You are a yeshivish rabbi and scholar. please give me a title for the following text:

We will now approach the next step in our work on developing Yiras Shomayim. We are not going to define yet what exactly Yiras Shomayim means. That is not our focus now - rather, we are looking to practically experience Yiras Shomayim. Through our efforts, perhaps we'll see "aha, this is Yiras Shomayim."

So today I want to show you, as a continuation of the last va'ad, how these things are built in R' Yisroel and in the Rishonim. This will enable us to work upon it, even though we don't yet know what it means. Interesting, right? Even without knowing what Yiras Shomayim means, it is still possible to work on it. 

Last time we mentioned that the seichel must cultivate Yiras Shomayim, as R' Yisrael says. But we must proceed carefully due to two important points R' Yisrael raises.

The first point is that Yiras Shomayim must enable one to not bend before temptations and distractions. 

But the second point is what I want to emphasize. Yiras Shomayim's very purpose is to drive one towards action - to cause one to do things. It is not passive withdrawal but rather active engagement.

R' Yisroel speaks about that in Michtav Hei where he harshly rebukes his Talmidim. To give some context to this letter, his students were obligated to try bringing people closer to learning mussar. [It appears that learning mussar was never a popular thing.] They feared people would laugh and oppose them, creating a big workload and public embarrassment. You know the excuses that come up - it's too difficult, people will oppose me, it will cause fights, it's not really worth it, there will be a Chilul Hashem - in the end it actually becomes a mitzvah not to do anything at all.

This is what happened to his students, and R' Yisrael strongly rebukes them. He says:

 יראי ה' המה ילבשו עוז לכבוש את הרשע במצודת תאוותיו. ומה יעצרם? מוכנים המה לכל חפץ לבבם להקים מזימתם.
Nothing will stop those who have Yiras Shomayim. They are ready to do whatever it takes to accomplish their mission.

הכי הגשם ימנעם ואם הבושת והכלימה יבלבלם?
Do you really think that the heaviness of the gashmius will stop them or that the bushe - the embarrassment - will cause them to have a bilbul hadaas?

היראי ה יקראו, אם כה דרכי התורה?
Can that truly be called Yiras Shomayim, when making such excuses?

ולזה ראשית דבר ה' לבל יבוש מן המלעיגים.
That is why the first halocho in Shulchan Aruch is that one should feel no embarrassment from those who make fun of you. No embarrassment whatsoever

ולזרות הלאה חמודי תבל והבליו.
And one should pay no attention to fleeting physical desires.

ובזאת – התבונה והחוש ינגדו זה לזה.
Because that's the way you function, seichel understands yet the experience contradicts. Intellectually you understand what needs to be done, but that doesn't help. The t’vuna - the understanding - and the chush - your experience, the way you see the world - oppose each other, making it impossible to act. 

The excuses are that it's too difficult, there will be public shaming, no benefit will come of it, it might even be a Chilul Hashem. You can already foresee problems, and even though you know you must act - you won't. That is the problem.

ולזאת נבקש שלום ונרדפה. לדעת מקור מוצא היראה ומאין באה.
We must contemplate where Yireh stems from. That was the question we had last time. 

אם מההרגל היומי. אם מהלימוד בדעת ובהשכל.
Does Yireh stem from doing things like Ahave does, or does it stem from learning with understanding and wisdom? Perhaps you are able to get used to that - you make a hergel out of it. Like working on t’fila bezmano, or working on hasmoda. You work on establishing yourself at a certain level, and that's called Yiras Shomayim. Or perhaps it stems from what you think, from the limud.

החוש יעיד כי דעת ותבונה אין. מנוח אין לה גם חלק אין לה ביראת ה', גם מרחוק אל תעמוד.
Experience shows clearly that limud and intellect alone are not a source of Yiras Shomayim. There is no relationship between intellect and Yiras Shomayim - they are worlds apart, with no proximity whatsoever.  It sounds unbelievable, but the seichel is just not there when you talk about Yiras Shomayim.

לזאת צדקו דברי החוש בל יכזבו.
That is why experience validly asserts itself. Experience will not enable you to overcome life's obstacles, which the world continuously places before you. You cannot succeed. You cannot overcome obstacles because the world will tell you it is impossible - such is the world we inhabit.

This brings us to a major problem. We spoke in the beginning that Yiras Shomayim must empower one to stand strong against temptation. But here, as long as Yiras Shomayim is disconnected from intellectual recognition of obligation, and comes out of habit - not comprehension of duty - the obstacles of the world will prove stronger than that.

You must build Yiras Shomayim as a part of your understanding and perception. By appreciating what you are tasked to do and how to approach it, Yiras Shomayim can arise. Only then can you overcome obstacles. But when understanding stands alone, knowing what you must do solely without evoking a hergesh of Yiras Shomayim, this intellect alone cannot enable perseverance through difficulty. You will yield before life's hardships and temptations.

This is a significant insight. You may know what to do, yet can't surmount challenges because inner experience tells you the difficulties are greater. That is the fundamental ingredient of the world - the way it’s constructed ensures that what it conveys, the messages one receives - prove stronger than recognition of obligation. Inevitably then, one will not prevail. And even if we succeed in acquiring Yiras Shomayim as a habit, any new difficulty will defeat us.

ומה יוסיף תת רעיון התבונה. אם ביסודי היראה לא שלט כחה.
What benefit will come from just knowing the obligation of the mitzvos or whatever you are obligated to do? Intellect alone accomplishes nothing. You know what you must do yet life's difficulties overwhelm that knowing, even when it is absolutely clear. And that is where you need Yiras Shomayim.

And now, as we delve deeper into this distinction, you begin to understand why Ahave doesn't have this problem. Ahava does not rely on your seichel because its purpose is not to overcome obstacles, rather to experience a sense of greatness and closeness. As we previously discussed, we cannot simply acquire this hargosho of Ahave because we are commanded to. The hargosho is created through your הרגל היומי. It is acquired by doing the mitzvos - again and again - and thinking about the appropriate things. 

Yireh, on the other hand, must be built on a deep and exact understanding of what you need to do and how to approach it. However, understanding alone is not enough. It must be connected to the Yireh - they must go hand in hand. Only when your comprehension of your choveh is combined with Yiras Shomayim - a concept we do not yet fully understand - then Yireh has the right levush. This is what the Borei Olam wants. 


Otherwise, היראי ה’ יקראו? Can it truly be called Yireh when you succumb to the difficulties and temptations of the world? Yireh has to be connected to your Hakoreh of what you have to do. Yireh is not a passive force - it impels you to work and to overcome obstacles in order to fulfill your task. That is the כח היראה. The Ba'alei Avodah say that Yireh is the כח המעשה - the driving force of action. That is the essence of Yireh - it is truly significant.

I believe we were missing this key insight when we began to work with the Mashgiach on Yiras Shomayim. We focused too much on the outer layer of fear, thinking that it was the key to Yiras Shomayim. We thought that understanding the dangers of the world would lead us to Yiras Shomayim. Of course the Mashgiach was a great man (and that’s why it was a natural thing for him to start with), but everyone else also thought that’s how you begin - because Yiras Shomayim means you have a fear of Midas Ha’Din - a very logical thing. You have to know that there is a Midas Ha’Din - and you use this hakore in order to have Yiras Shomayim in your Avodas Hashem. 

So for the first three weeks, we contemplated the Midas Ha’Din. That was terrible. Since then I came to appreciate what is known that a person is like a עולם קטן. I think it means like a small earth. The earth has a very thin outer layer where we reside. But inside the earth a fire is burning.  Every so often there are holes, like in Iceland - there's a small hole there. But there are bigger holes, and sometimes things begin to erupt. Lava comes out, stones start flying. It’s not a very gishmakke thing. Even though normally the world is a good place, a gishmakke place to live in. 

People are exactly the same. You ask someone, how are you? He smiles and replies, “Boruch Hashem, everything is fine, I'm great, I feel wonderful”. So that is the outer layer in which he resides. We usually don’t look past it. But I noticed that if you poke - even just a little bit - a volcano erupts, and loads of tzoros just come out. Everyone is like that; it is truly remarkable how the deeper you delve, the more tzoros arise. Our existence is not as welcoming as we presume it to be. We concentrated on that. We sought to attain Yiras Shomayim through this intense fear, this overwhelming sense of Midas Ha'Din prevailing in the world.

It was counterproductive. After two weeks of that, I was simply paralyzed - sitting there without being able to write anything.  It was not shayach. Looking back now - thirty years later - I think it was a mistake. We thought we must search for Yireh alone, and it’s like this hargoshe of being afraid, this hargoshe of being overwhelmed from the Midas Ha’Din. That was a mistake - because we did not combine the Yireh with what we must do.

You only encounter real Yireh when you combine it with the T’vuno - understanding how to approach your obligations. Merely instilling fear of the consequences or the severity of judgment is insufficient. Yireh must be rooted in a deep understanding of your obligations and responsibilities. When you truly grasp what is expected of you and the significance of your actions - not only will you not be paralyzed - Yireh will push you to fulfill your duties with diligence and devotion.

R' Yisroel emphasizes that the wrong Yiras Shomayim will paralyze us, making us unable to act. The right Yiras Shomayim, however, will impels us to act, even in the face of difficulty. Therefore, we must search for Yiras Shomayim in the connection between our Yireh and our T’vuno, not in the outer layer of fear alone. This is a significant lesson we can learn from R’ Yisroel; where the right location is to search for Yiras Shomayim. Even though simple intuition leads us to search for it in the outer layer of fear. After all, perhaps we should open our eyes and see how challenging and dangerous the world can be, so that our Avodas Hashem would be more sincere. But in truth, it will only paralyze you.


I think that it's a new pshat in Chazal. Perhaps you have heard this before, and you may have come across it in Chasidish seforim; But the Nefesh HaChaim brings it in שער ד:

יראת שמים לית ליה מגרמיה כלום - Yiras Shomayim has nothing from itself

Understanding this can be challenging, but it possibly implies that Yiras Shomayim alone is insufficient. It is effective only when accompanied by limud torah. 

However, we could approach it from a practical perspective. Perhaps it does not merely imply that Yireh alone is futile and unproductive, but rather - if pursued in isolation - it will render one worthless and incapable of action. You will be worthless because it will paralyze you. By solely fixating on Yiras Shomayim, one will achieve nothing; instead, they will become immobilized. Don't do that. 

When you take the Yireh together with Torah - which is what the Nefesh HaChaim talks about, or you combine the Yireh together with the chiyuv mitzveh - that will make you work. It will empower you to overcome any obstacles that come your way. Even in the face of challenges, Yiras Shomayim impels one to persevere. This is the true impact of Yiras Shomayim. But when you pursue it alone and think, “I will go into this endeavor alone as the first step” - it will be the first step to Gehenom. There you just fall down and cannot progress. That path is not viable.

So that is the t’chum of Yiras Shomayim. You can see how different it is compared to Ahavas Hashem. Yiras Shomayim is inherently linked to understanding one's chiyuvim and responsibilities. It is with this understanding that Yiras Shomayim becomes integrated. And when integrated in this manner, it motivates action.

[Question from the crowd: Can Ahavas Hashem alone lead to spiritual growth?

Ahavas Hashem is an emotional connection, so why would it do that? When contemplating the magnificence of Hashem's actions and creations, a natural response is to develop a deep love for Hashem. However, does the Rambam say that this love will automatically translate into the doing of mitzvos? No, he does not. The actual distinction lies in the fact that Yiras Shomayim alone can render one paralyzed, whereas Ahavas Hashem does not have that effect.]

Now I want to show you this point in the רוקח: 

שורש יראה במקום שקשה עליו הדבר, ועוזב תאוותו ויצרו בעבור יראת ה', שנאמר עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלקים אתה.
 
The central point of Yireh is when one faces a challenge or difficulty. That was the obligation of the Akeidah. Avrohom Avino had to do it and it was a difficult thing for him. However the Yireh enabled him  to overcome this most significant obstacle. It was an extraordinary trial that contradicted his very nature, involving his own son. Yet, he was able to overcome it. That is called Yireh. Yireh is when it's shwer. 

He brings this point again by Yosef HaTzadik. When Yosef placed the cup in Binyomin's sack and it was discovered, he told the brothers to leave Binyomin with him while they could return to their family. Yehudah says no one is leaving - we will all become slaves. To this, Yosef responds:

 את האלקים אני ירא -  I fear the borei olam

What does that mean? The Rokeach says a very mechudash pshat:


אמר יוסף קשה עלי מאד שאתם מרגלים ואעזור אתכם - אבל בניכם ימותו ברעב אם לא תביאו להם שיאכלו‏
Yosef meant that it's very difficult for him to help them because they are spies, yet he has no choice. If he withholds bread from them, their children will suffer and might die from hunger because of the famine. Therefore, he must give them bread, despite the difficulties he faces. Yirah always arises in situations where it is challenging to act.

Just because the Ramban in Yevomos says that maiseh means Ahave and not doing avieros is Yireh - don't rush to conclude that Yirah only prevents aveiros. Yireh is a force that impels you to action. It motivates you to overcome difficulties. Even the Rokeach himself, when he begins to discuss Yireh, states:  ועוד אפרש יראת שדי אדם שעובד לקב"ה באהבת ליבו. Ahave and Yireh are connected…
 
Torah is not a puzzle where you say click, click, click, and the puzzle is complete. For a puzzle to exist, it must be flat. When a puzzle isn't flat, there's no point to it; you can stack one piece on top of another. The first prerequisite of a puzzle is that it must be flat. The Torah is not flat, so it's not a puzzle. We can't just say “Ahaveh is this, Yireh is that '' - and now we can go back to sleep. No, Yirah compels you to work!

You say it every Bircas Hachodesh:
 חיים שיש בהם יראת שמים ויראת חטא, חיים שיש בהם אהבת תורה ויראת שמים.
Why do we mention Yiras Shomayim twice? So there is an American and an Israeli p’shat. The Israeli p’shat I heard from a big Rosh Yeshivah: After you acquire Ahavas Torah, the Yiras Shomayim will be different - such a yeshivishe p’shat… The American pshat says: after osher ve'kovod - wealth and honor, you need another shot of Yiras Shomayim… 

But I think both p’shatim are incorrect, because we're not asking for Ahavas Torah and Yir'as Shomayim separately, we're asking for the Ahave of both Torah and Yir'as Shomayim. We should love Torah and we should love Yir'as Shomayim, and that's what we're asking for.

So, drive it out of your head that Ahave and Yireh are two unconnected things. They're not. Yireh is a very strong koyach of activity, and it's perhaps the only koyach that will compel you to work. It enables you to overcome the obstacles and difficulties that the world constantly presents. There are always difficulties - always - and you must overcome them. Yiras Shomayim is the power that enables you to do so.

Perhaps this is mentioned in the posuk. Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to highly intelligent people, the Dor De’aa. They saw this awe-inspiring fire, truly overwhelming in its magnitude. The heavens opened and they witnessed unbelievable things on Har Sinai. 

ויאמר משה אל העם אל תיראו,
Moshe Rabeinu addresses the people and says: do not fear. No, that is not the desired response. We do not seek to experience this Yireh solely. That is not the intention of Borei Olam - he does not want you to be overwhelmed. Do not fear, for: 

כי לבעבור נסות אתכם בא האלקים. 
The Borei Olam has come to lift you up, to give you a purpose. A job in Tikun Olam, or to test you in a ניסיון בטובה, like the Ramban explains. It is either an expression of Gadlus or Nisoyon. But you have a mission. You have a task to fulfill.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם לבלתי תחטאו.
And so, the Yireh is there in order you shouldn't fail completing your mission, in order you shouldn't miss the target. That's where the Yireh comes in. The Yireh doesn't come in to be overwhelmed, that's not what the Borei Olam wants. Hashem’s will is to have Yireh in order to fully grasp the point and not deviate from it. לבלתי תחטאו - do not miss the precise point. Perhaps that is the simple meaning of this posuk. 

This is what we seek. We want to connect the Yireh to the T’vuno. That means the Yireh has to be connected to our mitzvahs. That is our task.

Now you see, this is where we will search for Yireh. Now we can explore and try to perceive what is this hargosha like? Where are we able to identify this sensation of an added dimension to our chova - our obligation? 

In order to accomplish that, you must choose something that you do out of chova. That is the essence of the kabbalah we need to take upon ourselves. You must select one of your chovos, but you do it out of obligation, not out of pressure. 

I realized that I need to clarify what I mean by that. When I mention you have to choose something, people interpret it as doing it based on their own motivation or choice, saying, "I am forcing myself to do it because I choose it, that is the reason I do it." 
 
No, you do it because you are mechuyev. That is a fundamental principle. Don't make the mistake of thinking, "I will do it because I decided to." Do you decide every week to be shomer shabbos? I don't think so - you are obligated. Do you need to decide every day to go daven? Hopefully not, we go because we must daven.

But you know how it goes. You have something to do, and inevitably obstacles will arise. It's crucial to understand that there is a mehalech, that there are ways to overcome these obstacles - otherwise you will be overwhelmed. The most fundamental point is not to be overwhelmed by the difficulties you encounter in fulfilling your obligations. It might not be easy, but you are capable of creating ways to overcome them. Otherwise, Yiras Shomayim will only cause you to get under pressure. 

Pressure for me is probably the most terrible hargosho I know. It just paralyzes me and I become totally unproductive. Why does that happen? It's because I don't find the right approach to deal with my obligations. This hargosho of being overwhelmed and obligated to do something becomes a burden, and it weighs heavily on you because there is no t’vuno going on - you don't know how to approach the problem. You only want to get rid of this incredible pressure.  

That's the wrong approach. אל תיראו, don't succumb to the pressure. If you have something to do, do it and don't miss it. The same applies to you when you undertake a chova now. You must choose an obligation that you are capable of fulfilling, where you have an approach for completing the task. 

To illustrate the difference, let’s say you want to work on hasmode. You say, “I am mechuyev to learn for four hours without any bitul torah, not even going to the restroom”. So then you sit for four hours straight, and other than creating a tremendous pressure, it achieves nothing. You definitely won't learn productively. You might push yourself and wait for the four hours to be over, and perhaps boruch hashem you manage, but productive learning certainly didn’t happen. That's not the way to approach any endeavor productively. And that's what Moshe Rabbeinu says: don’t miss the point. You shouldn't miss what you are obligated to do. 

So if we take davening as an example, It's astonishing how people who are late to Ma’ariv are davening sometimes, simply out of not being able to stomach sitting alone for ten minutes. It's not like the guy needs to rush after Ma’ariv, because I see him afterwards schmoozing with his friend.

So we need to daven out of chiyuv - like there is something unbendable there. We should already be in the shtibel when they say Borchu. Perhaps even when they begin Ve’hu Rachum. If we don’t arrive on time, we must wait for the next minyan. 

Now an obstacle may arise. Not too significant, but still an obstacle - and you have to overcome that obstacle. You might say to yourself, it's bitul torah. Suddenly, as R' Yisroel says, you see that the chush is against you. Suddenly you become the most intelligent man with the most sophisticated arguments to justify why it is impossible to wait for the next minyan. The excuses you make are incredible, the tainos that you can't do it, that is what the chush tells you - it's not shayach. When married, you think if I'll be ten minutes late my wife will think something happened to me. You don’t think about that when you speak to a friend after t’fila… 

But you can overcome that. The understanding of the chova together with Yiras Shomayim does it. Now this is the practical question we are exploring - what is this hargosha like? It has to go together with the recognition of the chiyuv, that will make me stand steadfast in front of these obstacles. There we will find what Yirash Shomayim is.

But if we would think about the אש הגדולה, which means reflecting on the tzoros the world is full from, and we would try to find the Yiras Shomayim there - we would find distress instead. As Moshe Rabbinu said, Al Tiro’u. No, don't do that. Don't go in that direction. You first must understand that: בעבור נסות אתכם בא האלוקים, you have a job to do, and then, בעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם לבלתי תחטאו. Then you have Yireh in order not to miss the point. 

That's the way to go, and not looking at the dangerous Midas Ha’Din first. I believe it is a very productive approach. We still don't fully understand what Yiras Shomayim means, but at least we now know where to dig for it. I don't know yet what we will find. It has to be underneath here, in this location. And not in other places where you thought first.

That was the mistake we made with the Mashgiach. Now some people seem to think that I speak against others, and there might be people who will think, “Now he is talking against his own rebbe!“

No, it was obviously a mistake because it didn't do anything. And the conclusion we reached - that we have no shaychus to Yiras Shomayim - that was correct. But there was something wrong in the approach - the Mashgiach himself said so. So we gave up on Yiras Shomayim and that's it. Never worked on it again. 

But the problem was the approach - we tried to find Yiras Shomayim by the overwhelming Midas Ha’Din alone. You will find iyush there. You will find, לית ליה מגרמה כלום - distress and pressure. You will be paralyzed. And that's not what the Borei Olam wants. He wants us to do the work. But the force that compels us to fulfill our obligations is by Yiras Shomayim. So I think that's a good place to dig. I don't know yet what will be - what we will find, but there will be something to find, that I am sure.