לֹא תָגוּרוּ מִּפְּנֵה אִישׁ כִּי הַמִּשּׁפָּט לֵאלֹהִים הוּא
“You shall not be afraid of any man, for judgment is Hashem's." (1:17) A person must possess fear of Heaven (Yiras Shamayim). As is well known, there are many levels within the fear of Heaven, but the ultimate perfection of this trait is to fear absolutely nothing except the Almighty. If a person's heart is entirely filled with the fear of Heaven, there is simply no room left for any other fear. This aligns with what the Sefer Chovas HaLevavos (Duties of the Heart) relates about a pious man who slept out in the forest among wild beasts and dangerous creatures. People asked him, "Are you not afraid to sleep here?" He replied, "My entire heart is filled to capacity with the fear of the Almighty; consequently, there is no empty space left in my heart to fear wild animals or harmful creatures." לֹא תָגוּרוּ מִּפְּנֵה אִישׁ "You shall not be afraid of any man" —do not fear any human being, כִּי הַמִּשּׁפָּט "for judgment" —meaning the capacity for fear לֵאלֹהִים הוּא "is Hashem's" —it belongs exclusively to the Almighty. (Panim Yafos)
With this insight, we can also add what the Sefer Shev Shma'ata brings down in his introduction to explain the depths of the commandment: וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ ""And you shall love Hashem with all your heart." He explains that this was the level of Avraham Avinu, who was able to bind and offer up אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ אֶת יִצְחָק "your son, your only one, whom you love." Avraham's love for Hashem was completely "with all his heart," meaning he was so filled with love for the Almighty that there was no room left for any other love—even for his only son.
This is the state a person must strive to reach when they declare, "And you shall love Hashem." It must be "with all your heart"—filling your heart solely with the love of Hashem, leaving no room for foreign loves. Love ultimately brings about awe and fear, and both share the same spiritual dynamic: filling the heart completely with the love and fear of Hashem, thereby nullifying all worldly fears and loves. May we merit to attain these spiritual levels.. (Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
