Mattos-Masei 5770Volume 6 · Issue 34

Fear of Heaven

…been impossible for the gentiles to devastate His palace; this attribute casts fear and they acted fearlessly. The sages add (Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 4:7, 27a; cited by Tosafos Yeshanim Yoma 70a) that the primary revelation of this…

In The Three Weeks · Chapter 35View Sefer

VaYakhel 5771Volume 7 · Issue 23

Living in Fear

Mightiness is the attribute of Yitzchak Avinu. Its concept is constriction and restriction, withdrawal into the self, directly contrasting expansiveness. Yitzchak Avinu was the fearful one (Bereshis 31:42)—and fear constricts and silences. When a person is afraid, when he is in a state of terror, he is reticent and self-contained, as if he were hiding within himself.

In On the Torah III · Chapter 115View Sefer

Shoftim 5753Volume 16 · Issue 1

Knowing the Shofar

would be feared” (Koheles 3:14). The world was created with the attributes we mention in our Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, “The kind, mighty, and fearsome Lord,” and the Creator portrays Himself to the world as the One Who instills fear, the concept of fearsomeness.

Devarim 5758Volume 19 · Issue 35

Heartened

have a precious gift in My storehouses and its name is Sabbath” (Shabbos 10b). Its reality is otherworldly, a semblance of the World to Come (Berachos 57b), a semblance of the infinite goodness He stored for those Who fear him (Tehillim 31:20).

Vayeitzei 5767Volume 3 · Issue 12

Fearsome Times

fearsome,” and some recite an entire poem based on the verse (Tehillim 66:3), “Say to the Lord, “How fearsome are Your works.”” The concept pervades the Written Torah and our prayers, but its meaning is obscure.

Tetzaveh-Zachor 5772Volume 8 · Issue 22

Fearless and Faithless

Honor and Fear

In Chanukah & Purim · Chapter 30View Sefer

Vayeitzei 5762Volume 22 · Issue 9

Struggle of Honor

First, it is clear, and stated openly in the Talmud, that anyone who we are obligated to honor, we are obligated to fear. This applies to parents

Beshalach 5754Volume 16 · Issue 18

The Redemption Imperative

In other words, there is fear on high (cf. Ibn Ezra) lest our excessive punishment cause the fierce desecration of His Name due to the ensuing blasphemy of our enemies.

In On the Torah III · Chapter 92View Sefer

Shelach 5760Volume 20 · Issue 34

Fearsome People

In the Egyptian desert, the Holy Ark journeys with us and casts His fear on anyone who stands in our way. And in the desert of the nations (Yechezkel 20:35), we are the ones who cast His fear—and perhaps even more so, on a deeper level. “Contrariwise, were it not for His fearsomeness

Vayeitzei 5769Volume 5 · Issue 8

Wellspring of Living Waters

Seven Attributes, they align them with the Seven Shepherds, the first three corresponding to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Avraham personified the Attribute of Kindness, as it says (Michah 7:20), “Ascribe… kindness to Avraham,” the attribute of Yitzchak is fear, dread, might, justice—all of which are interrelated through the concept of limitation, and Yaakov personified the Attribute of Fearsomeness.

Chayei Sarah 5756Volume 17 · Issue 9

Brilliant Scholars

…they will swallow him. One whose righteousness is absolute has nothing to fear. He is not merely better than they are—he does not relate to them at all. Hence, he cannot be swallowed by them. For him, Heavenly…

In On the Torah I · Chapter 14View Sefer

Nitzavim-Vayelech 5756Volume 18 · Issue 3

Keeping the Covenant

A one percent chance would suffice, even a fifth of a percent, which everyone certainly has, even every heretic. Perhaps despite everything it is all true. How could there be no fear, no concern? It goes against nature. And here no answer is of any avail.

Vayelech 5766Volume 2 · Issue 5

Yom Kippur: Rebirth Through Torah

“With You alone is forgiveness so that You will be feared (Tehillim 130:4).” R’ Acha said, “From Rosh Hashanah, You hold forgiveness on trust. Why?—“so that You will be feared”—to instill the fear of You upon Your creations on Yom Kippur (Yalkut Tehillim 881; Psikta D’Rav Kahana 27:7).”

In Days of Repentance · Chapter 33View Sefer

Devarim 5773Volume 9 · Issue 37

Contrariwise

Yirmiyahu was therefore of the opinion that if the Holy Temple does not cast fear, and gentiles devastate it, the Creator is apparently not implementing this attribute, Heaven forbid. Otherwise, they could not possibly devastate the Holy Temple from where it originates. How can they devastate the House of the Lord, which radiates, “How fearsome is this

In The Three Weeks · Chapter 36View Sefer

Ki Seitzei 5751Volume 15 · Issue 2

End of Time

Again, the same difficulty applies. What difference is there to God whether they are few or numerous? Is quantity the issue? But again, the same explanation applies. They are more numerous than you are and this abundance inherently…

In On the Torah V · Chapter 188View Sefer

Shemini-Parah 5752Volume 15 · Issue 27

Realigning the Mind

find one sage surrendering his mindset to that of another sage. This is unique to the faculty of knowing because knowing is not a matter of intellectualization. Of its very essence, it stems from far higher than the intellect.

In On the Torah IV · Chapter 151View Sefer

Rosh Hashanah 5762Volume 23 · Issue 5

Celebration of Judgment

The Rambam cites this in these words. “On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur there is no Hallel for they are days of repentance and fear and trepidation, not days of excessive joy” (Hilchos Chanukah 3:6).

Devarim 5757Volume 18 · Issue 39

Never Forgotten

Fear of Heaven

Beshalach 5752Volume 15 · Issue 18

Fearful and Faithful

dead will live when all we see is that those who are alive die?

In On the Torah III · Chapter 95View Sefer

Terumah 5767Volume 3 · Issue 24

Ark of the Torah

What happened was that the Creator helped us, and “the fear of the Jewish People fell upon them” (ibid. v.17). The simple meaning is that what gripped the enemy was not the fear from the Jewish People, but the fear of the Jewish People; in other words, the enemy also began

In On the Torah III · Chapter 107View Sefer