Yitro: Emuna and Geula

“I am Hashem your God who took you out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage…” (Exodus 20:2).

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev explains that the lack of emuna is the root cause of the galut, exile and diaspora[1]. We can therefore conclude that the inverse is true as well – emuna is the catalyst of geula, the full redemption of our people and the opposite of galut. Even so, we don’t need to extrapolate to make such a statement, for it’s implicit in the Torah and in the writings of our sages. Here’s how:

From all the myriad of wonders, miracles and acts of loving-kindness that Hashem does for us, the Torah juxtaposes “I am Hashem your God” with the exodus from “the land of Egypt and the house of bondage.” “I am Hashem your God” is the first of the Ten Commandments, the commandment of emuna – to believe in Hashem, the One true God. Hashem Himself is telling us that emuna is the precursor and prerequisite of exodus and geula.

Rabbi Tzaddok Hacohen of Lublin reminds us[2] that one who performs a mitzvah creates an angel. An angel is an emissary of Hashem. Since 611 of the 613 mitzvot were given to us by Moses, also Hashem’s emissary, performing the mitzvah rightfully creates an emissary. Yet, Hashem personally gave us two mitzvot – the first two of the Ten Commandments, namely Anochi – “I am Hashem your God” – and Lo yihyeh lecha, “you shall have no other god.” Since Hashem gave these two mitzvot Himself, explains Rabbenu Tzaddok Hacohen, He Himself gives the reward for Anochi, the mitzva of emuna, and the punishment for those who transgress Lo yihyeh lecha and worship false gods, Heaven forbid.

We can now understand why emuna is such a cogent mitzva, capable of invoking outright miracles and salvations that defy nature, logic and even human imagination, for by virtue of emuna, Hashem personally acts on a person’s behalf and not an angel or any other emissary. This explains what the author of the Hagadda writes, that Hashem personally took us out of Egypt and not an angel or any other heavenly emissary.

Our sages explain that Egypt is the prototype of all subsequent exiles. Just as Hashem took us out of Egypt by virtue of the mitzva of emuna, He too will take us out of this ever-so-long exile and Diaspora by virtue of emuna – He alone, and not an emissary.

With the above in mind, anyone who strengthens himself in emuna expedites the Geula. And, if we make a concerted effort to spread emuna to others, we can be confident that we will see the coming of Mashiach, the rebuilding of our Holy Temple and the full and final redemption of our people, speedily and in our days, amen!