The Foundation of All Knowledge
The foundation of all knowledge is the knowledge of God’s existence. This knowledge is all encompassing and transcends knowledge of all other existing things. “Knowing” means being connected to something whether it is a physical object or an abstract idea. The existence of God and knowing Him as the creator is the context in which we relate to the reality in which He made us. Everything around us is a means by which to “know” Him. Mankind has the unique capability to choose his reality. Will mankind include God as the exclusive creator of existence or will he exclude God from existence and proclaim that there is no creator? These are the words of advice that Dovid Hamelech gave to his son Shlomo: “And you Shlomo my son, know the G-d of your father and serve Him with a complete heart and with a willing spirit, for God searches all hearts, and understands the imaginations of the thoughts, if you will seek Him, He will avail Himself to you, and if you leave Him, He will neglect you forever” (1 Ch 28, 9). Knowing G-d is the foundation of the entire Torah experience.
Rambam in his opening laws of Mishna Torah says “The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of all wisdom is to KNOW that there is a primary being. This primary being is responsible for all that exists anywhere in the universe. This being is completely independent of everything that was created by the ex nihilo act of creation that brought all of reality into being. This being is perfectly ONE. This being is G-d. Rambam continues and says “ Knowing this is a mitzvas asay ( a positive commandment that requires us to do something) as it is written in the Torah “ I am G-d your G-d that took you out of Egypt” and one who entertains the possibility of there being another G-d other than this One (The One that took us out of Egypt) transgresses the prohibition that states “ there should not be for you foreign gods in front of Me “ and this constitutes denial of the fundamental basis upon which all depends”. These ideas are the infrastructure of the Torah reality in which we are all required to live our lives.
It would seem simple that we should spend some time thinking about these ideas in a way that they will make a difference in the way we live our everyday life. This knowledge is actually synonymous with emunah. The standard translation of the word emunah is belief. Someone who maintains that something is true or accurate with reality “believes”. This is true, yet on a deeper level which runs congruent with the meaning of the root of the word, emunah is TRUST. When one has emunah they trust and rely on someone or something. Trust connects the one who trusts with the one the he trusts in. This forms a special relationship between them. This relationship becomes the reality in which the two exist together. It is through the means of this relationship that both of the parties involved display their will and their existence.
God created the world with the intention that mankind participate with Him in this relationship called TRUST. Our sages teach us that when the Torah says that God is a God of faith/trust, it means that He “believed” in the world and created it. These words don’t have a simple meaning at all. God does not have to “believe” anything or anyone, He is all knowing. “He believed in the world and created it” means that He TRUSTED that which He created. This of course has application only to mankind who has free will and can choose to disobey the will of God. God’s trust is the step that He took toward mankind so that mankind can reciprocate and willingly TRUST God.
This trust is knowledge of God. The verse in the prophet Hoshea sums this up beautifully by saying “I will betroth you to me in EMUNAH (trust) and you will know God”.
Knowing God and Knowing Oneself
Self knowledge has always been a popular topic. Shelves and shelves of books have been written on the matter. What has captured the interest of people ? Why does it make a difference if they are knowledgable about themselves or not ? Does a connection exist between knowing oneself and knowing God ? I would like in the following lecture to address some of these issues and suggest some ideas to think about and hopefully understand better the connection of knowing oneself and knowing God.
"Knowing" as a concept was mentioned before in the first lecture. Knowing means connected to. The idea of there being a form by which two different things (or anything else that is but not a thing) can become close, connected or even one.
Rambam writes in his Explanation of the Mishnah (Chagigah chp.2 mish.1) "It is known that every person in his nature desires all wisdoms whether they be a fool or a wise person". This statement is an eye opener. The basic nature of man is to know. I mean think that he knows and wants to know more. The wise person seeks knowledge that is wisdom, the fool seeks knowledge that is not.
Our teachers revealed to us a secret of creation. They taught us that mankind was created from all the parts of the creation that God had created prior to his creation. All of these parts connect to form mankind. God blew into mankind a living spirit and man became a living being. Mankind is not just an alive being. He is a being who's life itself is the connection of all of creation. Mankinds life effects all of creation. The quality and type of life mankind chooses effects all of creation. When mankind is aware of himself fully and recognizes the scope of his being, reality is infused with a dose of truth. Creation is seen in a new light and knowledge is found in everything. "God created everything to be known" say our sages. Reality is the stage where we can connect to this, it is here that we can connect to God
