EE & R, 2_8: Knowing Hashem: Good Character

(For the previous installment of "Exodus, Exile and Redemption," click here. For ToC, click here.)

We have charted the final two stages of the prophetic Path designed to lead its adherents to Knowledge – the goal, i.e., knowing Hashem, and the faith that must precede it. Faith, too, requires a foundation. Something must precede faith that would motivate a person to commit to a notion of which he isn’t yet certain.

What causes a person to have faith, to believe firmly in a goodness that he doesn’t know? Or, in other words: What is the motive for assuming the universe is good? The movement toward faith must begin from within. Something in one’s own soul must stir an individual to faith; and that, as we shall see, is excellence of character.

Hosea taught of this stage of the spiritual process in the same passage in which he taught of the final two stages of the Path:

And I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice and in kindness and in mercy. And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know Hashem. (Hosea 2:22-23)

The qualities of righteousness, justice, kindness and mercy are the prerequisites to faith: In order to have faith in a notion of goodness, one must have a sense of its rules. The reason for this is clear. A vague impression of goodness would not inspire in its holder the conviction that the goodness he or she senses is fundamental to reality, an essential rule of being. The lawless goodness of the immoral man can never lead to faith. For a person to have faith, he must sense a goodness that follows rules and has a moral reason; that moral reason will serve as an imperative in which to believe and a guiding light for what to seek.

A person who strongly senses the world’s inherent, well-defined goodness would commit to this belief. They would dedicate themselves to finding and experiencing the perceived goodness. This, in essence, is what we call "faith."

Who is most likely to have this strong sense? The person of good character. One who possesses a strong moral character will naturally be confident that the same goodness that resides within his own soul is both pervasive and manifest throughout all of existence. This is the secret of faith.

The spiritual development that must precede faith is the attainment of good character, of habituating oneself in righteousness and justice and kindness and mercy. This is alluded to in the passage describing Avraham’s path to knowledge of Hashem. Avraham was offered knowledge when Hashem introduced Himself by name, saying “I am Hashem” (Genesis 15:7). The verse preceding this statement describes Avraham’s faith – “And he believed in Hashem” (ibid, 15:6), corresponding to the stage of faith that must precede knowledge (as discussed here). That same verse also alludes to the prerequisite righteousness – “And he believed in Hashem, and he accounted it to Him as righteousness.”

However, the verse’s pronouns create ambiguity. It could mean that Avraham accounted Hashem’s promise as righteousness to Hashem, and it could also mean that Hashem accounted Avraham’s faith as righteousness to Avraham (is it “He accounted it to him,” or “he accounted it to Him”?);¹ but as per the above, the two notions are actually interconnected. Avraham believed in the righteousness of Hashem, and thus he had the conviction necessary to seek and find knowledge founded upon a concrete and specific faith. Why did Avraham believe in Hashem’s righteousness? Because Avraham was righteous himself, and he extrapolated his own righteousness outward.

In this verse recounting the covenant between Hashem and Avraham, righteousness is mentioned once again:

You found his heart faithful before You, and You made the covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites… You kept your word, because you are righteous. (Nehemiah 9:8)

The word of Hashem is fulfilled through those who recognize it as righteous, through the men of faith who eventually achieve Knowledge on the strength of a faith that is rooted in their own righteousness. The word of Hashem is the tantalizing promise of His self-introduction to humanity: “I am Hashem.” The possibility for man to realize that promise and attain Knowledge is actualized through the righteous man who discovers the righteous God.

(For the next installment of "Exodus, Exile and Redemption," click here.)

1. The ambiguity is noted in the Zohar, v. 3 148a: “Did the Holy, blessed be He account it to Avraham, or Avraham to the Holy, blessed be He?” Both interpretations are offered by the commentators.