What Is Your Primary?

Rav Saadya Gaon begins Emunot V’Deot with a striking idea:

“כי לא יוכל האדם לחיות בלי דעות, ואם לא יאמץ לו דעות נכונות – יאחז בדעות שווא.” “A man cannot live without opinions, and if he does not adopt true ones, he will adopt false ones.”

He’s teaching us that every person lives by certain guiding beliefs. You can’t avoid it. If you don’t choose truth, you’ll automatically pick up something false.

The Nesivos Shalom takes this deeper: in avodas Hashem. A person must decide what is ikar (primary) and what is tafel (secondary). Without clarity, life gets upside down. So the question is:

👉 What is your primary?

• Is it your job?

• Your health?

• Your family?

• Your emotional balance?

All of these matter — but they are secondary.

The primary must be: Crowning Hashem as King*.

That’s the central focus of Rosh Hashanah and Elul: realigning our beliefs, asking ourselves, “What am I living for?”

This Rosh Hashana, the work is simple but life-changing: Choose truth. Choose Hashem as your primary. Everything else — family, work, health — becomes blessed when it flows from that center.