Frum Philosophers

Translated by Aaron Yoseph

There are many people who look very frum, but they’re full of philosophy. They think they’re professors, smarter than everyone else, yet they’re full of questions. We all have a little bit of a frum philosopher and professor sitting in our hearts who never shuts up and is always asking questions. He says, “You need to drink a coffee before davening, so that you’ll be ready. There’s no rush. What is this thing, the time for saying Shema, anyway? Where does it says this?” We need to show him the Shulchan Aruch.

The little professor of philosophy in our hearts, if you haven’t guessed by now, is the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination. You tell him that saying Shema on time in the morning is a mitzvah. He argues and says, “What’s a mitzvah? Can you scientifically prove to me that this ‘mitzvah’ actually achieves anything?”

This is the way Hashem made this world – we can’t overcome the obstacles just with intellect and logic. Hashem shows us what a Jew is we need His help. We’re counting down until Kabalat HaTorah. What is the Torah? Just a set of customs? Chas V’shalom, Heaven forbid! The whole universe revolves on the Torah. The whole world rests on a Yid walking around wearing his Tzitzit, happy that he’s doing Hashem’s will. This is Emuna.

Philosophy. Questions about nonsense. You’ve already said the answer, but you can’t see it. Hashem is here. He isn’t far away at all. If we really knew this, we wouldn’t have any tests at all. The Zohar HaKadosh says that if we knew how much Hashem loves us, we would run like a leopard to serve Him. If we saw the punishments for sin, we could never sin. Baruch Hashem, Hashem made us in this way that we don’t see.

Everything is for the sake of Emunah. Friends, parnassah. You’re going to stay in exile too – because you need to build up more and more Emunah. What do I need to do? Come close to the Rebbe and learn Emunah. The Rebbe said that the main thing for him is Emunah. Not that every Torah in Likutei Moharan is about Emunah. If someone says he has Emunah, but it doesn’t bring him to do teshuvah – then  something’s missing in his Emunah.

In Torah 7 of Likutei Moharan, Rebbe Nachman shows us that Emuna must be with truth. There is the absolute truth – that we need to cleave to Hashem all the time – but we need to know how to live with this truth. There is the truth that Hashem is with us all the time, and that it’s impossible to be far from Him. We have mitzvot every day – we have tzitzit. We had what to eat today, and we can thank Hashem for it.

We have holy souls. Even if we’re in darkness, and only see the other nations succeeding, this is what Hashem wants from us – faithfulness. Emuna that it’s all for the good. A person’s depressed, or has something confusing him. Why? He doesn’t yet know that Hashem is good, always, and everything He does is for sure all for the good.

Every morning, a bunch of little professors chase me in my brain, trying to take away my Emuna today. From all sides – right and left, they’ll be a stormy wind trying to mix me up with their philosophic questions.  Prepare yourself – beware! Our task is to strengthen ourselves and prepare to receive the Torah!

Emuna is Tefillah. The Rebbe said that “Emuna, Tefillah, and Eretz Yisroel are all one thing.”

Why is emuna the same as Tefillah, prayer? Because if you need something and don’t pray for it, that shows that you’re lacking Emuna. A person goes out to shul in the morning, and then he went for some hitbodedut. Everything was so good. Then he got home, his wife starts shouting at him, the house is a mess, and he needs to make money. He finds out that he just lost some money, and he’s hungry too – he needs to eat something. Emuna is knowing that all this is also part of serving Hashem. Turn to Hashem for help with it all. Emuna is Tefillah.

The mitzvah of Tefillah is – if you need something, see that Hashem is here, and ask Him for it. If you don’t ask, it’s as if you don’t see that Hashem is here. Emunah is Tefillah. Emunah has to bring us to pray. We need to do things in this world. But we need to know that parnassah comes only from Hashem, from serving Hashem. Emunah brings us to pray. We need to believe that there’s no nature, and that Hashem hears our prayers and can help us. The main thing He wants is that we think of Him.

Hashem should help us truly live with our Emuna so that we’ll be worthy of receiving the Torah, amen.