Does the Heart Know the Truth?
Even after the desires of one's heart have persuaded him to accept the false way as true, he still knows in his heart of hearts that the true path is "truer" than the other one...Every human being thus has the faculty of determining in his own heart where the real truth lies.
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler
How does a human being know what the truth is, because aren't we all looking for The Truth and is there 1 truth at all?
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
In the beginning G-d created.” heaven and earth - ת א ם - together form the word emet אמת - truth. One of G-d's Names is "Emet" - Truth. Since G-d is 1, which is a fundamental principle of Jewish and thus Noahide faith (see blog 13 Principals of Faith), there is 1 truth. So the question of whether there is 1 truth can be answered in the affirmative.
It is the mission of every human being to get to know G-d however, knowing that G-d's greatness is completely beyond our reach. We see and understand only small pieces. Sometimes we see His goodness, sometimes we see His love, sometimes we see His severity, etc. All these pieces together give us a better and better understanding of G-d.
This is how it works with The Truth too. We collect small pieces of truth and all the pieces together makes the realisation of the truth bigger and bigger.
But how do we collect the small pieces of truth. There are so many theories, so many religions with their beliefs, so much "scientific evidence" for certain propositions, how do we determine which puzzle piece belongs to the truth and which does not.
G-d and His Torah are one. That means we can only find the truth in the Torah. Only by reading and examining His Torah can we discover the truth. This also practically means that we can find all the answers to life and scientific questions in the Torah. (Which is not to say that they are there for the taking and sometimes have to be searched sincerely and well)
When we are searching, when we are studying the Torah, alone, or preferably together with a rabbi who can help us gain more insight, we will experience at times that deep down inside we feel - even if you don't yet understand - this is completely right.
Our soul is of Divine Origin, it knows the truth, so when the truth enters, our conscious mind intuitively recognises it as the truth.
May our understanding of truth grow day by day.
Brought By Angelique Sijbolts
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the Noahide Academy. She has been an observant Noahide for many years. She studies Torah with Rabbi Perets every week. Angelique invests much of her time in editing video-lectures for the Rabbis of the Academy and contributes in administrating the Academy's website in English and Dutch. She lives in the north of the Netherlands. Married and mother of two sons. She works as a teacher in a school with students with special needs. And is a Hebrew Teacher for the levels beginners and intermediate. She likes to walk, to read and play the piano.
Sources
Sefaria
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