את חטאי אני מזכיר היום

In his final words to our kvutzah, R’ Kermaier presented a practical approach to combating galus: I quickly jotted down something he said because it struck me at the time (paraphrased): “You have to constantly learn about emunah so it doesn’t atrophy.” I made a mental note to follow his advice.

But I never did.

R’ Kermaier's words echoed in my mind recently as I was learning “Sha'arei Orah” by Rav Avigdor Miller. While discussing the many merits of concentrating during davening, Rav Miller digresses a bit to mention the importance of emunah. He writes the following:

ואמנם ודאי בני ישרא-ל הם מאמינים, בני מאמינים, א"כ עדיין נראה כאילו מיותר
הוא להצריך לחשוב בעניני אמונה. אמנם קודם כל, צריך לדעת שעיקר החיוב של
אמונה הוא שיהי' יסודות האמונה מושרשים בכל לבבך, שיהיו קנוים לו כמציאות
ובהרגשה חושית ,וזה נקנה רק ע"י ריבוי ההתבוננות פעם, אחר פעם

The reason we are required to reflect on our faith is so that it can become rooted in our hearts to the point that it becomes a tangible reality. This level can only be acheived through constant rumination. Rav Miller continues by explaining that our environments today are not conducive to strengthening our faith. On the contrary, our world is permeated by doubt and we literally inhale heresy. Even those who are Shomrei Torah u’Mitzvos don’t necessarily speak about matters of faith, Olam Haba, etc. If we allow inertia to take hold of our minds, we will simply absorb the false ideas floating around our atmosphere.

I can’t ignore Rav Kermaier any longer. I don’t have enough emunah* and it’s about time I started correcting this flaw. Therefore, I ask that if you have learned any sefer that has bolstered your emunah, please recommend it to me. As they say, carpe diem….

*(To be more exact, according to R’ Copperman, I lack more in bitachon than in emunah, but most people are not precise about the terminology and I believe I would still use the same tactic for improvement.)