Yirat Shamayim (Fear of G-d)

By: Rav Meir Orlian

Now, O Israel, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you? ONLY to fear Hashem, your G-d, to go in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul; to observe the commandments of Hashem and His decrees, which I command you today, for your benefit. (Devarim 10:12,13) The word ONLY, which implies a minimal request, seems totally inappropriate to introduce this comprehensive list of demands. Fear of G-d (Yirat Shamayim) is in of itself a lofty ideal, let alone the remainder of the list! Chazal note this difficulty and ask (Berachot 33b), "Is Yirat Shamayim a small matter?!"

The Ramban, in fact, explains that the word "only" relates to the conclusion of the verses, "for your benefit." In other words, although G-d is demanding total service of Him, it is not because He needs it, but rather He demands it "for YOUR benefit." Moshe is essentially echoing G-d's words following Matan Torah, "Let it be that this heart should remain theirs, to fear Me and observe all My commandments all the days, so that it should be good for them and for their children forever!" (Devarim 5:26)

Chazal, however, interpret the word "only" as applying to the immediately following phrase, "to fear Hashem, your G-d." (Berachot 33b):

R. Chanina says: Everything is in the hands of G-d except for Yirat Shamayim, as it says, "Now, O Israel, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you? ONLY to fear Hashem." Is Yirat Shamayim a small matter? ... Yes, for Moshe it was a small matter, as R. Chanina said, "This is comparable to a person who is asked for a large vessel which he has; it seems to him like a small vessel. A small vessel which he doesn't have; it seems to him like a large vessel." Yirat Shamayim is, indeed, a "large vessel," and not something simple. However, since Moshe had already acquired this trait, he viewed it merely as a "small vessel," and was able to say "only." Many commentators raise the obvious difficulty with this passage. Although for Moshe himself Yirat Shamayim may have seemed a small matter, he was, after all, speaking to Bnei Yisrael, who were not at his level. For them, this demand of Yirat Shamayim remains a great matter!

Furthermore, Chazal emphasize the significance of Yirat Shamayim as essential for the preservation of wisdom (Shemot Rabbah 30:11):

A person learns midrash, halachot, and aggadot. If he does not have fear of sin -- he has nothing! This is comparable to a person who said to his friend, "I have a thousand measures of grain; I have a thousand measures of oil and a thousand of wine." His friend said to him, "Do you have storehouses to put them into? If you do have, everything is yours; if not -- you have nothing!" So too, a person learns everything. They say to him, "If you have fear of sin, everything is yours," as it says, "Fear of Hashem is his treasure." (Yeshayahu 33:6) Why is this particular trait so important specifically for wisdom?

To explain this completely would require an understanding of the term "fear of G-d" in its different forms and levels. Abarbanel, Mesillat Yesharim, and the Netziv deal with this at length. Perhaps we can answer these questions, though, based on one of the simplest aspects of "Yirat Shamayim."

Rashi, in his commentary to the gemara (s.v. hakol) defines Yirat Shamayim as choosing to be righteous, not wicked. One of the bases of this choice is approaching G-d in a straightforward manner, as we find regarding Iyov, "That man was wholesome and straightforward (yashar), G-d fearing and shunned evil." Conversely, the gemara states (Berachot 59a), "Thunder was created just to straighten the twistedness of the heart, as it says, "G-d has acted so that [man] should fear Him." (Kohelet 3:14) Straightforwardness is the key to Yirat Shamayim; twistedness of the heart is its antithesis.

Furthermore, Kohelet (7:29) teaches us that man was created with a straightforward nature, "G-d has made man straightforward (yashar), but they sought too much reasoning." People have a natural sense for the truth, perhaps what we commonly term an "inner conscience." People sin, however, because they rationalize and overrule their inner conscience. Yirat Shamayim is the trait which ensures that a person maintains his straightforwardness, and does not succumb to his rationalization. When Chazal say, "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for Yirat Shamayim," this means, then, that a person is granted free will to follow his inner conscience or to follow his rationalizations. While Moshe obviously reached the highest levels of Yirat Shamayim, the most basic level is something which is within everyone's grasp. Since man is created with this as a natural instinct, it is fair to say to Bnei Yisrael "only."

We now understand, as well, the connection between Yirat Shamayim and the preservation of wisdom. The more wisdom a person has, the more he will be able to rationalize and to convince himself against the truth. His wisdom, then, can become a source of sin. In this sense, Yirat Shamayim serves as the preservative to ensure that wisdom will be applied correctly to bring people to righteousness and greater service of G-d.

With this we can also understand the close link between the traits of Yirat Shamayim and Anavah (humility), as it says in Mishlei (22:4), "The result of humility is fear of Hashem." Similarly, we find in the famous "ladder" of R. Pinchas b. Yair (which forms the basis of Ramchal's classic work, Mesillat Yesharim), "Humility bring to fear of sin." (Avoda Zara 20b) A person who is humble will not seek to rationalize in order to gain, but will be straightforward and be willing to accept the dictates of his inner conscience. As such, it is understandable that since Moshe had reached the pinnacle of humility (cf. Bamidbar 12:3), he clearly possessed the trait of Yirat Shamayim as well.

Perhaps we can even connect the simple meaning of the verse, as explained by the Ramban, to the interpretation provided by Chazal. Indeed, all that G-d wants from us is for our benefit. However, the true benefit of man is achieved through service of Hashem and following the way of G-d, not through the various means that man rationalizes to himself.

This approach can also explain R. Meir's law, based on this verse, that a person must make one-hundred blessings daily. (Menachot 43b. See Daat Zekainim who explains the textual basis of this drasha.) A person who declares one-hundred times daily that G-d is the source of all good (and sorrow) in this world, will be able to maintain Yirat Shamayim and not seek to gain through rationalization and illegal means.

FEAR OF GOD

FEAR OF GOD (Heb. yirat elohim, but in the Talmud yirat shamayim, lit. "fear of Heaven"), ethical religious concept, sometimes confused with yirat ḥet, "the fear of sin," but in fact quite distinct from it. The daily private prayer of Rav (Ber. 16a), which has been incorporated in the Ashkenazi liturgy in the Blessing for the New Moon, speaks of "a life of fear of Heaven and of fear of sin." In the latter, "fear" is to be understood in the sense of apprehension of the consequences of sin but in the former in the sense of "reverence"; as such it refers to an ethical outlook and a religious attitude, which is distinct from the actual performance of the commandments. "Fear of God" frequently occurs in the Bible, particularly with regard to Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:12), and it is mentioned as that which God primarily desires of man (Deut. 10:12). Nevertheless it does not seem to have an exact connotation in the Bible (see *Love and Fear of God), and it was the rabbis who formulated the doctrine of Fear of God with some precision. Basing itself on Leviticus 19:14 (and similar verses, e.g., 19:32, 25:17, 36:43), the Sifra (in loc. cf. Kid. 32b) maintains that the phrase "thou shalt fear thy God" is used only for those commandments which "are known to the heart" ("the sin is known to the heart of the person who commits it, but other men cannot detect it" – Rashi in loc.) i.e., there are no social sanctions attached to it, and the impulse behind its performance is reverence for God. This is, in fact, reflected in Exodus 1:17 and it is emphasized, from a slightly different aspect, in the famous maxim of Antigonus of *Sokho, "Be as servants who serve their master without thought of reward, but let the fear of heaven be upon thee" (Avot 1:3). It was spelled out by Johanan b. Zakkai, when on his deathbed he enjoined his disciples: "Let the fear of Heaven be upon you as the fear of flesh and blood." In answer to their surprised query "and not more?" he answered, "If only it were as much! When a person wishes to commit a transgression he says, 'I hope no man will see me'" (Ber. 28b). The characteristic of the God-fearing man is that he "speaketh truth in his heart" (Ps. 15:2; bb 88a).

The fear of God complements knowledge of the Torah. According to one opinion it is only through fear of heaven that one can arrive at true knowledge of the Torah: "He who possesses learning without the fear of heaven is like a treasurer who is entrusted with the inner keys but not with the outer. How is he to enter?" Another opinion is: "Woe to him who has no courtyard yet makes a gate for it," since it is through knowledge that one attains fear of God (Shab. 31a–b). Since fear of God is a state of mind and an ethical attitude, it can best be acquired by considering and following the example of one's teacher by waiting on him, with the result that one of the consequences of depriving a disciple of the privilege of waiting upon his master is that he deprives him of the fear of God (Ket. 96a). The quality and practice of fear of God depend upon man alone. The statement upon which is based the fundamental Jewish doctrine of the absolute free *will of man is couched in the words "Everything is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven." The proof verse for this statement is "what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord" (Deut. 10:12), and, countering this, the Talmud asks, "Is then fear of heaven such a small thing?" answering that it was only Moses who so regarded it (Ber. 33b).

For the relationship between fear of God and love of God see *Love and Fear of God.

[Louis Isaac Rabinowitz]

The traditional attitude toward the fear (yir'ah) of God was thus ambivalent: it was highly valued, but at the same time was regarded as inferior to the love of God. (Cf. "Love and Fear of God; see tb Sota 31a). Later Jewish thought attempted to resolve this ambivalence by positing the fear of God as an equivocal term. *Bahya ibn Paquda (11^th century), in his Duties of the Heart 10:6, characterized two different types of fear as a lower "fear of punishment" and a higher "fear of [divine] glory." Abraham *Ibn Daud (early 12^th century) differentiated between "fear of harm" (analogous to the fear of a snake bite or of a king's punishment) and "fear of greatness," analogous to respect for an exalted person, such as a prophet, who would not harm a person (The Exalted Faithvi). Maimonides (late 12^th century) categorized the fear of God as a positive commandment. Nevertheless, the halakhic status he accorded to the fear of God did not prevent it from being presented in diverse ways. In his Book of the Commandments (commandment #4), Maimonides characterized it as "the fear of punishment," whereas in his Code he characterized it as the feeling of human insignificance deriving from contemplation of God's "great and wonderful actions and creations" (Foundations of the Torah 2:1). Nevertheless, later in the Code Maimonides presents "service based on fear" as a religiously inferior type of behavior of "the ignorant (ʿamei ha-arez), women and children," deriving from their hope for reward and fear of punishment (Laws of Repentance 10:1). At the end of his Guide of thePerplexed (3:52), Maimonides characterizes fear as resulting from the entire system of commandments, and as expressing a sense of shame in the presence of God. Isaac Arama (15^th century) differentiates among three types of fear in his Binding of Isaac (ch. 92): in addition to the sublime fear of greatness and inferior "fear not for its own sake" he posits a fear which is the fruit of belief in the divine will, which makes possible undetermined events. In another work (Ḥazut Kashah, ch. 3) Arama characterizes this third type of fear as a supra-philosophical rank, because, in his view, although the philosophers recognized God's supreme greatness, they did not fear God, since in their view God could not harm people.

The fear of God was also characterized in diverse ways in the Kabbalah by means of the different *sefirot: fear was symbolized by the sefirot "wisdom" (ḥokhmah) (based on Job 28:28), "understanding (binah) (based on Proverbs 1:7), "power" (gevurah), which has the same gematria (numerical value) as yir'ah (fear), or "kingdom" (malkhut) (based on Mishnah Sanhedrin 2:5).

[Hannah Kasher (2^nd ed.)]

bibliography:

Urbach, Ḥazal, 348–370. add. bibliography: H. Kreisel, Maimonides' Political Thought: Studies in Ethics, Law and the Human Ideal (1999), ch. 7.

https://www.etzion.org.il/en/moshe-hid-his-face-he-was-afraid-look-god

Yirat Shamayim: Fear of Heaven

5771

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

posted on December 25, 2001

Torah Reading

Exodus 1:1-6:1

Haftarah Reading

Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23

With the opening of Sefer Sh'mot, the Book of Exodus, the Torah moves from cosmic origins to the role of God in salvation and history. As the Israelites find themselves in a descending spiral of servitude and suffering, their call to God unleashes the ultimate conflict, between the very wellsprings of life and liberation (that we recognize as God) and the embodiment of tyranny and pointlessness epitomized by Pharaoh. This is not merely a contest between two unequal rivals, but the steady opposition of two incompatible ways of organizing one's life, structuring a society, of moving through time. Life vs. death, freedom vs. tyranny, ultimate meaning vs. personal pleasure - these are the archetypal poles between which human destiny plays out.

Into that explosive struggle, the Torah shines a light with the bold courage of the most unlikely of sources: two Hebrew midwives. Birth and death are never far removed from the contest over competing values, and in this epic tale, Pharaoh escalates his forces of death by ordering the midwives to murder the Israelite boys. Even though their instructions come from the world's most powerful despot, "THE MIDWIVES, FEARING GOD, DID NOT DO AS THE KING OF EGYPT HAD TOLD THEM; THEY LET THE BOYS LIVE."

What is the nature of this "fear" that could motivate such courageous dissent? Jewish tradition steps in to make the chasm of Pharaoh's edict and the midwives' stance all the more impressive. Says the Talmud, keeping the boys alive meant that the midwives "supplied them with water and food." The medieval sage Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explains," even more than at first, they now worked with all their strength to save the children." What could motivate such behavior? How can we explain their daring and their disobedience?

There are two ways to understand the yira, the fear, the Torah mentions. Later Jewish traditions (rabbinic, philosophical, and mystical) understood a lower, lesser fear to be the fear of God's punishments for not following the right path. Such a motivation, however compelling, was viewed with some disdain, as not really worthy of the realm of faith and holiness.

What the Zohar calls "holy fear" and what Rabbi Yosef Albo calls "noble fear" is not the fear of consequences. It is awe that emerges from the contemplation of God's incomparability, greatness, and magnificence. Yira as marvel, wonder, awe - that is, for David ibn Daud the "awe of greatness" as opposed to a mere "fear of harm." It was this holy fear that moved these two brave women.

Such awe is different than our common fears. The Hasidic commentary Mei ha-Shiloach notes, "when one fears a person, one cannot remain calm, because fear is the opposite of being calm. However, awe of heaven brings calm to the soul... As the midwives were calm because of their awe of heaven, they did not have any fear of Pharaoh's decrees."

Fear of heaven is a step toward soul liberation. A soul that trembles before human displays of might, power, or influence is one that has not really apprehended the vastness of the cosmos, the frailty of even the most imposing personage, the sheer wonder of life and of being - the greatness of God. To focus the mind on that greatness, to mold one's consciousness around the radical majesty of God's presence - that is the spur which faith offers toward freedom. As the medieval compendium Orhot Tzaddikim realizes, "this fear is really love."

Small wonder, then that this virtue, yirat Shamayim, is so basic: Bahya ben Asher tells us that fear of heaven is "the foundation of the entire Torah," and the Orhot Tzaddikim insists that "the Torah is of no use to an individual but for yirat Shamayim, for it is the very peg upon which everything hangs." The contemporary sage Rabbi Louis Jacobs, insists, "Religion without yirat Shamayim is no more than a sentimental attachment to ancient forms from which the spirit has departed."

Yirat Shamayim is the beginning of an inner liberation from the tyranny of human opinion and coercion. Imagining the sublimity and dignity of God, the pressures of conformity or social consensus pales to insignificance. For the Hebrew midwives, fear of God was a way of seeing Pharaoh for who he was –simply another human being, seeking to silence his own fear and fragility by bullying the weak. It was their awe and wonder at God's greatness that imbued these women with clarity about their own real greatness: the opportunity to shine God's light in a murky and hurting world.

Shabbat Shalom!

יראת יהוה

Hebrew Word

The Hebrew noun yireh usually refers to a combination of fear, astonishment, and dread.

When used as part of the phrase yirat Adonai (often translated "fear of the Lord") it means these, but also speaks of awe and devotion before God.

Meaning in Ancient Israel

In ancient Israel the phrase yirat Adonai was not used until the time of King David.

In Torah the Israelites are frequently commanded to feel yireh towards God, but this attitude has not yet solidified into a noun concept. In Levitics the phrase v'yarayta may'Elohay-cha ("you shall fear your God") is used (verses 19:32 and 25:17). In Deuteronomy a more similar phrase, teera et Adonai ("fear Adonai") is once used as a command (verse 6:2). Normally Deuteronomy uses less similar phrases in its commands to feel yireh towards God (verses 6:13, 6:24, 8:6, 10:12, 10:20, 13:4, and others.)

The phrase yirat Adonai is not used until the Psalms of David, who apparently coined the phrase (Psalm 19:9, 34:11).

King David wrote that "yirat Adonai is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10), a sentiment Solomon repeats and varies (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10, 15:33). In Proverbs the phrase yirat Adonai is often discussed in other ways, and is once identified with hating evil (Proverbs 8:13).

In Isaiah 11:1-3 we read about how yirat Adonai is identified with God's Spirit and it will be on the messiah. (The following translation follows the Septuagint in reading the first word of verse 11:3 as roo-ach ("spirit"), rather than the Masoretic Text's use of the word ray-ach ("smell").)

Meaning in the First Century

In the First Century the phrase "God Fearer" was used to refer to Gentiles who partially joined the Jewish community. According to Josephus these Gentiles would attend synagogue, pay tithes to the Temple, and make use of the Temple's "court of the Gentiles", but not undergo a conversion ceremony.

Cornelius is an example (Acts 10:2). Paul addresses "Men of Israel and God-Fearers..." in Acts 13:16.

Yirat Shamayim, fear of Heaven, is a basic spiritual quality required in Judaism. Yirah means literally to fear, tremble or revere. Shamayim, meaning skies or heavens, is also a reference to God, as in English.

The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) likens someone who knows Torah but lacks yirat Shamayim to a palace treasurer who holds the inner keys to the treasure but does not have the outer key; ie what he has is useless.

Yirah, fear, is not generally thought of as a spiritual quality these days when self-confidence is all. The classic Jewish ethical writers, such as Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-47), stress the distinction between lower yirat Shamayim, the fear of punishment, (which certainly has its place in ethical training) and higher yirat Shamayim, which is to be suffused with awe and reverence for God and creation.

The Talmud also distinguishes between fearfulness or anxiety that ones spiritual life is not as it should be (often appropriate), and fearfulness about worldly matters, which in general is misplaced.

Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven, the Talmud famously states (Berachot 33a). Ultimately the only thing in the world that we control is our basic spiritual orientation towards the world.

Harry S May - Yirei Adonai