ליקוטי אמרים

In the light of what has already been said on the subject of the lower kind of fear, one will clearly understand the Talmudic comment on the verse, “And now, Israel, what does the L–rd your G–d demand of you? Only to fear the L–rd your G–d.”1 Deuteronomy 10:12. [The Gemara asks,] “Is fear, then, such a small thing?” [And the Gemara replies:] “Yes, in the case of Moses it was a small thing,” and so forth.2 Berachot 33b.

At first glance the answer is incomprehensible, for it is written, “[What does the L–rd] demand of you?” [not of Moses]. The explanation, however, is as follows: Each and every soul of the House of Israel contains within it something of the quality of our teacher Moses, peace unto him, for he is one of the “seven shepherds”3 Sukkah 52b; another version in Tikkunim, end; Zohar Chadash (104a). who cause vitality and G–dliness to flow to the community of Jewish souls, for which reason they are called “shepherds.” Our teacher, Moses, peace unto him, is the sum of them all, and he is called “the faithful shepherd.” This means that he brings down the quality of daat (knowledge) to the community of Israel that they may know the L–rd, each according to the capacity of his soul and its root above, and [according to] its nurture from the root of the soul of our teacher Moses, peace unto him, which is rooted in the Daat Elyon (Higher Knowledge) of the ten sefirot of Atzilut, which are united with their blessed Emanator, for He and His Knowledge are One, and He is the Knowledge….4 Ref. to Maimonides’ statement already quoted in chs. 2, 4, 23.

In addition and beyond this [general influence to the community as a whole] there descend, in every generation, sparks from the soul of our teacher Moses, peace unto him, and they clothe themselves in the body and soul of the sages of that generation, the “eyes” of the congregation,5 See Taanit 24a and Rashi, loc. cit.; Numbers 16:24. to impart knowledge to the people that they may know the greatness of G–d and serve Him with heart and soul. For the service of the heart is according to the daat as is written, “Know the G–d of your father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.”6 I Chronicles 28:9. But regarding the future [Messianic Era] it is written, “And no longer shall every man teach his neighbor […] saying, Know the L–rd, for they shall all know Me….”7 Jeremiah 31:33.

However, the essence of knowledge is not the knowing alone, that people should know the greatness of G–d from authors and books; but the essential thing is to immerse one’s mind deeply into the greatness of G–d and fix one’s thought on G–d with all the strength and vigor of the heart and mind, until his thought shall be bound to G–d with a strong and mighty bond, as it is bound to a material thing that he sees with his physical eyes and concentrates his thought on it. For it is known that daat connotes union, as in the phrase “And Adam yada (knew) Eve….”8 Genesis 4:1.

This capacity and this quality of attaching one’s “knowledge” to G–d is present in every soul of the House of Israel by virtue of its nurture from the soul of our teacher Moses, peace unto him. Only, since the soul has clothed itself in the body, it needs a great and mighty exertion, doubled and redoubled: First is the wearying of the flesh, the crushing of the body and its submission, so that it shall not obscure the light of the soul, as has been mentioned above9 Ch. 29. in the name of the Zohar, that “a body into which the light of the soul does not penetrate should be crushed,” which is accomplished by means of penitential reflections from the depths of the heart, as is explained there.

Next is the exertion of the soul, that the service shall not be burdensome to it, to exert its thought to delve into and reflect upon the greatness of G–d for a long and uninterrupted period, the measure of which is not the same for every soul. There is the naturally refined soul which, immediately as it considers the greatness of G–d, attains a fear and dread of G–d. As is written in the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, sec. 1, that “When a man reflects that the great King, the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, with Whose glory the whole world is full, stands over him and sees his actions, he will immediately be overcome with fear….”

There is a soul that is of lowly nature and origin, coming from the lower gradations of the ten sefirot of Asiyah, which cannot discover G–dliness by contemplation except with difficulty and forcefulness, especially if it had been contaminated by the sin of youth, for the sins interpose, and so on [as is explained in Sefer Chassidim, ch. 35].

Nevertheless, by dint of forceful effort, when his thought greatly exerts itself with much vigor and toil and intense concentration, immersing in [contemplation of] the greatness of G–d for a considerable time, there will certainly come to him, at any rate, the lower fear referred to above, and as the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said, “[If a man says] ‘I have labored and I have found’—believe him.”10 Megillah 6b. It is also written, “If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the L–rd.”11 Proverbs 2:4-5. This means, in the manner of a man seeking a hidden treasure or the wealth buried in the depths of the earth, for which he digs with tireless toil, so must one delve with unflagging energy in order to bring to light the treasure of the fear of Heaven, which lies buried and concealed in the understanding of the heart of every Jewish individual, this being of a quality and level transcending the limitations of time, and this is the natural, hidden fear referred to above.

However, in order that it should be translated into action, in the sense of “fear of sin,” namely, to turn away from evil in deed, word, and thought, one needs to bring it to light from the hidden depths of the understanding of the heart, where it transcends time, and to place it within the realm of the actual thought that is in the brain. [This means] immersing his thought in it for a lengthy period of time until its activity shall emerge from the potential into the actual, namely, turning away from evil and doing good in thought, speech, and act because of G–d, Who looks and sees, hears and listens and perceives all his deeds and searches his reins and heart. As the Rabbis, of blessed memory, said, “Reflect upon three things…an Eye that sees, an Ear that hears….”12 Avot 2:1.

And although He has no bodily likeness, yet, on the contrary, everything is revealed and known to Him infinitely more than, for example, through the medium of physical sight or hearing. It is, by way of illustration, like a man who knows and feels within himself all that is happening to and being experienced by each and all of his 248 organs, such as cold and heat, feeling the heat even in his toenails, for example, as when he is scorched by fire; so also their essence and substance and all that is done to them, he knows and senses in his brain.

Corresponding to this knowledge, by way of example, the Holy One, blessed is He, knows all that befalls all created beings, both higher and lower, because they all receive their flow of life from Him, blessed be He, as is written, “For all is from You.”13 I Chronicles 29:14. And this is the meaning of what we say, “And no creature is hidden from You.”14 Liturgy, Musaf for Rosh Hashanah. And as Maimonides has said [and this has been accepted by the scholars of the Kabbalah, as Rabbi Moses Cordovero writes in Pardes], that “Knowing Himself, as it were, He knows all created things that exist by virtue of His true existence….”

Nevertheless this parallel is only an appeal to the ear. In truth, however, the analogy bears no similarity whatsoever to the object of the comparison. For the human soul, even the rational and the divine, is affected by the events of the body and its pain by reason of its being actually clothed within the vivifying soul which is clothed in the body itself.

The Holy One, blessed is He, however, is not, Heaven forbid, affected by the events of the world and its changes, nor by the world itself, for they do not affect any change in Him, G–d forbid. In order to help us perceive this well with our intelligence, the Scholars of Truth have already treated of it at length in their books. But all Jews are “believers descended from believers,”15 Shabbat 92a. without human intellectual speculation whatsoever, and they declare, “You were [the same] before the world was created,” and so forth,16 Liturgy. Cf. Yalkut, Va’etchanan 836, quoting a source in the Jerusalem Talmud. as has been explained above in ch. 20.

Now, therefore, each individual Jew, whoever he may be, when he ponders upon this for some considerable time each day—how the Holy One, blessed is He, is truly omnipresent in the higher and lower [worlds], and in reality fills the heavens and the earth, and that the whole world is truly full of His glory, and that He looks and regards and searches his reins and his heart and all his actions and words, and counts his every step—then fear will be implanted in his heart throughout the day; and when he again meditates on this, even with a superficial reflection, at any time or moment, he will turn away from evil and do good, in thought, speech, and deed, so as not to rebel, G–d forbid, in the sight of His glory whereof the whole world is full. This is in accord with the instruction of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai to his disciples, quoted above.17 Ch. 41.

This, then, is what the verse means, “Only to fear the L–rd your G–d, to walk in all His ways.”18 Deuteronomy 10:12. For this is the fear that leads to the fulfillment of His commandments, blessed be He, through turning away from evil and doing good. This is the “lower fear” which has been discussed earlier. As it applies to “Moses,” that is to say, in relation to the quality of daat that is in each divine Jewish soul, this is a minor thing, as has been stated above. [For daat is [the faculty] which binds the hidden understanding of the heart with that which is actually revealed in thought, as is known to the students of Kabbalah].

In addition to this, one should remember that, as in the case of a mortal king, the essence of fear [of him] relates to his inner nature and vitality and not to his body—for when he is asleep, there is no fear of him—and, surely, his inner character and vitality are not perceived by physical eyes but only by the vision of the mind, through the physical eyes beholding his stature and robes, and making the beholder aware of the vitality that is clothed in them. If this be so, he must likewise truly fear G–d when gazing with his physical eyes at the heavens and earth and all their host wherein is clothed the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, that animates them.

NOTE: And it is also seen with the glance of the eye that they are nullified to His light, blessed be He, by the fact that they “prostrate” themselves every day toward the west at the time of their setting. As the Rabbis, of blessed memory, commented on the verse: “And the hosts of the heavens bow before You,”19 Nehemiah 9:6. that the Shechinah abides in the west, so that their daily orbit westward is a kind of prostration and self-nullification.20 Sanhedrin 91b; Bava Batra 25a. Even he who has never seen the king and does not recognize him at all, nevertheless when he enters the royal court and sees many honorable princes prostrating themselves before one man, there falls on him a fear and awe.

And although many garments are involved in this investment, there is no difference or distinction at all in the fear of a mortal king, whether he be naked or robed in one or in many garments.

The essential thing, however, is the [mental] training to habituate one’s mind and thought continuously, that it ever remain fixed in his heart and mind, that everything one sees with one’s eyes—the heavens and earth and all that is therein—constitutes the outer garments of the King, the Holy One, blessed is He. In this way he will constantly be aware of their inwardness and vitality. This is also implicit in the word emunah (“faith”), which is a term indicating “training,” to which a man habituates himself, like a craftsman who trains his hands.

There should also be a constant remembrance of the dictum of the Rabbis, of blessed memory, “Acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven,” which parallels the injunction “You shall surely set a king over yourself,”21 Deuteronomy 17:15. as has been explained elsewhere, and so on. For the Holy One, blessed is He, forgoes the higher and lower worlds and uniquely bestows His Kingdom upon us, and so on, and we accept it, and so forth. And this is the significance of the obeisances in the prayer of the Eighteen Benedictions, following the verbal acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven in the recital of the Shema, whereby one accepts it once again in actual deed, with a [positive] act, and so forth, as is explained elsewhere.