There Is a Creator: Faith as the Answer to Life’s Challenges

The Talmud in Tractate Makkot tells us that the prophet Habakkuk distilled all of the Torah’s commandments into a single verse:
“The righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). The commandment to believe in the Creator encompasses the entire Torah. If I truly know with clear conviction that there is a Creator who runs the world, then I can live by the Torah. Further, through faith alone, a person can reach the level of a tzaddik—a righteous individual.

The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) wrote in the very first paragraph of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law): “I place G-d before me always—this is a fundamental principle of the Torah and of the righteousness of the righteous.” The Vilna Gaon added: “This is the entire essence of the righteous.” The path to becoming truly righteous lies in living with real, unwavering faith.

A Universal Answer to Every Struggle

Over the years, I’ve been asked all types of questions about life’s difficulties including serious illness, depression, financial struggles, infertility, finding a partner, and others. At first, I was overwhelmed. What could I possibly say to a woman over fifty who’s in tears, telling me that doctors have given up on her ever having children and advised her to adopt, but she cries out, “I want a child of my own”?

Eventually, I came to a clear realization: there is one true answer to every hardship and every question in life. That answer is: “There is a Creator of the world.”

Once we understand that our beautiful world has a Creator, and that He alone governs it and holds the solution to every problem, then we’ve already begun solving the issue. If we can appeal to Him, if we can convince Him to intervene, the problem can disappear in an instant.

That’s exactly what I told that woman who stood before me, crying:
“Even if every doctor in the world tells me you can’t conceive, I’ll open the Torah and show them the verse: ‘And G-d remembered Sarah’. You should know, there is a Creator. He can do anything and He loves you very much. Turn to Him. Because He alone holds the key to your future.”

At the time of writing this, the Jewish people are going through a time of fear and violence. Terrorists are stabbing Jews on city streets. People walk around in fear, and every shout or loud noise causes panic. Some women are so overwhelmed by anxiety that they can barely function. They come to me asking, “What should we do?”

Once again, the answer is the same: “There is a Creator.” There is only One, the Almighty Creator, who controls everything. He is the one who gives terrorists their thoughts and power to act. If we turn to Him, and truly rely only on Him, then no one can harm us.

No matter the question or the crisis, there is one answer: “There is a Creator of the world.”

The Root of Despair

Sometimes a person falls into deep sadness, so much so that life feels empty and meaningless. Nothing excites him anymore: not mitzvot, not his family. He’s angry, withdrawn, and just wants to sleep all day.

In desperation, he goes to a psychiatrist, hoping for relief. The doctor might tell him, “You have clinical depression. It likely runs in your family. Take this pill—it may ease the pain.”

At that moment, the person feels as though his world has collapsed.
“I’ll never get out of this,” he thinks. “Even the doctor says it’s genetic.”

To that person, I say: “There is a Creator.” Why worry when the Creator holds everything in His hands? He can rewrite your genetics, transform you from a person of sorrow into a person of joy in an instant. Don’t give up—despair is born of ignorance. What we call “despair” is really a lack of awareness of the Creator’s power.

The hope that lives in the Jewish heart is one of the greatest forces there is. When a person truly knows that G-d can change his situation at any moment, he will feel calm and secure, because he understands: “My Creator loves me and is watching over me.”

Healing is in His Hands

Many people struggle with health challenges. The Torah says: “He shall surely heal” (Exodus 21:19), teaching us that G-d gave doctors permission to heal. Unfortunately, some doctors cause despair instead of hope when that is not their role- their task is only to heal.

When a person leaves a doctor’s office after hearing difficult news, the most important thing is to immediately strengthen themselves with the thought: “There is a Creator.” This awareness brings hope because the ultimate Healer is G-d Himself, the One who sustains all life.

Every day in the Amidah prayer, we say: “Healer of the sick of His people Israel.” When I say those words, I sometimes focus deeply on them, thinking: It doesn’t matter what the illness is. It doesn’t matter what the statistics say. G-d can heal anything and anyone.

Financial Struggles

Making a living is one of the hardest tests we face. In Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals), we say: “G-d, who sustains us and the entire world with His goodness.” That one blessing contains the answer to all financial questions.

We also say: “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living being.” Even someone who is drowning in debt and sees no way out must remember: To the Creator, there is no difference between five dollars and five million.

He can provide even to someone who doesn’t know a thing about business or has no profession at all. Even someone who makes no effort, if G-d wills it, He can pour abundance on them from nowhere. A person struggling to make ends meet must remember that G-d has been sustaining the entire world for over 5,000 years, and He alone holds the real solution to our financial difficulties.

Sometimes the situation looks hopeless as if there’s no natural way forward. We must remember that the Torah testifies that G-d fed an entire nation in the wilderness—the men alone numbered 600,000. He gave them manna, the most wondrous food in the world.

As it says in the book of Deuteronomy (8:3): “He fed you manna, which you did not know…to teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of G-d.”

There is no money in the world.
There is no food in the world.
There is only the Creator of the world.