a pasuk that says, “yated bmkom Neman/I'll put them as a peg in steadfast way.” And there's a newspaper called the Yated Neman, which literally means a peg that is steadfast.
So it's a generation that's תהפכת. They're flip-flopping. They're not like steadfast like a peg.
The Gaon of Vilna explains that the Torah was not steadfast. Even though they had Torah, there was a lack of bitachon. Bitachon is the all-inclusive trait that you need in order to be steadfast and connected. He quotes the famous pasuk of Habakuk, Sadik b’unato yihyeh/The sadik lives with his Emuna, which is the pillar of our entire religion. So, Hashem’s claim against them was their lack of Emuna and Bitachon.
Exactly which Emuna are we talking about?
The Ritva, in Gemara Masechet Makot, brings down this rule that Emuna is the pillar of everything, and explains that it means accepting God as the One in control, it’s Emunah in His Oneness, and the yoke of His kingdom, which he says is basically Keriat Shema, which includes the entire Torah. So the pasuk of Shema Yisrael is really the Emuna that we're talking about. That’s the Emunah that we're demanding from every Jew.
I saw, this year for the first time, an explanation of how the pasuk Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad, has all the fundamentals of our Emunah.
There's a sefer called Margaliot Tovot, which means Precious Pearls, which is a shortened version of the Hovot Halevavot, written a few hundred years ago by Rabbi Yaakov, the son of Yitzhak Sahalon, who lived in Rome about 400 years ago.
In this shortened version, he says about Shema Yisrael, Hashem
What does Hashem tell us?
1-Hashem tells us the fundamental that God exists, principle number one, which we explained is Malchuyot.
2-Elokenu is our God, and that refers Torah Min hashamayim/from the heavens. We received the Torah from the heavens and He became our God, as Hashem said, Anochi Hashem Elokecha.
That's principle number two.
3- Hashem Echad means there's only one force. There isn’t one force charge of the good and another force in charge of the bad. There's a God that's in charge of good and bad, which reminds us of reward and punishment and that God is involved in our lives.
So those are the three principles of Emunah, the three important principles that we must live by. And that's what it means Sadik B’Emunato Yihyeh.
We live all year long with Malchuyot, Zichronot and Shofarot.
We discuss them on Rosh Hashanah, but it’s not just a one-day event. We have to live our lives with those three principles.
And why does it say Sadik B’Emunato Yihyeh?
The Ritva continues and says, it says about the Mitzvot in general, that man does Mitzvot and he lives in them. All 613 mitzvot are where we're living. We're living in the world of mitzvot. But we have an all-inclusive mitzvah that if you have it, you have everything. And that's Emunah.
It's important to realize that every Shabbat has these three important principles.
We've said this in the past, but it's Shabbat Shuva, so let’s have this in mind and fulfill it and have the proper kavanah:
The poskim bring down that at the Friday night meal, you should talk about creation. That's why we say, Zecher L’maaseh Bereshit. God created the world.
In our Shabbat morning prayers, and at the Shabbat day meal, we talk about Torah coming from the heavens.
In our Minha prayers we talk about the future, which refers to reward and punishment.
Finally, during Seudat Shelishi, we should talk about that concept of God's Hashgacha watching over our lives.
So Emunah is the all-inclusive, and we have to do Teshuva to those principles of Emunah. And again, Emunah means not just in your head, but being steadfast, rock solid in your Emunah.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we will keep this going all year long, constantly being mithazek through working on, talking about, and living these principles of Emunah.
Have a Shabbat Shalom.
