Knowing Hashem or Believing?

Emunah (Faith) or Yedi’ah (Knowledge) of Hashem: Which is the Mitzvah? 

The first of the Aseres Hadibros (Decalogue, Ten Statements Hashem said at Har Sinai), “Anochi Hashem Elokecha” (I am Hashem your G-d), has been understood by many Rishonim as a mitzvah to acknowledge Hashem. This mitzvah was interpreted two different ways by Gedolei Yisrael: some said the mitzvah is l’haamin (to believe in Hashem); others maintained that the mitzvah is leida (to know Hashem).

Those who interpreted the mitzvah as leida argued that being commanded to believe in Hashem—l‘haamin—is problematic for the following reasons: 

Emunah is a feeling that’s either present or isn’t; it can’t be conjured up by way of command. 

Emunah in the Eibershter (G-d) is a prerequisite for obeying His commands, so the mitzvah to believe paradoxically presupposes that the one being commanded already believes that there is a metzaveh (One who commands). 

Emunah is limited: it isn’t powerful enough to affect a person b’pnimiyus (internally). 

Therefore, they say, the mitzvah must be leida: to achieve a personal, intellectual recognition of Hashem’s existence through logical inquiries and by using our own powers of reasoning.

On the other hand, those who argue that emunah is the correct interpretation of the mitzvah make the case that emunah expresses the unvarnished truth, reflecting exactly what Torah tells us about Hashem, whereas yediah is colored by our own understanding. In fact, left to our own devices, our intellect might lead us to the wrong conclusions. 

The preferred approach is to merge the two: we should achieve as much as possible with our own sechel (intellect), and allow faith to take over from there. The unique approach of Chassidus—Chassidus Chabad in particular—is to take concepts from the world of emunah and utilize the power of our sechel (mind) to internalize them. #463

https://halacha2go.com?number=463

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.