One Who Doesn’t Have Yiras Shomayim is Not a Human Being

Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt”l (Sefer Kovetz Mamarim) writes: Yiras Shomayim is not merely an added benefit for a person to possess. Rather, one is only called a human being if he has yiras Shomayim. One who has no fear of Heaven is not an ‘odom’! This was stated by Shlomo Hamelech (Koheles 12:13): ‘Fear G-d... for this is all of man.’ Only one who fears Hashem is called a man. One who does not can have many good qualities, but he is not a man.“