A Good Mind: On Exodus

Let all who inquire into this section profit by noticing that it immediately precedes the Song at the Sea—to teach you that the Holy One considers belief [amanah] a great thing. Because Israel was faithful and believed, the Holy Spirit rested on them and they sang, [as it says]: So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses (Exodus 14:31), immediately followed by: Then Moses and the Israelites sang (Exodus 15:1).

Said R. Nehemiah: Everyone who faithfully accepts one commandment deserves to have the Holy Spirit rest on him, as happened to our forefathers [in the passage just noted].

Thus you find that our father Abraham took possession of the land because of his belief: And he believed the Lord, and the Lord counted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). The same goes for his descendants in Egypt, [as it says]: The people believed (Exodus 4:31). It is written of the faithful: Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in (Isaiah 26:2); O Lord, do your eyes not look for truth? (Jeremiah 5:3); the righteous shall live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4). The exiles will be ingathered in the future only as a reward for the faith with which they believed their Creator’s promise, [as it says]: Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana (Song of Songs 4:8)—that is, faith [emunah]. So, too, [does God say]: I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness (Hosea 2:22).