אות - לב

Strengthen yourself in faith, completely avoiding all speculation. Do not look into philosophy, but believe in God with innocent faith. 43 This was spoken on Shabbat Chanukah 5570/1809, soon after “ His Wisdom ” #17 ( Parparaot LeChokhmah 7:7; Tzaddik #185. See “ His Wisdom ” #103, #126, #219.

It may seem that the average person is very far from philosophical involvement, but they do indeed embrace it. Everybody philosophizes. Even young children often have confusing theories.

You must take care to remove all speculation from your heart. Cast it away and do not think about it at all. All you need is a pure faith in God and in the true tzaddikim.

We have received the Torah through Moses our teacher, and it has been transmitted to us by the great awesome tzaddikim of each generation. They can be relied upon without question. All one must do is follow in their footsteps, believing in God with innocent simplicity and keeping His Torah and commandments as taught by our holy ancestors.

When a person goes with simple faith and without speculation, he can be worthy that God will help him in reaching the level of Desire, which is even higher than Wisdom. 44 The Kabbalists speak of Desire as an aspect of Keter, the Crown of creation (see Sha'arey Orah #10; Pardes Rimonim 23:20). This is above the sefirah of Chokhmah (Wisdom).

Whilst the attribute of Wisdom is actually higher than Faith, 45 The highest aspect of faith is related to Binah (Understanding), the sefirah below Chokhmah ( Tikkuney Zohar , introduction, 5a, on Isaiah 33:6). nevertheless, we must avoid the wisdom of speculation and rely on faith alone, because faith has great power. When one follows its path, one can achieve Desire, a level even higher than Wisdom. When one is worthy of Desire, he feels a great longing and yearning toward God. This feeling becomes so intense that he does not know what to do. And he cries out ….

But there is a philosopher in every man’s heart. He is the Evil One, who raises questions in our heart. We must humble him and eject him, strengthening ourselves in faith and emptying the heart of all questions.

There are sins that infuse a person with skepticism. This can also result from a person not having been conceived in holiness, especially if he himself is guilty of similar sins. All these are detrimental to one’s faith.

Therefore, a person should be greatly ashamed of the fact that he has doubts regarding belief. Such questions are an indication that he was conceived in an unholy state or that he himself is guilty of such sins. It is these things that cause one to doubt the essence of our faith. “God’s glory fills all the earth” (Numbers 14:21) , for, “The whole earth is filled with His glory” (Isaiah 6:3) . A person must realize this, and remember that his doubts are divorcing him from the living God and uprooting him from the Life of all life.

We need not describe the great shame a person should have because of such doubts. But with heartbreak and shame, he can expel and destroy all these questions.

Faith is a very strong thing, and it can greatly fortify your life.

If you have faith, then you have a source of comfort and inspiration even when troubles strike (see “ His Wisdom ” #53) . You realize that all troubles are ultimately for your good and are an atonement for your sins. You believe that God will be good to you in the end, both in this world and the next.

The faithless skeptic, on the other hand, has nowhere to turn when troubles strike. He is utterly alone, with nothing to enliven or comfort him.

It is impossible to put everything into writing, but an intelligent person should be able to build upon this himself (cf. Sanhedrin 93b; Chagigah 14a) .

The main thing is innocent faith. With it, one can be strong both in this world and the next. Happy is he who has such faith, for he shall never be moved (Psalms 112:6) .

There are souls conceived in absolute holiness. When a person with such a soul comes down to this world and is not subsequently tainted with sin, he does not have doubts, Even if others express their skepticism in such a person’s presence, his mind is not disturbed. Like a eunuch who is not aroused by lewd conversation, he i remains totally oblivious. His ears are deaf to all their speculation and confusion.

In truth, the average person’s questions are mere foolishness. Upon close examination, their questions turn out to be not questions at all. Many people are disturbed by questions for years, not realizing that their questions really contain the answers. Only their lack of intelligence makes them seem like questions in the first place.

They have questions like those one might ask a child: “If we have a broken window, why replace it with a pane from the next window if a bird can then fly through the remaining empty frame?”

Such a question actually includes its own answer. But a child does not realize this and considers it a very difficult question. He will ponder it and not know what to reply. But the question itself is really very foolish. The question about the bird is really the answer to the first foolish question. The reason why we do not use the adjacent pane is precisely because it leaves a space through which a bird can fly.

A young child does not have enough intelligence to realize that the answer is included in such a question. Precisely for this reason, the question seems very difficult to him.

The same is true of many people. A foolish question enters their mind and they have no idea that this question actually includes its own answer. It seems like a difficult question, but this is due to their lack of intelligence. Understand this well.

Consider all this and be strong in faith. Flee from this foolishness and confusion, and cast all questions and doubts from your mind.