The Sound of Emunah - Ki Tavo

This morning’s Breakfast & Class begins with a few simple words from Parashat Ki Tavo: וְהָיָה אִם־שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ — “If we will surely listen to the voice of HaShem.” Before the Torah promises all of its extraordinary blessings, it gives us a strategy for everything that follows: begin with emunah. There is a God. He is our God. There is no other. And perhaps every time we answer one small word — אָמֵן — we are practicing that faith all over again. From a remarkable story about Rav Yeḥezkel Levenstein and the difference between seeing and hearing, to the mesorah we receive from our parents and grandparents, to simply making the effort to come to synagogue on a stormy morning, we explore what it means to walk toward HaShem even when we cannot see everything clearly. And ultimately we arrive at the sound we are preparing to hear on Rosh Hashanah: לִשְׁמֹעַ קוֹל שׁוֹפָר. We cannot see what the Shofar accomplishes. We hear — and we believe. The Sound of Emunah: the faith that allows us to hear.