('e-moō-na) אמונה root: אמן

Related words: Truth, Amen , Reliable, Artisan





What it is Generally translated as faith. We’re used to thinking of faith as a strategy for people who can’t think for themselves. "The fool believes everything," Solomon writes, "the wise man understands." Emunah, however, is an innate conviction, a perception of truth that transcends, rather than evades, reason. Quite the contrary, wisdom, understanding and knowledge can further enhance true emunah. Nevertheless, emunah is not based on reason. Reason can never attain the certainty of emunah, since, reasonably speaking, a greater reasoning might always come along and prove your reasons wrong. In this way, emunah is similar to seeing first hand: Reason can help you better understand what you see, but it will have a hard time convincing you that you never saw it. So too, emunah endures even when reason can't catch up.

How to test for it Practically speaking, a person may have faith because he is not interested or incapable of reasoning for himself. Therefore, his faith does not belong to him; he is simply relying on others. When a person has a profound emunah in any truth, he feels this truth to be part and parcel of his very own essence and being. The litmus test would be a case of martyrdom. A person with sub-rational faith may or may not decide to give his life for his faith. A person with super-rational emunah sees no choice—to deny his emunah is to deny the quintessence of his being.