It’s no secret that Aristotle was a brilliant philosopher and genius. It’s also no secret that he was immoral and corrupt. His students were bothered by this paradox and questioned their teacher about it. “Do as I say, not as I do”, Aristotle famously answered them, “for I only have intellect from my shoulders up”.
This is the product of intellect alone, without fear of heaven. Now think for a moment about our gedolim, our “philosophers”. Our greatest leaders serve as role models for us in each generation, and their example is what we follow to reach greater heights. By us, and only by us, we have the concept of “hu haya omer” – he was what he said. Our Rabbis not only practice what they preach, but they represent what they teach. That is the product of yiras shamayim.
That’s what Avraham Avinu answered Avimelech when he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me that Sara is your wife?” Avrohom told him, “I couldn’t tell you that Sara is my wife because you don’t have yiras shomayim. Even if you have chochma and derech eretz, nothing helps without yiras Hashem”.
On the opposite extreme, we have Avraham Avinu, who, after passing the nisayon of akeidas Yitzchok, was called a “yarei Elokim”. Avraham Avinu was world-famous for teaching the world about lovingkindness and insisting that they not slaughter their children to idols, a practice which was prevalent at the time. And then he was commanded to slaughter his son! Intellect demands that Avraham question this, but he didn’t. Avraham put his yiras shamayim first, before his intelligence, and subdued his kindly nature to do the Will of Hashem. And it’s this z’chus that saves us time and time again, for all generations.
After Avraham Avinu successfully passed the nisayon, a malach called out, “Ata yodati ki yirei elokim ata, vlo chosachta es bincha es yechidecha mimeni” – “now I know that you fear Hashem because you didn’t hold back your son, your only one, from me”. Asks the Gaon in sefer Kol Eliyahu, what does it mean that Avraham Avinu didn’t hold back his son “mimeni” from me, the malach? Shouldn’t it have said that Avraham Avinu didn’t hold back his son from Hashem?
The Maharsha brings down in Maseches Makos 10, “Baderech sheadam rotze leilach, molichin oso” - the way that a person wants to go, they lead him. Asks the Maharsha, why does it say in the plural “they lead him”; it should say “molich oso” in the singular form, as Hashem leads him. We know that when a person does a mitzvah, he creates a good malach, and when he does an aveira, he creates a bad malach. Also, if one does a mitzva without kavana, then he creates a malach with a defect. If he does a mitzvah with great kavana, then he will create a strong malach. It comes out that a good or bad malach is created based on the mitzva or the aveira that a person does. That’s why it says “molichin” in the plural, because a person is led by the malachim that he created with his deeds. This is also the explanation as to why “mitzvah goreres mitzvah”, that one mitzva leads to another mitzva, and “aveira goreres aveira”, one aveira leads to another aveira. When someone does a mitzva, he creates a malach and that malach needs nourishment. What’s his nourishment? Another mitzva! But the opposite is also true. Because if you do an aveira, you create a bad malach and that malach also needs nourishment. His nourishment is an aveira. That is what the malach was saying by the akeida, that “Now I know that you fear Hashem, mimeni, from me, because I was created from your mitzvah by the akeida. I see how perfect I am, and that’s how I know that you are a yarei Elokim”.
By the tefillah of “Unesana Tokef” we say, “umalachim yaichafazun...”, that the angels tremble on Yom Kippur from the din. Rav Akiva Eiger (brought down in sefer Taam V’daas) asks that since malachim don’t have bechira, why do they have a yom hadin? Why are they trembling? Indeed, there is no judgement for the malachim themselves. But people who do mitzvos or aveiros create malachim from their deeds, and these malachim don’t forever stay the same. Today, on Yom Kippur, their status can change. People are doing teshuva and changing the status of their deeds, and by extension, the status of their malachim. Now we understand why the angels are in awe on this day – because they don’t know what is going to be with them. Their future depends on the actions of the people who created them.
Shlomo Hamelech ends off Koheles by saying “es ha’Elokim yira v’es mitzvosav shemor ki ze kol ha’adam” – Fear Hashem and keep His commandments for this is what man is all about. Rav Elchonon Wasserman in sefer Kovetz Mamorim says: Don’t think that yiras Hashem is simply an attribute, a quality, in a person. Meaning, don’t think that if a person is lacking yiras Hashem then he is still a person, just he’s missing an important trait. No, says Rav Elchonon, if you don’t have yiras Shamayim then you are not an “adam”, you are not a person. You are an animal in the form of a person. Yiras Shamayim is called “kol ha’adam” – the essence of a person. Without it, there’s no person.
When Hashem was going to create man, He said, “naaseh Adam” – let us make man. Says the Zohar, man was created at the end of creation because Hashem said to the whole of creation “let us make man”. Meaning, all of creation was to take a little part of their essence and combine them to create man. So, every one of us has a little bit of a lion, a donkey, and every chaya ra’ah inside of us. Yes, indeed, a man is a small world, as he has inside him a bit of the whole world. Now, with all these bits of wild animals inside of us, we need help. We need a chain to lock up these inner beasts or they will take us over and turn us into destructive beings. How do we lock up the inner beast? It’s only with yiras Shamayim. Fear of heaven is the chain that restrains the beastly part of us and allows our intellect to dominate our destructiveness. A person can have all the wisdom of the world and be a law-abiding citizen, yet if he doesn’t have yiras shomayim, he will be more destructive than animals. The Nazis were a prime example of this truth. There was no country more developed and more cultured than Germany and the Germans were known far and wide for being well-mannered and polite. And with their shiny boots and sweet smiles, they slaughtered millions of us in a most gruesome way. Indeed, worse than beasts. That’s what a lack of yiras shamayim can lead a person to.
What a frightening thought! A person could be technically doing everything “right”, yet without a source of yiras shamayim, it’s worth nothing. We must aim for yiras shamayim first and foremost, daven for it, study mussar, and work hard to acquire it. Only then will we be worthy of being called an “adam”, for the essence of man is his fear of heaven.
