The nature of chastisement by Isaiah to the Israelites gives an opening into how to reach a profound belief in G-d. The verse (Isaiah 1:3), says"An ox knows his owner and a donkey his master's crib; Israel does not know, my people does not consider."
The verse utilizes the words "know" and "consider." What's the difference between the two?
Knowing something comes easy as opposed to considering, to be mitbonen, to deeply ponder. There are two lackings that Isaiah is pointing to: the failure to see the obvious and the failure to introspect and put the puzzle together.
Emunah, belief, requires both these elements, the ability to apply common sense in realizing a Creator must be behind everything, and a deeper consideration and internalization which causes a great bond to the Creator.
When Moshe saw the burning bush, Sforno notes that Moshe was mitbonen. He saw a spectacular sight in front of him, and refused to forego the awesomeness of the moment. He considered and contemplated and realized that this was a divine experience that must change the trajectory of his life.
Avraham is famously described by the Midrash as one who saw a palace lit in flames with no caretaker. He considered the situation and realized there must be a Creator that runs all happenings.
Daat would seem to come more naturally, especially with miracles.
This is evident from Yam Suf. We find that G-d's hands are tied from splitting the sea, as both the Jews and Egyptian were on an equal level of impurity. There was only one tie-breaker left for the sea to split: emunah. Nachshon used his daat to go forward based on the miracles in Mitzrayim that he witnessed. He didn't have to be mitbonen.
What can be taken from above? First, all of life is a miracle, and one should exercise simple daat to follow a Creator who allows for our day-to-day existence. Second, if you want to bond with G-d at a high level, merely take a few minutes to ponder our history, world events, the patterns of life and its details and exactitudes. By engaging in this mitbonen type of thinking, your level of emunah will become strong and pierce your whole consciousness.
How to expand on the Exodus Type of Faith
It may be argued that the Dor Deiah (Vayikra Rabbah 1:9), the generation of Israelites that “knew G-d” in the desert took root starting from the Exodus from Egypt. They literally saw G-d and having belief was not difficult.
It must be noted, however, that Nachson ben Aminadav jumped into the Red Sea based on a pure belief in G-d that led to sea splitting, so there was still some room to expand faith within the Dor Deiah.
Are we at a disadvantage today when we live with no “open” miracles, or is there a way for us to inculcate within us even a stronger sense of belief?
Isaiah, quoted above, gives an opening to answer this question. He famously says (Isaiah 1:3), “Yada shor koneihu, Va-chamor eivus be’alav; Yisrael lo yadah ami, lo hitbonen - An ox knows its owner, a donkey its master’s crib: Israel does not know, My people do not ponder.”
There are two requirements that Isaiah is pointing to when it comes to belief: knowledge and pondering, or as some say, emunah and bitachon. Emunah is the knowledge that there is G-d, bitachon is trusting that G-d is involved in every detail of our lives.
Moshe, the redeemer, the greatest prophet that lived, and the one closest to G-d had both. He had daat of G-d, “speaking face to face,” but his belief began as a mitbonen, a ponderer who saw the burning bush that was on fire but not consumed (see Sforno). He thought and came to conclusions.
Thinking and internalizing something takes effort, and Moshe engaged in that process. When one takes the time to ponder, they grow in that area of which they are contemplating. Moshe’s contemplation brought him to an unbreakable bond with a G-d that he did not see with his own eyes but could figure out that this was the Almighty behind everything.
As we noted in the introduction, the Jews in the desert were the Dor Deiah, not the “Dor Ha’Mitbonen” that ponders. They did not need to contemplate G-d as He was in front of them. Lack of pondering and internalization can lead to full removal of belief as we witnessed in that generation. Nothing without effort endures.
If we jump to today’s times, we are at an advantage of reaching a stronger level of belief than the Dor Deiah, since everything is now hidden. This offers a fantastic opportunity to look for and ponder a G-d that is behind every detail, but without being out in the open.
Rabbi Frand notes that one message G-d is giving by being hidden is that we should hide ourselves in humility, just as He is. But, with thinking and pondering, we can form a profound bond with our Creator based on hitbonenut.
Isaiah gave the formula for the necessary type of belief necessary to declare our allegiance to G-d. If we see Him in everything based on our pondering, it goes without saying that we have daat of Him. The Seder is a time to grow in our belief and an opportune moment to solidify our trust in G-d.