{"id":32564,"date":"2013-06-11T19:43:44","date_gmt":"2013-06-11T19:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=32564"},"modified":"2013-06-11T19:43:44","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T19:43:44","slug":"you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/","title":{"rendered":"You Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on<\/i>\u00a0jewinthecity.com<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Faith\"<\/a>The other day,\u00a0upon returning from\u00a0a trip to the supermarket, groceries in tow (or\u00a0rather in hand), I realized that I had left my keys at home. But just then, wouldn\u2019t you know, one of\u00a0our neighbors\u00a0walked through the lobby at the exact right\u00a0moment to catch my flailing arms in his peripheral vision. \u201cHashgacha prutis\u201d (Divine Providence) I thought to myself as he opened the door. But then I\u00a0laughed to myself because, you see, if my neighbor hadn\u2019t been there, and I\u00a0was locked outside, stuck for hours, rained on, poured on, I still\u00a0would have said that it was \u201chashgacha prutis\u201d!<\/p>\n

I know I have it both ways, and I\u2019m OK with that. I believe that\u00a0all\u00a0aspects of life –\u00a0no matter how challenging or\u00a0incomprehensible\u00a0they are –\u00a0come from a Higher place. But can she prove it, you may wonder? No, she can\u2019t, and she\u2019s OK with that too. A rabbi of mine once said that in Judaism, we don\u2019t believe in \u201cblind faith.\u201d For us, emunah is better translated as conviction. It\u2019s related to the word \u201cemet,\u201d which means \u201ctruth,\u201d but there\u2019s a slight difference between the two words.<\/p>\n

Both begin with the letter \u201caleph,\u201d which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. \u201cMem,\u201d\u00a0the middle letter of the alphabet, comes next in both words. But \u201cemet\u201d ends with\u00a0the final\u00a0letter\u00a0of the alphabet\u00a0(\u201ctaf\u201c) because when we have truth we know the beginning,\u00a0middle, and end. Emunah, on the other hand, in its root\u00a0form \u201camen\u201d\u00a0ends with\u00a0another middle letter,\u201cnun\u201d\u00a0(in the 26 character Hebrew alphabet there are two of them). That\u2019s because\u00a0when it comes to emunah we\u00a0get\u00a0most of the story, but not all of it.\u00a0Emunah gives us a foundation to believe, but the last step we\u00a0must choose to make (or not make).<\/p>\n

If reason and discernment are necessary in guiding our emunah, what pushes me towards belief (and trust) in God? When I look at the complexity of nature and cosmology; when I see certain events in my life fitting together in a perfect harmony; when I witness an exceptional act of kindness by another human being, I detect Godliness in it all.<\/p>\n

What compels me to\u00a0believe\u00a0in the Divinity of\u00a0the Torah? When I look at the illogical history of the Jewish people and\u00a0the odds we\u2019ve overcome, including the modern day wars in Israel; when I see that no other religion claims to have experienced national revelation but us; when I delve into the Torah and find myself moved by its complexity\u00a0and depth\u00a0like nothing else I\u2019ve ever studied; when I see how observant Jews who truly embody Torah values are\u00a0like no other people I\u2019ve ever met, something tells me that this book we have is like no other.<\/p>\n

But since\u00a0I won\u2019t know if\u00a0these convictions\u00a0are true until the day\u00a0I die,\u00a0I have a decision to make in the meantime,\u00a0and the Torah\u00a0has a pretty strong\u00a0view about what I should do. At the end of the Torah, in sefer Devarim (the book of Deuteronomy)\u00a0God tells the\u00a0Jewish people: \u201cI have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse \u2013 choose life, so that you will live.\u201d Although the simple understanding of this verse is that \u201clife\u201d and \u201cblessing\u201d are Torah and\u00a0mitzvos, while death and curse\u00a0are a result of\u00a0straying from them,\u00a0the only way a person can be guaranteed\u00a0life and blessing\u00a0is through emunah.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because according to Jewish thought, blessing is much more\u00a0a state of mind than it is\u00a0a state of being.\u00a0In Pirkei Avos (Ethics of the Fathers), when our sages ask \u201cwho is rich?\u201d \u2013 i.e. \u201cwho\u2019s the one who\u2019s been\u00a0blessed with wealth?\u201d –\u00a0the answer is not the guy who won the lottery or\u00a0landed\u00a0the great paying job. It\u2019s the guy who\u2019s happy with his portion,\u00a0no matter how much, or how little of it, there is. Why is he happy with his portion? Because he has trust and emunah that he\u2019s been given exactly what he needs, even if it isn\u2019t necessarily\u00a0what he wants. So\u00a0the Torah\u00a0is telling us to choose emunah if we want blessing and (eternal) life, but since we said earlier that\u00a0emunah itself is ultimately a choice,\u00a0what\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0essentially\u00a0being told is to \u201cchoose positivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think\u00a0that people are largely broken up into two groups: those who are positive and\u00a0hope that\u00a0the craziness in the world ultimately makes sense\u00a0as Something Greater\u00a0has a plan and a purpose for it all, and those who are cynical\u00a0and believe that the universe is nothing more than a bunch of random, haphazard (and often cruel) events leading up to nothing but death with complete finality. (Now just to clarify, I\u2019m not talking simply about\u00a0those who\u00a0believe in God verses\u00a0those who deny God\u2019s existence, since not all people who believe in God trust in God. Likewise, there are many people who call themselves \u201cathiests,\u201d yet they\u00a0detect a harmony of the Universe. I would argue that the \u201cathiests\u201d who believe in a Unified Force have a more\u00a0in common with the Jewish concept of\u00a0God than the \u201cbelievers\u201d who view God as a Being who\u2019s\u00a0disconnected\u00a0from the world.)<\/p>\n

What differentiates the one who hopes from the one who\u00a0scoffs? Life experience, in large part.\u00a0The more a child is raised with faith and trust in God, the\u00a0more he\u2019s made to\u00a0feel secure and nurtured by his parents, the\u00a0more likely he\u2019ll grow up with a positive view of the world and a trust in a God who\u2019s running it. But even upbringings filled with hope and trust can be trampled on by an unfortunate turn of events \u2013 a\u00a0tragedy, a loss, some sort of abuse. If the abuse comes from someone (or some institution) that claims to be religious, the effects can be especially devastating for one\u2019s emunah. (I can\u2019t tell you how saddened I am by the number of negative blogs that are out there written by\u00a0formerly Orthodox\u00a0Jews who were in some way mistreated, pressured, or flat out abused by a \u201creligious\u201d person or institution.)<\/p>\n

So what if you weren\u2019t raised with positivity and trust in God, or worse, once\u00a0had\u00a0emunah that was violated by a bad person(s)? Well,\u00a0there is always an opportunity to\u00a0choose emunah\u00a0and\u00a0strive towards achieving it despite\u00a0the setbacks you\u2019ve faced. Emunah is not something that can (or should) be faked, but it is something that can be honed.<\/p>\n

The first step\u00a0towards working on emunah is strengthening the rational foundation of your belief. This can be done through Torah study and\u00a0learning about Jewish history and archeology.\u00a0The rational\u00a0component is not enough, though. A choice must also be made\u00a0to reach out to the Almighty through prayer (\u201cHey, God, not sure if You\u2019re out there, but if You are, I\u2019d like to connect with You.\u201d); through\u00a0mitzvah observance\u00a0which, according to Jewish thought, is meant\u00a0to be a vehicle for creating a relationship\u00a0between man and God; and finally, through looking for the Hand of God in\u00a0everyday\u00a0life.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0cynic will\u00a0think,\u00a0\u201dhow foolish is\u00a0the pious man\u00a0who\u00a0believes in\u00a0and serves a God\u00a0he cannot\u00a0prove exists,\u201d\u00a0but I don\u2019t think\u00a0it\u2019s foolish at all.\u00a0Neither of us will know the final outcome in our lifetimes, but I\u2019d rather\u00a0spend mine choosing\u00a0positivity,\u00a0hope, and purposefulness over\u00a0despair, negativity, and randomness.<\/p>\n

What\u00a0will you choose?<\/p>\n

Allison Josephs<\/b>\u00a0is the founder and director of\u00a0JewintheCity.com<\/a>\u00a0which breaks down stereotypes about Orthodox Jews and offers and humorous, meaningful look into Orthodox Judaism through the power of new media.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emunah is better translated as conviction. It\u2019s related to the word \u201cemet,\u201d which means \u201ctruth,\u201d but there\u2019s a slight difference between the two words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":790,"featured_media":32566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emunah is better translated as conviction. It\u2019s related to the word \u201cemet,\u201d which means \u201ctruth,\u201d but there\u2019s a slight difference between the two words.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-11T19:43:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"849\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Josephs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Josephs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/\",\"name\":\"You Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-11T19:43:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ae474c177ed214c0efe78e22813f0f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg\",\"width\":849,\"height\":565},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ae474c177ed214c0efe78e22813f0f\",\"name\":\"Allison Josephs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/allison@josephs.me_avatar-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/allison@josephs.me_avatar-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Allison Josephs\"},\"description\":\"Allison Josephs has been involved in the field of Jewish Outreach for over a dozen years, teaching and lecturing, working at Partners in Torah, Sinai Retreats, and NCSY, and is the spiritual mentor to actress Mayim Bialik. She was named one of NJOP's Top Ten Jewish Influencers in 2012. Allison has been interviewed on television and radio, including programs such as \\\"What Not To Wear\\\" and NPR; her articles have appeared in numerous publications including the newly released anthology Like Water on a Rock, The Washington Times, The Jewish Press, and World Jewish Digest. She has also written articles and directed and produced videos for Aish.com and lectures around the country and on WebYeshiva. She received her Bachelor in Arts from Columbia University in Philosophy and lives with her husband and four children minutes from the George Washington Bridge. Allison's site is Allison Josephs is the founder and director of JewintheCity.com .\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/allisonjosephs-me\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap - OU Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap - OU Life","og_description":"Emunah is better translated as conviction. It\u2019s related to the word \u201cemet,\u201d which means \u201ctruth,\u201d but there\u2019s a slight difference between the two words.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2013-06-11T19:43:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":849,"height":565,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allison Josephs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Josephs","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/","name":"You Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith: Why Emunah Is A Choice And Not A Leap - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg","datePublished":"2013-06-11T19:43:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ae474c177ed214c0efe78e22813f0f"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/you-gotta-have-faith-faith-faith-why-emunah-is-a-choice-and-not-a-leap\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Faith.jpg","width":849,"height":565},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ae474c177ed214c0efe78e22813f0f","name":"Allison Josephs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/allison@josephs.me_avatar-96x96.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/allison@josephs.me_avatar-96x96.png","caption":"Allison Josephs"},"description":"Allison Josephs has been involved in the field of Jewish Outreach for over a dozen years, teaching and lecturing, working at Partners in Torah, Sinai Retreats, and NCSY, and is the spiritual mentor to actress Mayim Bialik. She was named one of NJOP's Top Ten Jewish Influencers in 2012. Allison has been interviewed on television and radio, including programs such as \"What Not To Wear\" and NPR; her articles have appeared in numerous publications including the newly released anthology Like Water on a Rock, The Washington Times, The Jewish Press, and World Jewish Digest. She has also written articles and directed and produced videos for Aish.com and lectures around the country and on WebYeshiva. She received her Bachelor in Arts from Columbia University in Philosophy and lives with her husband and four children minutes from the George Washington Bridge. Allison's site is Allison Josephs is the founder and director of JewintheCity.com .","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/allisonjosephs-me\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/790"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}