Yirat HaShem and Ahavah HaShem
[The following is chapter five in Rabbi Ira F. Stone's A Responsible Life — The Spiritual Path of Mussar.]
The two primary tools that people use to orient themselves toward the yetzer ha-tov and away from the yetzer ha-ra, according to Mussar theory, are yirat hashem, usually translated as "fear of God," and ahavat hashem, or "love of God" Once again we will turn to Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto [Ramchal] to begin our consideration of these terms. He writes in the introduction to Mesillat Yesharim:
It we do not look into and analyze the question of what constitutes true fear of God and what its ramifications are, how will we acquire it and how will we escape worldly vanity, which renders our hearts forgetful of it? Will it not be forgotten and get lost even though we recognize its necessity? Love of God, too — if we do not make an effort to implant it in our hearts, utilizing all of the means that direct us toward it, how will it exist within us? Whence will enter our soul passionate intimacy toward the Blessed One and toward Torah if we do not give heart to God's greatness and majesty which engender this intimacy in our hearts? How will our thoughts be purified if we do not strive to rescue them from imperfections infused in them by physical nature? And all of the character traits, which are in such great need of correction and cultivation — who will cultivate and correct them if we do not give heart to them and subject them to exacting scrutiny? If we analyzed the matter honestly, would we not extract the truth and thereby benefit ourselves, and also be of benefit to others by instructing them in it? As stated by Solomon: "If you seek it as silver and search for it as treasure, then you will understand the fear of God (Proverbs 2:4)." He does not say, "Then you shall understand philosophy; then you will understand medicine; then you will understand legal judgments and decisions." We see, then, that for fear of God to be understood, it must be sought as silver and searched for as treasure. All this is part of our heritage and accepted in substance by every devout individual.
Acquiring yirat hashem and ahavat hashem is, for Luzzatto, absolutely crucial; the perfection of our character traits depends on having these tools, as does any hope we have for attaining an intimate relationship with God. It is not easy to inculcate these values within ourselves, and we must expend significant effort to seek out these precious attributes.
As explained in the previous chapter [Chapter 4: Yetzer Ha-Tov and Yetzer Ha-Ra], consciousness is constituted on the tension between yetzer ha-tov and yetzer ha-ra. To help us negotiate this tension and resolve it, we must examine the concepts of yirat hashem and ahavat hashem more closely. Both yirat hashem and ahavat hashem come to us from outside ourselves. They are quintessentially intersubjective: they involve us with another. Also, they must be actively sought. Effort must be expended if we are to attain these qualities.
There is an unmistakable connection between our work on attaining the states of yirat hashem and ahavat hashem, on the one hand, and our work in developing our character traits, or middot, on the other hand. Working on the middot develops both yirat hashem and ahavat hashem. The development of yirat hashem and ahavat hashem, in turn, orients us toward the yetzer ha-tov along the line of tension between yetzer ha-ra and yetzer ha-tov. It is this relation that justifies and motivates our concern with character: it leads us to a more accurate experience of ourselves. Ramchal continues:
Again, is it conceivable that we should find time for all other branches of study and none for this study? Why should people not at least set aside certain times for this speculation if they are obliged in the remainder of their time to turn to other studies or undertakings? Scripture states, "Hey fear of God—this is wisdom" (Job 28:28). Our Sages of blessed memory comment, "Hen means `one,' for in Greek `one' is designated as hot" (Sanhedrin 31b). We see, then, that fear, and only fear, is considered to be wisdom. And there is no doubt that what entails no analysis is not considered wisdom. The truth of the matter is that all of these things require great analysis if they are to be known in truth and not merely through imagination and deceitful supposition. How much the more so if they are to be acquired and attained! One who inquires into these matters will see that saintliness does not hinge upon those things that are put at a premium by the foolishly "saintly," but rather upon true perfection and great wisdom. This is what Moses our teacher, may peace be upon him, teaches us in saying, "And now, Israel, what does Adonai your God ask of you, but that you fear Adonai your God to walk in all God's ways, to love God and serve Adonai your God with all your heart and all your soul, to observe the mitzvot of Adonai and God's statutes..." (Deuteronomy 10:12). In this verse have been included all of the features of perfection of divine service that are appropriate in relation to the Holy Blessed One. They are: fear of God, walking in God's ways, love, wholeheartedness, and observance of all of the mitzvot.
Yirat hashem is understood by Ramchal as synonymous with wisdom. We have already seen that the tension between the yetzer ha-tov and the yetzer ha-ra are the essential constitution of human consciousness, and it is our consciousness of our consciousness — our consciousness of our relation to the yetzer ha-ra and the yetzer hatov — that yirat hashem and ahavat hashem can come to facilitate. These terms describe something that is called into existence in our consciousness from outside, giving us the gift of our own consciousness. This is the function of wisdom in the classical sense: Wisdom is that which exists outside of ourselves, yet enables us to heighten our own awareness of ourselves.
For Luzzatto, however, wisdom means something slightly different. It is understood as the faculty we possess as a gift of God through which we implement the choices we make every day, of whether to follow our yetzer ha-ra or our yetzer ha-tov. The ethical choice between good and evil describes the very constitution of our consciousness. The seriousness of this choice and its ubiquity fill us with a feeling of trepidation. We tremble with the knowledge that at every moment we are in a position to choose between good and evil. We are sometimes terrified by this choice, to the extent that we refuse to recognize it and take action. However, not to recognize the choice is, of course, also to make a choice—namely, to feign sleep in the face of the ethical dilemmas that define every moment of human time. The term yirat hashem describes this trembling before our responsibilities. We are indeed afraid: not afraid of some image of a punishing parent (despite the fact that the tradition often uses such imagery), but rather we are terrified of our responsibilities that are always with us and of the consequences of not meeting those responsibilities.
Yirat lashon also has another meaning. The fear that we have just described of the terrifying choice that confronts us as human beings is traditionally called yirat ha-onesh, or "fear of punishment," though we've interpreted it more accurately as the fear of the ramifications of our failure to meet our responsibilities. But another meaning of yirah is expressed by the concept yirat ha-ronueart, probably best expressed as "fear (or awe) in the presence of the majesty of God." Luzzatto describes this second aspect of fear in these words:
"Fear of God" denotes fear of the majesty of the Blessed One, fearing God as one would fear a great and mighty king, and being ashamed at one's every movement in consequence of God's greatness, especially while speaking before God in prayer or engaging in the study of Torah.
These two types of fear are related but are not the same. Fear of God is a fear engendered not by God's power but by God's "majesty," which means God's infinity or what we might call God's transcendence. Relative to God, we are powerfully aware of our own mortality and the necessity of satisfying our needs. Yirat harornemut is a reminder- that when compared to God's unlimited nature, our own needs are actually quite limited in scope. God's call upon us is unlimited. Our desire to do good for our unlimited or Infinite Beloved causes us to feel ashamed in God's presence, when we consider our obsessions with our own needs.
The second focus of our ethical consciousness is ahavat hashem, the love of God. Both yirah and ahavah describe the fact that our consciousness is fundamentally predicated on relationships. The quality of these relationships is described as the necessary interdependence of our consciousnesses. Love is, initially, the experience of something outside of ourselves. The love that we receive from those who care for and nurture us imbues us, in turn, with the desire to reciprocate this love. We are first the objects of love and then we become the subjects of love, the lovers. As lovers, our love first focuses on those closest to us, our parents. However, it eventually extends to others, our lovers, and it is still not exhausted. In fact, we discover that our desire to love is an infinite desire and can only be fully satisfied when be directed toward an Infinite Beloved, namely God. The infinite love for the Infinite Beloved commands us to do that which is pleasing to our beloved. In the case of God, that which is pleasing is choosing to follow the yetzer ha-tov. Love is the source of commandment. Ramhal explains this concept as follows:
"Love" — that there be implanted in a person's heart a love for the Blessed One, which will arouse one's soul to do what is pleasing before God, just as one's heart is aroused to give pleasure to one's father and mother. One will be grieved at the lack of this in oneself or in others: they will be jealous for it and rejoice greatly in fulfilling it in any way.
Yirat hashem and ahavat hashem are the primary means for the expression of human choice between the yetzer ha-ra and the yetzer ha-tov. But both yirah and ahavah are determined, on a practical level, by paying attention to the middot, the character traits that express either of these two primary tools in our day-to-day lives.