Jüdisches Denken zu Schemuel I 2:6

And in the chapter [entitled] Ein Omdin (Berakhot 33b): Rabbi Chanina said, "Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven, as it is stated, And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, etc. (Deuteronomy 10:12)." Is fear of Heaven a minor matter? Didn’t Rabbi Chanina say in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, "The Holy One, Blessed be He, has nothing in his treasury other than a treasure of fear of Heaven, as it is stated, Fear of the Lord is his treasure (Isaiah 33:6)?" Indeed, for Moses fear of Heaven is a minor matter. It is comparable to one who is asked for a large vessel, and he has one; it seems to him like a small vessel; one who is asked for just a small vessel and does not have one, it seems to him like a large vessel. Many asked very much about this piece. First, why is specifically the fear of Heaven not in the hands of Heaven? Moreover, about that which it said that it was a minor matter in the eyes of Moses — would Moses say, And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, because it was a minor thing in his eyes? Behold, in fact, fear is a major thing [for others]! And the explanation of this piece: Even though this thing is very deep, we shall explain this thing to establish the truth in wisdom of the sages' words. And it is that we have already said that the essence of fear is that man is an effect of a Cause. And that is true fear. And because of this, that man is an effect; he is considered like nothing, since he is an effect that is dependent upon his Cause. And that which he is nothing, that thing is not from the angle of the Cause, since this Cause created him and took him from the potential to the actual. So God forbid that fear of heaven should be in the hands of God, may He be blessed. For the fear is that he considers himself to be null and nothing in front of the Cause, may He be blessed, as has been explained. And were this to have been from God, may He be blessed, something that is not considered existence would have, God forbid, come from Him. Yet existence is dependent upon Him, may He be blessed. And even though it is written, The Lord kills, and gives life (I Samuel 2:6), and that is in the hands of God, may He be blessed — that is that He removes life from a man because of his sin so that he is completely absent. But to say that the fear of Heaven would be in His hands, something like that, is impossible to say, since the essential fear is that he considers himself an effect. And that is not from the angle of the Cause, since any absence is not from the action of the actor, and this thing is very deep. Hence the fear is not from the angle of the cause. For behold, it exists from it, and that is why it is called a Cause. And that is why "Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven." And this thing is very clear, for someone who has wisdom and knowledge will understand these things. As man is an effect from the angle of his essence, not from the angle of the Cause. And because of that, it is impossible that the fear of Heaven be in the hands of Heaven. Rather, it is only from the angle of man himself, since he is an effect. And that is why they said, "Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven." But it asked, "Is fear a minor matter? But behold, the Holy One, Blessed be He, has nothing in his treasury other than a treasure of fear of Heaven." And it means to say that other things are not completely with God, may He be blessed, as is the fear of Heaven. For this fear reaches to the essence of His divinity, may He be blessed. As behold, the [Onkelos Aramaic] translation of divinity is dachala, which is an expression of fear. So you see from this that this fear is the essence of divinity. And in the words of the sages (Sanhedrin 106a), "He brought out His fear from His bosom." And that is why there is nothing in His treasury other than this fear, since it is completely with God, like divinity is with Him. And, if so, fear of Heaven is not a minor matter. And it answers, "Indeed, for Moses fear of Heaven is a minor matter, etc." And it means to say that if this fear was not a minor matter for Moses, then this would be difficult — is this a minor matter for Moses? But Moses had this fear, and it is fitting for every creature to have this fear. For, behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, only created His world so that there be those who fear before Him. And, if so, one who has this fear does not have an additional thing at all. For if it were an additional thing, it would be appropriate to say, "And is fear a minor matter?" As he would then have an additional thing, but this fear is not an addition. For it is not like wisdom, that one acquires wisdom as an addition. And it is from this angle that Scripture stated, what does the Lord [...] ask of you other than to fear It is just that the one lacking this fear lacks a major thing. But one who has this fear is not considered as if he acquired an additional virtue. Rather, one who has not acquired this fear is not considered a person. And that is why it is said concerning one who has this fear, And now [...], what does the Lord [...] ask of you other than to fear Him? Meaning to say, what addition is there with that fear? But one who is lacking this fear is certainly lacking a major matter. An analogy for this is bread, upon which man's life depends. If he has bread, we do not say about it that he has a major thing beyond that which he needs for his life. However, if he is lacking bread, then he is certainly lacking a major thing, since he does not have bread, which is what he lives upon. Hence this fear for one who is lacking it is a major matter. But with Moses, who had this fear, and it would not be fitting that he not have that fear, it could certainly be said, what does the Lord [...] ask of you other than to fear? For He is not requesting something that is called an addition at all, but rather something appropriate and required.

...And in the chapter [entitled] Ein Omdin (Berakhot 33b): Rabbi Chanina said, "Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven, as it is stated, And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, etc. (Deuteronomy 10:12)." Is fear of Heaven a minor matter? Didn’t Rabbi Chanina say in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, "The Holy One, Blessed be He, has nothing in his treasury other than a treasure of fear of Heaven, as it is stated, Fear of the Lord is his treasure (Isaiah 33:6)?" Indeed, for Moses fear of Heaven is a minor matter. It is comparable to one who is asked for a large vessel, and he has one; it seems to him like a small vessel; one who is asked for just a small vessel and does not have one, it seems to him like a large vessel. Many asked greatly about this piece. First, why is specifically the fear of Heaven not in the hands of Heaven? Moreover, about that which it said that it was a minor matter in the eyes of Moses, would Moses say, And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, because it was a minor thing in his eyes? Behold, in fact, fear is a major thing [for others]! And the explanation of this piece — even though this thing is very deep, we shall explain this thing to establish the truth in wisdom of the sages' words: And it is that we have already said that the essence of fear is that man is an effect from a Cause and that is true fear. And in that, that man is an effect, he is considered like nothing, since he is effect that is dependent upon his Cause. And that which he is nothing, that thing is not from the angle of the Cause, since this Cause created him and took him from the potential to the actual. So God forbide that fear of heaven should be in the hands of God, may He be blessed. For the fear is that he considers himself to be null and nothing in front of the Cause, may He be blessed, as has been explained. And were this to have been from God, may He be blessed, something that is not considered existence would have, God forbid, come from Him. Yet existence is dependent upon Him, may He be blessed. And even though it is written, The Lord kills, and gives life (I Samuel 2:6), and that is in the hands of God, may He be blessed — that is that He removes live from a man because of his sin, so that he is completely absent. But to say that the fear of Heaven would be in His hands, something like that is impossible to say, since the essential fear is that he considers himself an effect. And that is not from the angle of the cause, since any absence is not from the action of the actor, and this thing is very deep. Hence the fear is not from the angle of the cause. For behold, it exists from it, and that is why it is called a cause. And that is why "Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven." And this thing is very clear, as some one who has wisdom and knowledge will understand these things. As man is an effect from the angle of his essence, not from the angle of the cause. And because of that, it is impossible that the fear of Heaven be in the hands of Heaven. Rather, it is only from the angle of man himself, since he is and effect. And that is why they said, "Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven." But it asked, "Is fear a minor matter? But behold, the Holy One, Blessed be He, has nothing in his treasury other than a treasure of fear of Heaven." And it means to say that other things are not completely with God, may He be blessed, as is the fear of Heaven. For this fear reaches to the essence of His divinity, may He be blessed. As behold, the [Onkelos Aramaic] translation of divinity is dachala, which is an expression of fear. So you see from this that this fear is the essence of divinity. And in the words of the sages (Sanhedrin 106a), "He brought out fear of Him from His bososm." And that is why there is nothing in his treasury other than this fear, since it is completely with God, like divinity is with Him. And, if so, fear of Heaven is not a minor. And it answers, "Indeed, for Moses fear of Heaven is a minor matter, etc." And it means to say, And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, etc. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, etc. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, etc. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, etc.

The Soul: I have found in [the sacred] books in reference to the topic of necessity and fate, divine authority and will, that all things created mineral, vegetable, animal and rational being - are in the power of G-d, as it is said: "Whatsoever the L-ord pleases, that He does, in heaven and on earth" (Ps. 135:6). Further, "The L-ord kills, and makes alive: He brings down to the grave and brings up again; the L-ord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up" (I Sam. 2:6-7). "Who is he that says and it comes to pass, when the L-ord commands it not? Out of the mouth of the most High, proceeds not good and evil?" (Lament. 3:37). "I form the light and create the darkness: I make peace and create evil" (Isaiah 45:7). "Except the L-ord build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the L-ord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain" (Ps. 127:1). "Vain it is for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep" (Ps. 127:2).