"ויהי מורא שמים עליכם" (אבות א:ג)
And let the fear of Heaven be upon you.
Antignos is informing us that it is not enough to have ahavas Hashem. Every person must also possess a healthy dose of yiras shamayim.
Interestingly, there are many words and phrases in Yiddishkeit that are used frequently, and nevertheless, many people have very little idea of what they mean, at least on a practical level.
A backpacker in Israel approached Rav Noach Weinberg zt"l, the founder of Aish HaTorah, and asked him if it is true that they call this country, "The Holy Land?" "Yes it is" he responded. "Well, let me tell you" continued the tourist, "I've hiked from the Golan in the north to Eilat in the south, and I've been from sea to shining sea - and I haven't seen any holiness."
"OK" responded Reb Noach. "So you've traversed the entire country. Tell me, how many boofasticks did you meet?" "Boofasticks? What are boofasticks" asked the tourist. "I didn't ask you to explain to me what boofasticks are" said Reb Noach, "I just asked you how many of them you met." "Well how can I tell you how many boofasticks I met if I don't know what boofasticks are?" asked the bewildered tourist.
"Listen to what you are saying!" responded Reb Noach. "Do you know what holiness is? Is holiness defined by angels with halos flapping around or rainbows bouncing off of rocks? How can you possibly tell me that you didn't see any holiness when you don't even know what holiness is?
How many times over the course of our lives have we heard about the greatness of holiness and the necessity to strive to attain this virtue? We probably cannot count the times since they are so numerous; yet many of us have no idea of what holiness really means! The same applies to the concept of "yiras shamayim." We grow up hearing about it all the time and they are two words which get thrown around repeatedly, but realistically it remains a vague idea for many people.
While literally yiras shamayim means fear of Heaven, we can explain it in practical terms with a story that occurred with Rav Wolbe.
Rav Wolbe was once in Europe and he was asked to speak at a gathering of alumni from Yeshivas Be'er Yaakov (where he served as Mashgiach). He asked the alumni to sum up in a single sentence the underlying message of all the discourses that he had given during the years that they had learned in Yeshiva. He received various answers, but he was not satisfied. "The single idea I was trying to convey" said Rav Wolbe, "is that ruchniyus (spirituality) is no less a reality than gashmiyus (physicality)."
Yiras shamayim can be explained as the recognition that ruchniyus is very real. It is even more real than the computer or piece of paper in front of you! (See Alei Shur vol. II p. 355 in explanation of how the entire Oz Yashir highlights this idea). Every mitzvah brings blessing to the world and every aveirah wreaks havoc, and thus, all the occurrences in the world are contingent on the deeds of man. Yes, G-d does care and it does make a difference if, on Shabbos, you take the peas from the carrots or the opposite.
We understand full well that if we give over our credit card information and one of the 16 numbers is off by a single digit it won't go through, even though we were off by just a tiny bit. In a similar vein, lack of meticulousness in performing mitzvos is simply not good enough. And the opposite is also true. A few seconds of Torah learning, a smile or a couple words of tehillim make a difference in the world and a world of a difference! Acknowledging this truth will positively affect all of a person's actions, since he realizes the greatness of the smallest mitzvah and the gravity of the minutest aveirah.
Ask yourself and answer: What am I going to do to help define for myself what emunah, bitachon, ahavas Hashem and yiras Hashem mean on a practical level? Am I cognizant of the fact that all that we do makes a difference to us and the world around us?
Important Numbers
