Fear Fused with Bitachon
The Beis Aharon of Stolin zt'l said to two of his chassidim: "I want you to study Reishis Chachmah, the section that describes Gehinom (Shaar HaGehinom). When you finish, come back here to tell me what you learned, your thoughts, and impressions."
Both returned on the same day, and the Rebbe spoke with each of them individually. He asked one, "What did you discover in the sefer Reishis Chachmah, regarding Gehinom?" The chassid replied, “The punishments of Gehinom are frightening. I tremble when I think about them..." The Rebbe told him, "You don't need to worry. It isn't as terrible as you think. We have a compassionate Father in heaven, and everything will be o.k."
Then the Rebbe spoke with the second chassid. "Did you study the Reishis Chachmah? What were your impressions? What did you discover?" The second chasid spoke nonchalantly, repeating what he learned, but it is evident that he wasn't afraid. The Rebbe said, "You shall know that this is only a sampling of Gehinom. The punishments in Gehinom are far greater..."
There was another chasid in the room, who overheard the two conversations. He asked the Beis Aharon, "Should we be afraid of Gehinom, or shouldn't we be? I am confused because I just heard two opposite ideas. To one chasid, you said that Gehinom isn't so bad, and he doesn't have to worry about it, and to the other chasid, you said Gehinom is far worse than described in Reishis Chachmah! So, what is the correct way to think about Gehinom? Should we be worried about Gehinom or shouldn't we?"
The Rebbe replied, "If you are worried about Gehinom, you have nothing to worry about. But if you aren't worried about Gehinom, you have a lot to worry about."
We can say that the same applies to the awesome judgment of Rosh Hashanah. If you are afraid of the judgment, you don’t have to worry about it. Hashem is our compassionate Father, and everything will be fine. But if you aren't afraid, you have a lot to be afraid of. It is true that Hashem has compassion, and He seeks ways to give us a good year, but we should approach the day of Judgment with thoughts of teshuvah, tefillos, and trepidation. It is actually the mixture of these two emotions, fear and bitachon, that everything with be good, which will grant us a good year.
