Blind Faith?

"You just 'gotta have faith!"
Regardless of which religion a person believes in, 'blind faith' when all else fails seems to be an integral facet.
Not so in Judaism.

The Jewish faith bases itself on the open revelation of G-d to approximately 3,000,000 men, women and children, roughly 3,200 yrs. ago at Mt. Sinai in the Egyptian desert. "But that seems like ages ago!?"
Well, not really. For argument's sake, let's say a "generation" - the time it takes for a parent to transmit something to their child - is 40 yrs. That means there have been roughly 80 generations of transmittance of the Torah & Revelation of G-d at Sinai. A transmittance of revelation so strong, so potent, that Jewish People have given up their lives by the millions in order to stay faithful to. Besides for the holocaust, every threat of death to a Jew in history has had a 2nd option: just kiss the cross, and you and your children will go home alive and honored.
Yet Jews who love life, who follow a Torah which bends backwards & forwards to give leeway to transgress it in order to stay alive, chose instead to be tortured to death. But why? Because the transmission was so strong. Wherever we were dispersed, Africa, Europe, we kept our laws, our Passover seder, our Torah scrolls - without variation.

Interestingly enough, regarding G-d's Revelation to the Jewish People, the Torah says: "See if anything as great as this has ever happened, or Hanishmah Ka'mohu!" Which loosely translated means: "Has there ever been claimed such a thing!?" The Torah (correctly) states that never has there been, or will there ever be, a claim of a revelation of G-d in such a way! Forget claiming an entire nation witnessed revelation, how about more than one or two people!? Paul in Christianity. Mohammed in Islam. Siddharta in Buddhism. Joseph Smith in Mormonism.
It's not easy to get lots of people to make something up & stick by it; let alone die for it. "All of us saw G-d and He told us to keep kosher, marital laws, Shabbat!" "Um, no he didn't." At no time in our history (save 200 yrs. ago with the start of Reform) was a voice of dissent recorded amongst the Jewish People as to what happened at Sinai. And all of the other major revelations believe in the truth of Torah as a fundamental tenet of their faith.

Which brings us to Emunah - the Hebrew word for "faith." Judaism doesn't believe in simply having blind faith that Torah is true and G-d Exists. We're supposed to know it to be so. That's why G-d Felt Compelled to Reveal Himself to us! Otherwise the free-thinking Jews wouldn't fully believe in Him! So what room or need is there left to have "faith"? Let's examine the word "Emunah." A 'ne'eman' in Hebrew means a loyal/faithful person. When Moses had to keep his arms up during a crucial war, the Torah says: "Vayehi Yadav Be'emunah - So he was with his hands up faithfully until sunset." 'Emunah' doesn't mean blind faith. In Judaism, Emunah is a loyalty to what one knows to be true. Being faithful to it. Even unto threat of death. Challenges and ordeals throughout history, including the present day darkness of exile.

As we approach the joyous holiday of Purim, we remember the faithfulness our people had to G-d even while under the threat of death for an entire year. And not by accident were we saved yet again by a Jewish woman: Esther. On Chanukah, it was Yehudit. In Egypt, it was the righteous women who never lost faith. Kabbalah explains that man is identified with truth, while woman is identified with loyalty and faithfulness - Emunah. Never wavering from what she knows to be true. That is why she gives birth - never wavering from the tough process that will ultimately lead to the birth of a new soul (birth pains are likened to exile, while birth is likened to the ultimate redemption).

Judaism demands rigorous searching and questioning, to reach truth. Q's are welcome. But once reached, then emunah becomes integral. A faithfulness to what we know to be true, even when the darkness of exile confuses us and the world seems to deny it all.

Have a Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

{To hear the class that this email was based on, go to: http://www.simpletoremember.com/media/a/faith/}