Description
This shiur opens up by explaining that Yiras Hashem is not the final tachlis, but the gateway and vessel that holds everything else in Yiddishkeit. Just as a treasure chest is not the treasure itself but protects all the treasure inside, Yiras Hashem is the oitzar that gives reality and permanence to Torah, tefillah, mitzvos, emunah, honesty, and longing for geulah. The shiur shows from the Gemara that even if a person can answer “yes” to the great questions after 120 — honesty in business, setting time for Torah, waiting for yeshuah — it only holds if he has true Yiras Shamayim. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai therefore begins the Zohar with Yirah, because before entering the deep worlds of ahavas Hashem, deveikus, and pnimius haTorah, a Jew must first live with the simple, real awareness that he is standing before Hashem. Without that container, even beautiful inspiration leaks away; with it, every mitzvah becomes real and lasting.
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