In memory of Father, Yosef Ben Zelig.
March 25th 1911 - May 2nd 2008

In memory of Mother, Nechama Bas Tzvi Hirsh.
June 9th 1925 - April 16th 2003

In memory of Uncle, Moshe Binyamin Ben Tzvi Hirsh.
December 12 1929 - February 2nd 2010

In Loving Memory of Moreinu Horav Shmuel Yaacov Weinberg, Rosh HaYeshiva Ner Yisroel

Yisro (Exodus 18-20)

20:2 I am Hashem your G-D who took you out from the house of bondage.

This is the first sentence of the Ten Commandments and we understand it to be a commandment to believe in G-D.

Many raise the question that belief in G-D is an inherent pre-requisite for recognizing and accepting His commandments.

That is, one cannot have a commandment unless there is a commander. If He does not exist then how can we have a commandment from Him? And if we recognize and accept His commandments then we can only do so if we believe that He exists. How can there be a commandment to believe in Him?

My understanding is as follows.

G-D designed and manages human beings in a manner that it is reasonable for Him to expect the average human being to believe in G-D. We don't need a commandment for us to believe that He exists. Ask any atheist in a fox hole.

Rather the commandment is about managing and protecting our natural belief from bias and interference, maintaining intellectual honesty in this respect.

It is also about using what we learn from study and from life experience to make G-D's existence more of a reality as we make decisions in life.

This is one three fundamental commandments: To believe in G-D, to respect / fear Him, and to love G-D.

They work together to bring a person into reality and truth, from illusions of supremacy and being the center of all existence, from anxiety to peace, from absolute insignificance to becoming a part of the only significance that is real.

Upon a second reading, this commandment, given over thirty-three centuries ago, is indeed new to mankind.

In focusing on G-D's role in the Exodus, it tells us that G-D did not just create the world but that He also manages it. And He does not manage just nature but the affairs and decisions of all mankind.

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