Mitzvah #1 — To Know That There Is a G-d
- Hebrew
- לֵידַע שֶׁיֵּשׁ אֵ-ל
- Torah source
- Shemot (Exodus) 20:2
- Type
- Positive commandment (mitzvat aseh)
- Rambam
- P-1
- Sefer HaChinuch
- 25
The first commandment and the foundation of everything that follows.
The first of the 613, and the ground everything else stands on. It is drawn from the opening line of the Ten Commandments — Shemot 20:2 — and it is the first mitzvah in the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot.
Notice what it asks. Not to feel, not to hope, but to know that there is a G-d. Simple to say, and the work of a lifetime to live.