Dvar Torah for Parshat Bo

When Rebbe Nachman told Reb Noson that Reb Noson should begin writing Torah essays, he instructed him, "When you come to the topic of faith, set your pen free and write as much as you can."
(Oral Tradition)

Taking this as a license, this week's dvar Torah and next week's, will, G' willing, be longer than usual.

Ramban (Nachmanides, Rabbi Moshe son of Nachman 1194-1270) at the end of the parshah (Exodus 13:16) writes:

"Since the introduction of idolatry into the world, in the era of Enosh [grandson of Adam], faith has been weakened. Some people think that God does not exist. Others think that He is not all-knowing. Some are of the opinion that He is all-knowing, but does not care what people do, i.e., there is no reward or punishment. When God performs a super-natural act all these opinions evaporate because such an act shows: [a]there is One who is the origin of Creation [b] Who knows what is taking place and [c] cares. If this act had also been predicted by a prophet, its occurrence is proof that God speaks to His prophets....

"Owing to the fact that God does not perform a miracle in every generation, or in view of every villain and atheist, He has commanded us to make [tefillin] as a reminder [of these Redemption miracles], and to tell our children about them, and their children to their children till the final generation...Tefillin, mezuzah, reciting Shema every morning and evening, building a sukah every year, and a host of other mitzvot are all meant to silence the atheists....

"The purpose of all the mitzvot is to strengthen our belief in our God and that we should thank Him for creating us, this being the purpose of Creation...God wants from the lower worlds nothing but that man should be conscious of Him and thank Him for Creation. The purpose of raising our voice in prayer, synagogues and praying as a community, is that people should have a place to gather to offer thanks to God and publicize that He is the Creator....

"From the spectacular and well-known miracles one comes to acknowledge the hidden ones which are the foundation of the entire Torah. One has no share in the Torah of Moshe [Moses] unless he believes that every facet and event of our life, whether communal or private, is totally miraculous, not at all "natural" or "the way of the world" [emphasis added].

In Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom Rebbe Nachman speaks often of faith. Here are some selections. They can be viewed in full here.

[a]
We have received the Torah through Moses our teacher, and it has been transmitted to us by the awesome tzaddikim of each generation. There is no question as to their integrity and they can be relied upon without question. All one must do is follow in their footsteps, believing in God with innocent simplicity, and keeping commandments of the Torah as taught by our holy ancestors....

When a person is sincere and unquestioning, then he can be worthy that God illuminate him with the aspect of Desire, which is even higher than Wisdom....

There are sins that lead a person to skepticism. This can also result from the fact that a person was not conceived in holiness, especially if he himself is guilty of similar sins. All these things are detrimental to one's faith.

One should therefore be very much ashamed of the fact that he has doubts regarding belief. Such questions are not a sign of intelligence, but 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. Such doubts should therefore cause one to have great shame and heartbreak. (#32)

[b]
Another time when the Rebbe was discussing faith he remarked, "The world considers faith a minor thing. But I consider it an extremely great thing." (#33)

[c]
The Rebbe said, "Great atheism is coming to the world."..."I am revealing this for the sake of the few faithful who will remain strong in their belief. They will certainly have great conflicts. But when they see that this has already been predicted, it will give them additional strength and encouragement." (#35)

[d]
It is written (Psalms 73:9), "They have set their mouth against heaven and their tongue walks about the earth."

Now that atheism has spread, the thong is untied for the people to speak against every tzaddik and God-fearing man.
Those who do this, unleash their tongue against the world as if they think nothing at all of it. Actually, their disbelief is directed against God Himself. But they are ashamed to speak out against God, and therefore they turn their disbelief against the world.

This is the meaning of the verse. "They have set their mouths against heaven" for they are actually speaking against God. But they act as if "their tongue walks about the earth."
They are ashamed to speak out against God himself, so "their tongue walks about the earth" they unleash their tongue against God's followers in the world. But the truth is that "they have set their mouths against heaven." (#38)

[e]
If you have faith, you are truly alive.

When you have faith, every day is filled with good. When things go well, it is certainly good. But when you have troubles, it is also good. For you know that God will eventually have mercy, and the end will be good. Everything must be good, for it all comes from God.

The man without faith is not really alive. Evil befalls him and he loses all hope. There is nothing to cheer or comfort him, for he has no faith. He is outside of God's providence, and has no good at all. But if you have faith, your life will be good and pleasant. (#53)

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!