On Sunday evening, October 22, Let’s Get Real With Coach Menachem featured Rabbi Doniel Katz, visionary educator and internationally sought-after speaker, sharing a virtual emergency emunah workshop.
First, Coach Menachem Bernfeld acknowledged that klal Yisrael needs mercy from Hashem. The only way to obtain this is through achdus and emunah.
Rabbi Katz began by stating that to gain emunah it needs to be part of your daily growth, and then the next step is to live it. What is your relationship with Hashem? He noted that now people in Israel are feeling so much love and achdus it is unbelievable. He lamented the tremendous number of Jews killed and wounded, as well as those taken hostage. Hundreds of thousands are on the frontlines ready to fight. The United States sent its biggest warships.
We know there is danger, but we can’t be afraid. What is the real avodah? All of klal Yisrael is at war. “We are in a war of emunah,” he said. Rebbe Nachman taught that we can be afraid but not overwhelmed. We can’t let fear overwhelm us. Everyone is asking questions. What is going to be with klal Yisrael? What will happen to Eretz Yisrael? Is this war going to bring Mashiach? Rabbi Katz explained that if we understand who we are and our true power, then we know that Hashem is turning to us. He’s asking us these same questions. Hashem sends us challenges and says it’s all dependent on you. Will you awaken collectively and individually to who you are?
“Hashem is waiting for us to bring Mashiach. Hashem is saying: You are My partner in creation.” Hashem creates darkness so we will find ahavas Yisrael and light. Hashem is putting the responsibility on us. The main thing is to increase Torah, mitzvos, chesed, and the fundamental thing is we have to strengthen our emunah. We have to believe that everything is from Hashem for the ultimate good. “Emunah is the fundamental mitzvah of the Torah.” Many commentators say that it’s the first of the Ten Commandments. “A tzadik lives with emunah.”
Rabbi Katz first shared three definitions of emunah. The dictionary definition is to believe without pictorial proof or evidence. The Nesivos Shalom teaches that there are three different levels of emunah. There is intellectual emunah. I know that Hashem is there and we are moving towards good. Then, there is emunah of the heart. The third level is emunah of the body, where you feel love and strength. You run into action. Rabbi Katz explained that we have to work on all three levels.
The Baal Shem Tov says that the ikar of emunah is d’veikus. D’veikus means consciousness of experiencing the Divine. Even when panicked, we can come close in our mind and enter into an expanded consciousness. When we feel this, we know without a doubt that Hashem loves us and is with us. In that light, we have emunah sh’leimah.
The last two weeks in Israel, Rabbi Katz shared that he has seen secular Jews putting on tzitzis and so many people coming to his classes. “We need to access the light within us.”
Next, he shared three dimensions of emunah. First, you have to focus on the value of emunah. “If we strengthen emunah, it’s an iron dome to protect us.” He explained that how you frame a situation determines what you absorb from a situation. He shared that if parents are terrified when running to the bomb shelter, then their children will absorb this fear. We need to feel and demonstrate emunah to our children.
Emunah is a filter system. When I see that this is from Hashem, I feel there is protection. The second dimension he shared is the gift of emunah, which is tikun ha’midos. When we enter light and connection, then we can release trauma, fear, and doubt, and we feel a sense of security, love, and unity. Emunah releases doubt. If we carry hate and victimhood, then we can’t bring Mashiach. He shared that “Emunah is a bulletproof vest.” It helps us to heal pain and trauma. When we daven with emunah, then Hashem listens to our t’filos and answers them. When we feel that light and love, our heart is open, and what we think about comes to reality.
It says in Parshas Noach that Noach and his family went into the ark when the waters came. The question is: Didn’t he believe the flood was going to come? Why was he waiting for it before going into the ark? Noach was a tzadik, and because he had such strong emunah that the flood would come, he didn’t want to be the cause of it coming by showing that belief.
Rabbi Katz extrapolated from this concept that if we lose emunah in Hashem, it damages the world. If we have emunah, collectively, we can win the war. Emunah is belief and trust that Hashem is there and that even in the darkness we are guided and blessed.
He shared that the Hebrew word used to describe how Mordechai raised Esther has the root of emunah in it. Mordechai nurtured her. Emunah means to draw out and bring to reality. Our belief that something will happen causes it to become reality. Thoughts are very, very powerful.
Noach knew that if he believed the flood was coming, the power of emunah would cause it to come. He didn’t want to be a co-destroyer. “The power of emunah is a creative act itself. The things you believe can cause them to happen. When a person fears something, it manifests it into reality. If I only fear Hashem, then no one can affect me. We need to strengthen our emunah. Emunah will protect our mental health. As challenges emerge, fears come up. This is a time for tikun ha’midos. Use this time to feel Hashem’s love and blessing. When you fall into fears, you cause them to happen. If we release and heal through emunah, we feel klal Yisrael winning the war and we are co-creators in reality. “Hashem is saying to us: You show Me true emunah!”
By Susie Garber
