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| The Revelation at Sinai (Gateways) |
It is symbolized on this day by the reading of the Aseres HaDibros – the Ten Commandments. The first of those commandments is the requirement to believe in the existence of God. This is essential to every other Mitzvah in the Torah.
But it isn’t only God in which we are required to believe. We are required to believe in His faithful servant, Moshe, too. VAnd the very first Mitzvah of the Ten commandments is included in the requirement.Gam B’Cha Yaminu, L’Olam – And they will believe in you (Moshe) forever (Shemos 19:9).
Moshe’s prophetic powers spoken of here seem more profound than when it is mentioned in Oz Yosher- sung at Kriyas Yam Suf – the splitting of the Red Sea: VaYaminu BaShem UveMoshe Avdo - and they believed in God and in Moshe His servant. The question is what makes the faith of receiving the Torah at Sinai greater than the faith expressed at crossing the Red Sea?
R’ Moshe Feinstein proposes an answer. At Sinai they were commanded to believe. At Kriyas Yam Suf it was just a rational expression of belief based on what they had just experienced. God is thereby telling us that belief in Him and observance of Mitzvos is not based on logic or rational thought. It is based simply on God’s demands.
Belief is required not only for us in performance of the 613 Mitzvos, observance of the Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach – the seven laws required by all the rest of mankind is also predicated in the belief in God and that Moshe was given the Torah was by Him at Sinai.. Without that - belief and observance has no meaning. Not our 613 Mitzvos. And not the rest of the world’s 7 Mitzvos.
It was this point that led the quintessential rationalist, the Rambam, to reject great philosophers like Aristotle and Plato whom he otherwise praises. Even thought they were some of the greatest minds of their time, they lacked faith in the Torah of Moshe.
Ultimately that means that our belief in the Torah and performance of any Mitzvah for rational or utilitarian reasons is not what God wants of us. His requirement to do so is what matters. And the very first Mitzvah of the Ten commandments is included in the requirement.
When it comes to belief in the existence of God, rationality may be used as an aid to strengthen that belief. Which is the reason many Talmidei Chachamim - both past and present - delve into in philosophical discourse. (Surely that is at least in part, the reason Rav Soloveitchik studied philosophical thought and became a world renowned expert in it. Which I believe was evident in his great philosophical work, Halakhic Man.)
R’ Moshe Feinstein therefore concludes that at the end of the day, although the pursuit of logic and rational thought are a worthy endeavor, that is not enough. We start with God’s requirement to believe in Him - as directed in the first of the Ten Commandments given to us by Moshe at Sinai. And from there, any investigation into the matter should be for purposes of strengthening those beliefs only
Good Yom Tov (Chag Sameach) to all
*Adapted from Darash Moshe