This compilation of all the mitzvot begins with the very first mitzvah, “The first commandment is that we are commanded in belief – emunas – of God. That is; He is the origin and cause of all that exists and He is the power behind all of existence. The source of this mitzvah is found in (the first sentence of the Ten Commandments); ‘I am the Lord your God […]’” (Exodus 20:2). Nachmanides (1190-1270), another famous medieval Rabbinic scholar and philosopher – and widely regarded as the greatest of his generation – wrote a commentary on Maimonides’ Sefer HaMitzvot. Nachmanides comments on the points in the work with which he disagrees. On this very first commandment Nachmanides asks an absolutely devastating question: How is it possible to have a commandment requiring a person to believe in God? A commandment by definition implies a “commander” – so if you have a commandment then you already believe in God who issued the command. If you do not believe in a “commander” then you cannot have a commandment. It is circular logic. For this reason, Nachmanides disagrees and says that belief in the Almighty is a requirement and prerequisite to all the commandments, and it is therefore not to counted as a separate mitzvah. I believe that Maimonides has a fundamentally different understanding of what emunah means and it does not mean belief or faith. It is important to understand that Judaism is not a religion of “belief,” it is a religion that requires a knowledge of God. This is, in fact, what Maimonides writes in his magnum opus on Jewish Law known as Yad HaChazaka, “The foundation of all foundations and pillar of all wisdom is to know that there is a First Being Who brought everything into existence” (Mada 1:1). Maimonides clearly states that we are commanded to “know” that there is a God and not to merely “believe” in a God. Knowledge is a much higher level of certainty, and that is the very foundation of Judaism. In a prior edition I explained this in greater detail (for more information, see Shabbat Shalom on Parshat Eikev). Every translation is an interpretation. For this reason, it is particularly important to always look at the origin of words and their usage in their original context. A full accounting of the sources for the word emunah in the Torah is beyond the scope of this article, but it seems to be rooted in the concept of being ever-present. A man with his faithful servant or his faithful dog refers to the fact that they are always with him. The word for this in English is immanence – and a very obvious cognate of the Hebrew word emunah. I believe that Maimonides is describing that the first commandment is to affirm the immanence of the Almighty. In other words, we must constantly be aware and act as if we are continually in the presence of the Almighty. We are commanded to affirm the ever-presence of the Almighty in our lives. (This is also why the word amen (also related to the word emunah) means, “I affirm.”) Man was created with a desire for self-fulfillment and self-achievement. This is often manifested in the negative trait of self-indulgence. Simply put, we want to do what we want to do and not be constrained by an outside source. At a basic level, when we sin we are saying to God: “You’re not the boss of me and I can do whatever I want.” Like Noah in this week’s Torah portion, every time we do something that we know is wrong or particularly bad for our health (smoking, overeating, etc.) it involves a cognitive dissonance – some version of “I know this is wrong, but I want to do what I want to do.” Thus, when we sin we are actively ignoring the ever-presence of the Almighty, and it is a failure of the responsibility of affirming His immanence in our lives. This means that, of course, Noah knows that God told him to go into the ark. The fact that he does not go into the ark until the waters compel him to enter is not a failure of him not “believing” that the flood was coming. Rather his action is one of defiance – like every sin of every human – an assertion that he wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. It’s a failure of affirming of living in the ever-presence of the Almighty. The only human to ever overcome this and achieve living in the ever-presence of the Almighty is Moses – but that’s a conversation for another time. | 
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