In the Sefer about the life of Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky (page 617) there is beautiful thought on how to get to Emunah. He brings down from the Rambam that there are two different tracks to recognize in God.
One of them is, in the words of the Rambam (in the laws of Yesodei HaTorah chapter 2), “When a person delves into the handiwork of God and His wondrous creations, immediately he loves Him and wants to know Him.”
When you see a beautiful ocean, or the Alps, or the Grand Canyon, you are just in awe of God’s creation. That is one approach to recognizing God.
The second approach is found in the Rambam’s Sefer Mitzvot (mitzva ג) where it says that every day in Keriat Shema we say that, “VeHayu Hadevarim HaEleh/ These words (i.e. words of Torah)… should be on your heart,” and that brings you to love God,
Torah is God’s will, and by learning the Torah, you are connecting to God and recognizing God.
Those are the two approaches, and they are both important, but which of the two is the more guaranteed approach?
To answer, Rav Abramsky quotes from chapter 93 of Tehilim:
ה׳ מָלָךְ֮ גֵּא֢וּת לָ֫בֵ֥שׁ
God is king, He is the One that wears arrogance.
In other words, He is the only One that can be proud of anything, because He created everything. Human beings cannot be proud of anything because there is nothing that we really do. We might choose to do things, but ultimately God makes everything happen.
This perek was written by Adam HaRishon on Day 1, when he opened his eyes. It was a Friday, and that’s why we say, on Fridays, that God became King when He created the world.
In the last two pesukim it says,
מִקֹּל֨וֹת ׀ מַ֤יִם רַבִּ֗ים אַדִּירִ֣ים מִשְׁבְּרֵי־יָ֑ם
With the sound of great waters, that come crashing down…
What is the power of these waves, or of nature?
אַדִּ֖יר בַּמָּר֣וֹם ה׳
God is powerful, high up.
That is the message of creation: God is powerful. God is high and lofty.
The next pasuk says,
עֵֽדֹתֶ֨יךָ ׀ נֶאֶמְנ֬וּ מְאֹ֗ד לְבֵיתְךָ֥
Your testimonies (which refers to the Torah) are very loyal,
They will bring us to God’s house.
This means that the more guaranteed way to Emunah comes from learning Torah.
That is why, as he says, quite often we see secular people who have seen miracles, and scientists know more about creation than most of us, and yet they don’t become believers. Because seeing wonders is not the guaranteed approach. It’s a good approach, but you can look at the oceans and valleys and still not be turned around.
Torah has the power to bring Emunah.
The Ramban, in his derasha called Torat Hashem’s Temima brings a similar point from a mizmor that we say on Shabbat.
The heavens talk about God’s honor, and it goes through all the different points…
But it ends with,
תּ֘וֹרַ֤ת ה׳ תְּ֭מִימָה
מַחְכִּ֥ימַת פֶּֽתִי
The Torah is perfect…. It makes the fools smart
Which means it removes all doubts. The person that might not see God in the sun and the moon will see God in the Torah.
Torat Hashem is Temimah
If a person just talks about Emunah and Bitachon, but he doesn’t really have the light of Torah in him, the Emunah is lacking. You need the light of Torah to open your eyes to see things. Torah is called Torah Or/Light.
You can look at the wonders and not see Hashem, because you’re not looking for it. Torah is where God revealed Himself.
As we have mentioned in the past, there are 10 statements of creation. It says the word Vayomer ten times. And there are 10 makot/plagues. When God created the world, He was not revealed in creation. He was hidden. It was only after the 10 plagues of Yetziat Mitzrayim that God become revealed, and then it turned into the 10 Commandments, where God says Anochi Hashem, I am Hashem your God.
It is only through the Torah that we really get to Emunah. That is why it’s important, not just to talk about Emunah and Bitachon, but to have a commitment to learn Torah, because that is necessary to enlighten our eyes to see Hashem.
Have a wonderful day.