“So shall Adonai, your G-d, do to all the peoples before whom you fear.” Deuteronomy 7:19
“Now, O Israel, what does Adonai, your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Adonai, your G-d, to walk in his ways…” Deuteronomy 10:12
“Adonai your G-d, you shall fear, him you shall serve, to him you shall cleave…” Deuteronomy 10:20
At least three times in our Torah portion Eikev this idea of being commanded to fear G-d is brought up. We know from the Shema that we are commanded to love G-d but what about being commanded to fear? Fear is something that plagues all of us in a variety of ways and manifests itself as anxiety, doubt, and other states of being. Is the section of the Torah really advocating for us to feel this way?
While there are many types of fear, I would like to highlight two of them and show how they relate to our Torah portion of Eikev. The first type of fear is a more primal type, one of punishment. For example, if I do something wrong or if I do not observe a particular commandment then I will be in trouble or something bad will happen to me. We encounter this type of logic when we read the second paragraph of the Shema in Eikev which talks about what happens when we do not follow G-d’s laws and therefore the punishment is that G-d holds back the rain which prevents the crops from growing, this means the livestock do not have food to eat etc.
Personally this type of fear doesn’t resonate with me and I find it a bit infantilizing. The second and more intriguing type of fear that I wanted to highlight is one of awe and reverence. Picture something so incredible and majestic it scares you and fascinates you at the same time. That is the fear we are dealing with in Deuteronomy 10:12. It is about a sense of love and respect that is so intense and full of passion for something all powerful that is beyond our scope of understanding.
This type of fear is harder to attain, it asks us to dig deep into ourselves and our relationship with G-d. It isn’t a fear that cripples us from engaging with our relationship with G-d but does the opposite, it helps us grow and discover who we are to our creator. May each of you reading this continue to develop your own relationship with G-d, whether it has this fear in it or not I ask that you explore this relationship. You might be surprised to learn the power it has and how it can positively impact your life.
Shabbat Shalom, Cantor Diamond
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