Coltuntinity

Torah Portion

Fear Of God Means
Faith In God

Shabbat Eikev:
Deuteronomy
7:12-11:25;
Isaiah 49:14-51:3.

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Judaism
substitutes
trust and
reverence
for the multitude
of human fears.

Conversations

and failure, of all the evils known
and unknown — to exchange them
all for one fear which is not akin to
all the others, fear of God, which is
a combination of awe, reverence and
trust.
Fear of God means to observe His
law, to follow a path of righteous-

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Irwin Groner is senior rabbi at

Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

What are some ways in which
can overcome our fear of evil
and can get involved in our
society to promote good? Name
some ways in which God, his-
torically, has humbled us and
taught us "fear of the Lord."
How can our performance of
daily mitzvot (commandments)
display our reverence and trust
in God?

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• Religious Committee
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ness and compassion and to fear
doing evil. If you do that, the Torah
says, you may have no other fears.
This commitment finds distinc-
tive expression in the rabbinic
phrase yirat shamayim (fear of heav-
en). It refers to a person who stands
for moral excellence, who is morally
courageous, of a refined spirit, who
has integrity. This describes a person
oday's sedra (Torah por-
who fears heaven.
tion) sets forth an impera-
That kind of fear is not truly fear,
tive which underlies all
as we know it. It is an expression of
the exhortations of Moses
faith in God, and in the
and the people found in
moral character of the uni-
Deuteronomy: "And now,
verse that God created.
Israel, what is it that God
That powerful faith is a
requires of you, but to fear
dike against fear, against
thy God?"
the dark forces of dread
What is the meaning of
and terror and anxiety
this commandment? Why is
which may beset us all.
it repeated so often? Why
It is revealing to exam-
this emphasis on, the fear of
ine the prayers with which
the Lord? Is apprehension
we begin the work-a-day
an obligation, is trembling
RABBI IRWIN
week, the week of care and
praiseworthy? The text
GRO NER
anxiety and concern. We
summons us to ask our-
Specia 1 to the
begin with Havdala, the
selves fundamental ques-
Jewis h News
service that separates the
tions: What are we afraid
week from the Sabbath.
of? What kind of fear
The Havdala begins with "Behold
should we have?
God is my strength. I will trust and
Consider this interpretation.
not be afraid." In these words, one
Judaism asks man to exchange all of
discovers the genius of Judaism,
his disparate fears of pain and death,
which is to substitute one fear which
of poverty and illness, of rejection
is really trust and reverence, for the
multitude of fears which undermine
human happiness.
The fundamental goal of Judaism
is to emancipate us from the paraly-
sis of fear, liberate us from the
bondage of fear. Think not that we
enlightened, emancipated, rational
souls do not have fears. We have as
many as the most primitive of our
ancestors. The task of Judaism is to
free us, and thereby enable us to
respond to life with courage, faith
and determination. ❑

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