Ahavat Hashem and Yirat Hashem (Love of G-d and Fear of G-d)
This entry deals with the relationship between Ahavat Hashem (Love of G-d) and Yirat Hashem (Fear of G-d), and their various types.
Love - From Closeness, Fear - From Distance[edit | edit source]
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Their Inclusion Within Each Other[edit | edit source]
Because of the love for Hashem and the desire to cleave to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the divine soul naturally fears and is afraid of touching even the edge of the impurity of idolatry, G-d forbid, which is against the faith in One G-d, even to speak about or do an act connected to idolatry.
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One Cannot Exist Without the Other (They Elevate Torah and Mitzvot)[edit | edit source]
Love is tightly bound to fear. Ahavah and Yirah are "dechilu and rechimu" (fear and love), and they are the two wings of a bird that together elevate Torah, prayer, and mitzvot to unite with the inner dimensions of the higher worlds. This is what the Zohar says: "Torah without fear and love cannot fly upward."
That is, love without fear cannot elevate Torah and mitzvot upward, and likewise fear without love.
Order of Service: Fear Love Love Fear[edit | edit source]
When a person strives in yirah tata'ah (lower fear), he can contemplate and reach ahavat olam (eternal love), and this latter is a vessel in which the soul's essential love - "ahavah rabbah" (great love) - can be revealed. Only when this last one is revealed can a person reach the perfection of nullification to G-dliness in "yirah ila'ah" (higher fear).
Yirah Tata'ah (Lower Fear)[edit | edit source]
Yirah tata'ah is the beginning of service, its essence and root, and includes within itself several levels:
a. Shame, similar to "that people should not see me." This level is not yet fear (neither of Hashem nor of sin) but only that a person "does not feel comfortable" committing a transgression, and it's understood that many times this is not enough to stand against the yetzer (evil inclination).
b. Accepting the yoke of Heaven. Here too there is still no feeling of fear in the heart, but this is like a person who has accepted upon himself to be a servant of the king, and therefore does what is required of him and does not rebel. In a normal situation, accepting the yoke is sufficient to prevent transgressions, but in a time of difficult trial, even this will not stand, and therefore it too is not sufficient.
c. "Like standing before the king." When one contemplates that the great King, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, is with him in the same room, and also examines his kidneys and heart to see if he is serving Him properly.
d. Fear of G-d in a state of "smallness" - from contemplating that just as the soul gives life to the body despite not being visible, so too Hashem gives life to the entire world despite not being seen.
e. Fear of G-d in a state of "greatness" - from contemplating how Hashem gives life to all the higher worlds, the angels, and the souls.
Ahavat Olam (Eternal Love)[edit | edit source]
Also called "intellectual love," and sometimes "lesser love." This love is the lowest level in the service of Hashem (whose essence is love, "there is no service like the service of love"), but even this is not appropriate to be revealed in a transgressor, and therefore a wicked person must repent before beginning to serve Hashem.
Ahavah Rabbah (Great Love)[edit | edit source]
This love is the nature of the soul, when it comes to revelation in the heart (and when it is revealed only "in the hidden understanding of his mind and heart" it is called concealed love).
Yirah Ila'ah (Higher Fear)[edit | edit source]
This fear is not a feeling of dread but of shame, and is revealed in a person when he reaches a level where he feels the inner G-dliness within the worlds. This fear is indeed revealed only after the nature of the soul has been revealed (in great love), but its root is specifically in the lowest level - yirah tata'ah. Without effort in yirah tata'ah, yirah ila'ah will not be revealed.
From Hishtalshelut (Spiritual Chain of Worlds) and Above Hishtalshelut[edit | edit source]
This section is incomplete. Please contribute to ChabadPedia and complete it. There may be details on this in the discussion page. Reason: Those that come through human service, and those that come from above.
Their Connection to Chochmah and Binah[edit | edit source]
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External Links[edit | edit source]
- Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira, What's More Important, Love or Fear? From the Depths publication for Shabbat Parshat Shmot 5785, p. 10