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All people have a basic faith. For most people, this is expressed as belief in God, the source of all life and the values which make life meaningful. Devoting one’s life to these ideals - truth and goodness, love and kindness, justice and law, dignity and loyalty, courage and good-heartedness – greatly elevates daily living. These values are expressed in various combinations and degrees in most individuals and nations.
Beyond the basic faith of most humanity, among Jews, faith is exceptional. It is such a fundamental characteristic, that all of our national-historical processes revolve around it. This is why the Jews are referred to as “believers, the children of believers.” No other nation has had so many of its people devoting their talents and their lives to their faith. This manifests itself in the unwillingness of Jews to be satisfied with a basic goodness and truth, but rather strive for growth and depth. They aspire to more, hoping to make everything more profound, more lasting, more meaningful. Therefore, the Jewish nation deserved to receive the divine Torah which is rooted in the Infinite. It is always possible to discover infinite ideas and meanings in Torah.
Jewish faith includes the certainty that the universe and everything in it can be improved and uplifted. This is because everything contains a spark of the divine within it. When we use the Torah and mitzvot to reveal this divine spark, we can elevate reality. To accomplish this, we must reject idol worship and any other conventions which limit or distract us from our aspiration to improve the world.
The astounding optimism of the Jews is rooted in this faith. Despite the incomparable pain and suffering the Jewish nation has experienced throughout the ages, it has retained its belief in the possibility of perfecting the world. The power of this belief fostered many Jews who became revolutionaries, entrepreneurs, and innovators in science and the humanities. The first two of the Ten Commandments, which we heard directly from God at Sinai, demand faith in God and the renunciation of idols. Together, these two commandments provide the foundation for the Jewish nation's activism in the world.
