Knowing who we are is our key to knowing G-d

He was a battalion commander with the rank of Major in an elite Golani (infanty) unit. In most armies, that would have meant he was commanding battles from a rear position, but in the IDF, commanders lead the way.

While leading his troops in heavy fighting in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil in July 2006, Major Roi Klein saw a Hezbollah terrorist lobbing a grenade towards his men. Urban warfare is often fought in extremely close contact, which usually means there is a very limited response time; life and death decisions are almost instantaneous.

With no time to think, Klein instinctively threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the blast with his own body and saving the lives of at least five of his men. His soldiers would later share that the last words they heard him cry were not about the grenade, nor a command to his men, but rather the ancient words of the Shema: “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad” (“Hear Israel, G-d is our G-d; G-d is One”).

Major Roi Klein was a gifted saxophone player and a brilliant academic, completing his engineering studies with high honors. His friends would later describe him as a gentle soul, and remember his rolling laughter. He left behind a widow and two small children. He died absolutely knowing that G-d not only exists, but runs the world and fills every moment.

Can a person really know that G-d exists in this world? Is this possible in our limited, physical, distracting world?

Maimonides, in his Hilchot Yesodei haTorah (1:1) as well as in his Sefer HaMitzvoth (Positive commandment 1), says clearly that there is a mitzvah to know G-d exists: “Leidah she’yesh sham Eloka.”

But how can we be commanded to know? As Rav Elchonon Wasserman in his Kovetz Ma’amarim points out, belief is a psychological state; if you do not believe, a commandment to do so is meaningless, and if you do believe, you do not need the commandment, so what is the point of such a mitzvah?