Fear of Heaven and Fear of Sin
STUDENT SUMMARIES OF SICHOT OF THE ROSHEI YESHIVA
Parashat naso
SICHA OF HARAV YEHUDA AMITAL ztl
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Fear of Heaven and Fear of Sin
Translated by
When a man or woman pronounces the vow of a nazir, to separate himself
unto God
(Bamidbar 6:2)
Judaism opposes self-affliction. The nazir status is meant for a person
who is burdened by an oppressive sense of his material existence and who seeks
to separate himself from it in order to achieve balance. The decision to spend a
period of time as a nazir, in such circumstances, conforms with the
Rambams prescription in his Shemonah Perakim. He writes that although
the golden mean is always best, if a person feels that he is tending towards
an extreme in some particular area, he should act according to the opposite
extreme in order to ultimately regain the ideal i.e., to return to the middle
path.
In previous generations, pious individuals used to afflict themselves in various
ways. People observing them used to think that this was the path of Judaism, but
they were mistaken; those tzaddikim used to afflict themselves for a
different reason. What was their true reason?
One might imagine that they felt themselves to be too materialistic, and they
therefore sought to disconnect themselves almost completely from materialism, so
as to achieve the golden mean. However, this is difficult to maintain in light
of the fact that there were great tzaddikim who were far removed from any
sort of earthly pleasures, such as the Vilna Gaon, who nevertheless subjected
themselves to affliction and exile.
Rav Kook writes in Orot that these tzaddikim were motivated by
something else. Indeed, in terms of their own personal balance, they had no need
for afflictions. However, there is another dimension of balance social
balance. These individuals saw that society was becoming increasingly
materialistic, and they therefore took it upon themselves to remain removed and
disconnected from material comfort in order to bring balance to society.
The prayer attributed to Rav includes the words, Grant us
life which includes
fear of sin (Berakhot 16a). Ashkenazim recite this prayer on the Shabbat
before every Rosh Chodesh, but with a small addition: life which includes
fear of Heaven and fear of sin. What is the meaning of this addition? The
Gemara (Chullin 105a) teaches:
Mar Ukva said: I may be considered as vinegar which is the product of wine
[Rashi I am inferior to my father, in this one matter of waiting between
eating meat and milk]. If my father was to eat meat today, he would not eat
cheese until this hour tomorrow, whereas I would not eat cheese at this meal,
but I will eat it at the next meal.
At first, this testimony seems rather perplexing: is it really so difficult to
abstain from milk after eating meat until the next day, such that Mar Ukva is
unable to maintain his fathers standards?
Mar Ukva could wait the 24 hours, but for him this would have been a ritual
performed outwardly without any inner resonance. His father was on a level where
he could not permit himself to eat dairy food within 24 hours of having eaten
meat. Mar Ukva views himself as vinegar which is the product of wine because
he knows that if he were to wait 24 hours it would be an act of pretense.
Therefore he also says (Berakhot 35b): Many conducted themselves
like
Why were they not successful? Because they conducted themselves like
There was once a student at the yeshiva who would often approach me after the
prayer service with the same query: I fear that I may not have prayed with the
proper intention. Must I pray a second time? A person like this ends up
suffering from halakhic neurosis. This is not the Jewish path.
It is for this reason that in our prayer for the coming month we ask for life
which includes fear of Heaven, in addition to fear of sin. Fear of sin alone
is not sufficient. A person who fulfills the commandments solely out of fear of
sin becomes neurotic over each and every mitzva, and he observes them as a mere
collection of laws to be punctiliously obeyed. Fear of sin must have backing: it
must be accompanied by and derive from fear of Heaven. Only thus, with inner
awareness, will there be true fulfillment of the commandments. The ideal life of
a Jew is one that includes both fear of Heaven and fear of sin.