Vaetchanan: The Foundation of Jewish Faith

 If you don’t have solid beliefs you cannot build a stable life. Beliefs are like the foundation of a building, and they are the foundation to build your life upon. -Alfred A. Montapert

Perhaps the most well known verse to a Jew is the “Shma Yisrael.” A translation of it is as follows:

“Hear Israel, God is our God, God is One.” Deuteronomy 6:4

It is taught to children as soon as they can comprehend words. There is a biblical command to recite the paragraph of the “Shma” every morning and every night. It is the verse that is on the lips of martyrs and those who know they are about to die. It is the very foundation-stone of our faith and belief. Rabbi Hirsch elaborates further:

“It is the last truth that a son of Israel, mired in estrangement from his people, will discard. It is the declaration of the Jewish awareness of God’s unity, and it is logically followed by sentences intended to make the Jew aware of his life’s mission, of the objectives of his education, and of the true purpose of his endeavors, personal and public.”

“These statements encompass the basic principles that should guide his conduct, the axioms that should form the basis for all his thinking and the consecration of his domestic and communal life. They are intended to perform these functions no matter where the Jew may live and breathe, raise his children, carry on his domestic and public life; no matter where he lies down and rises up, readies his hands for action and his mind for thought; no matter where he builds his home and where he sets up his gates. That is why he must repeat all these statements to himself early and later, every day of his life.”

As opposed to a physical foundation which is built once, a spiritual foundation is something that we must review, rebuild and reinforce constantly. It is a critical aspect of our lives that we must strengthen on a daily basis, morning and night. For if our faith weakens, if the foundation of our spiritual lives is unstable, the edifice of our lives begin to crumble.

May we find the capacity and strength to build noble lives. Sometimes it’s as simple as reciting a meaningful “Shma.”

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the more than one thousand souls that ascended the Temple Mount as we commemorated its destruction. You console us.