Haazinu: 5783 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with a story from his grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld. "There is none like our G-d and there is none like our Master" and afterward "Who is like our G-d and who is like our Master" - seemingly this was already…

00:04 Speaker 1 There was once a Jew in Jerusalem who wanted to travel abroad. In those days, going abroad meant traveling beyond the cities of darkness. Before he left, he went to the rabbi of Jerusalem to ask for a blessing. The rabbi said to him, “I’ll tell you a beautiful explanation of a passage in the prayers. Every day we say, ‘There is none like our G-d, none like our Master, none like our King, none like our Savior.’ The next section begins, ‘Who is like our King? Who is like our Savior?’ What’s the order here? We’ve already established that there is none like our G-d and none like our Master. So why ask now? It should be the other way around: first, ‘Who is like our G-d? Who is like our Master?’ and only afterward, ‘There is none like our G-d.’ Why is the order reversed?” He explained that when a person enters a place of danger—and likewise, when he begins to philosophize and discuss matters of G-dliness—he first needs to lay a foundation: “There is none like our G-d, none like our Master, none like our King, none like our Savior.” Once he has that foundation and is certain of the basic truth that there is none like our G-d, he can ask questions. The rabbi then applied this to the man’s situation: “Since you’re traveling abroad, you’re going to a place of danger. So first you need to lay a foundation: firm decisions about the things you do, which you won’t budge from. After that, you can ask questions or do what you need to do. But first you need to lay a foundation.” They say that the Rebbe of Kotzk used to study the Rambam’s Moreh Nevuchim, which contains all kinds of questions about faith. He would first study the answers, and only afterward the questions. Why? Because sometimes, when a person studies philosophy and learns a question, the question settles firmly in his mind; he understands it well. Then, when he learns the answer, the answer isn’t quite one hundred

02:27 Speaker 1 percent convincing. So something of the question remains with him, and it’s very dangerous to have questions about G-dliness—

02:33 Speaker 2 About faith.

02:34 Speaker 1 About faith. So it’s dangerous. That’s why he would first study the answers, and only afterward the questions.