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When Steadfast Faith Is Called Simple: A Reflection on Emunah and Bitachon

by Ram ben Ze'ev


When Steadfast Faith Is Called Simple: A Reflection on Emunah and Bitachon
When Steadfast Faith Is Called Simple: A Reflection on Emunah and Bitachon

There is a trend today, even among some learned teachers, to speak about emunah (אמונה, emunah, faith) and bitachon (בטחון, bitachon, trust) as fragile qualities—measured in percentages and subject to the same doubts and anxieties that fill the secular mind. I recently listened to a popular Orthodox Rabbi who, in front of a large audience, confessed that he often feels no more than fifteen percent faith and perhaps five percent trust in G-D.


He said this openly, almost as though it were the most authentic way to live: to question, to doubt, to admit spiritual uncertainty. And perhaps for some, it is a comforting approach—a way to say, you are not alone in your struggle.


But I sat there, listening, and I could not escape a nagging thought: When did unshaken faith become something naïve or unsophisticated? When did certainty in G-D’s goodness become a relic of the past?



Let us be clear: you are not missing something foundational in Judaism if your trust in G-D is whole. You are not ignorant or simplistic because you refuse to quantify your emunah in neat little percentages.


On the contrary, the Torah teaches us that emunah is an inborn, essential property of the Jewish soul. It does not require approval from any external authority to be valid. It does not need to be labelled “fifteen percent” or “five percent.” It simply is.


In תהילים (Tehillim, Psalms), we read:


בטח בה׳ ועשה טוב שכן ארץ ורעה אמונה


Trust in G-D and do good; dwell in the land and nourish yourself with faith.


Nourish yourself with faith—not ration it in thin slices, as though it were a limited resource.



In the writings of our sages, bitachon is the serenity of knowing that everything is guided by Divine Providence. It is the courage to believe that even in darkness, there is a plan, and that plan is good.


When did it become more admirable to share doubts than to stand confidently in the knowledge that G-D rules the world?


In some circles, we have adopted the mistaken belief that the only “authentic” spiritual life is the one steeped in tension and turmoil. But this is not the Torah’s vision.


To possess simple, unyielding emunah is not a failing. It is a strength.


To trust G-D without constant analysis is not a sign of an underdeveloped intellect. It is the natural flowering of a Jewish soul that has not been buried under layers of modern cynicism.


If you feel complete faith and trust in G-D, you are not lacking. You are blessed. Hold that faith tightly, and do not apologise for it. Do not allow a culture obsessed with self-doubt to redefine your clarity as ignorance.



Call it simple if you must—but know that in this simplicity is the deepest sophistication of all.


When the world praises confusion as a virtue, stand firm in your emunah. When others question whether certainty is possible, let your bitachon be the answer.


You are not missing anything. You are exactly where a Jewish soul is meant to be: in the embrace of G-D’s goodness, beyond measure, beyond calculation, beyond percentages.


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