Knowing Hashem - Based on Rambam's Sefer Hamitzvos, Chapter 1, Mitzvah 1

Three years ago, my wife and I moved to Bayswater. After a year of jumping around to different shuls without ever being consistent at any, I texted my neighbor to ask what time Mincha was going to be that Friday night. We miscommunicated about which shul, and I ended up with the wrong schedule by mistake.

I tend to work late on Fridays, but that week I made an extra effort to leave early. When I arrived, I realized I was twenty minutes early and at a completely different shul than the one I had a schedule for. I decided to stay. The rav was already there and introduced himself. Our short conversation left a warm impression. I had never really belonged to a shul before, but now I do. One wrong text changed that.

I have thought about that moment often. How something so small could shift everything. It still takes effort, but I believe Hashem sometimes guides us quietly, redirecting us when we least expect it. You think you are going one way, and He gently places you where you are supposed to be.

The Rambam opens Perek One of Yesodei HaTorah with the mitzvah to know that there is a God. Not to believe, but to know. I have recently thought a lot about those words, “to know.” I am a logical person. Logic makes sense to me. How can I know? I mean, when I look at the world, the sky, nature, people, even down to the smallest details, it is clear to me that something created it. There is a higher power behind all of it.

But then I wonder, if it is so logical, why doesn't everyone see it that way? For me, logic only takes me so far. I can believe based on what I see, but I cannot fully know. The Rambam’s words sound simple, but living them is not.

When listening to Rabbi Shais Taub, I liked his explanation. When the Rambam wrote “to know,” the word he used in Arabic means to be bound up with something. It is not about proving or even understanding completely. It means staying connected to the awareness of Hashem. To know is to live as if He is real, even when it cannot be fully explained. This way, the logic goes to the furthest it can, but belief begins where logic ends.

When I think back to that Friday night, I realize that is what the Rambam is describing. I did not see Hashem, but I felt His direction. I was not looking for proof, but I found purpose. Knowing Hashem is the awareness that He is guiding the details I never thought mattered. Every time I notice those moments, I come a little closer to truly knowing Him.

This week, together, let’s each find one small sign that Hashem is guiding our path. When we become aware of His direction, even in the smallest ways, we gain the strength and clarity to fulfill this mitzvah fully.

I hope you have a great week!

All the best

Avroham Yehudah Ross