The other day, I misplaced my ring. I searched and searched where I thought it might have been lost, but I couldn’t find it. Somehow, it just disappeared. Later on in the week, I found it. Inexplicably, without my looking, as I went about my regular errands, my ring just reappeared. I have no idea how it got there, but I was happy I had it back.

Think about the things that you have lost and found in your life. Most often, when we refer to a “find,” we refer to a lost object that we are now reunited with. But sometimes, we can also “find” ourselves.

It might be on a secluded mountain top, or we might just wake up one day to the realization that a part of us—a new talent, awareness, or perspective—has surfaced. What was previously completely obscured now becomes clear. What changed? It’s hard to put our finger on it because it’s not something that we worked on in any orderly kind of manner. It’s not something that we scheduled; rather, it’s a realization and an understanding that has been bestowed on us. We found a missing part of ourselves.

In the terminology of the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a), a “find” happens without planning: b’hesach hadaat, “in absence of awareness.” When we “find” something, we usually mean that an object of value comes to us unexpectedly.

That’s why it is unexpected that this word is used in this week’s Torah portion to describe the Jewish people’s faith in G‑d.

“G‑d found them in a desert landand in a desolate, howling wasteland. He encompassed them and bestowed understanding upon them; He protected them as the pupil of His eye.” (Deuteronomy 32:10)

Rashi explains this verse as praise for the Jewish people: “G‑d found them faithful to Him in a desert land, for they accepted His Torah, His sovereignty, and His yoke upon themselves.”

Rashi continues: An arid, desolate land, a place of howling jackals and ostriches. Yet even there, Israel followed their faith. They did not say to Moses, “How can we go out into the deserts, a place of drought and desolation?”

The Jewish people’s faith in G‑d transcended structure, order, or limitations. They were committed to loyally follow G‑d to an unknown destination. Similarly, G‑d’s devotion to us mirrors ours, and His love extends beyond any system or rational.

Similar to a “find,” our faith is not something planned for, and is far deeper than any rational thinking.

We are now in the High Holiday season. We pledge to continue to be committed to follow G‑d’s ways; we ask G‑d to reciprocate His devotion to us and bless us with a year of peace, health, and prosperity so we can remain loyal to our mission of making our world a more G‑dly place.