Chasidut su Isaia 33:78

“The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.” (Tehillim 111:10) The consciousness called the fear of God is the vessel a person needs to receive the Torah,¹⁷⁸On a simple level, “receiving the Torah,” means “observing the commandments”; on a deeper level, it means perceiving the very root of the Torah, which is a revelation of God. as it is written (Yeshayahu 33:6), “The fear of God is His storehouse,”¹⁷⁹That is, the fear of God holds and stores something; in this case, the Torah. and, as the first part of this verse says, “He shall be the stability (emunah) of your times.”¹⁸⁰The entire verse reads: “He shall be the stability of your times, a store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge, the fear of God is His storehouse” (Yeshayahu, 33:6). The Talmud (BT Shabbat 31a) regards each of the attributes as hinting to another order of the Mishnah: “Stability-Faith” - Zera’im (Seeds); “Your times” – Moed (Festival); “Strength” – Nashim (Women); “Salvation” – Nezikin (Damages); “Wisdom” – Kodoshim (Holy Things) and “knowledge” –Tehorot (Purities). The order of Zera’im deals with the laws of planting, harvesting, tithes, etc. It is alluded to by the word “emunah” (meaning both faith and stability) because a person with faith in God will plant. (See, Tosefot, ibid., who cites the Jerusalem Talmud.) There is a deeper relationship between these two uses of the word, as well. In Judaism, in general, faith is not necessarily an abstract feeling or concept, but a level of stability and unwavering commitment, in the sense of “faithfulness.” “Nevertheless,” says the Talmud, “without the fear of God as a storehouse, one has nothing.”¹⁸¹The last statement, “The fear of God is His storehouse,” does not hint at a particular body of knowledge or tract, but rather to the key ingredient needed in order to preserve the knowledge of all the preceding categories. Without the fear of God, or the intense awareness of God’s conduct of the world, joined with an understanding that God both rewards and punishes, the treasures will be lost. In other words, without the fear of God one cannot truly fulfill the Torah. The first consideration is faith,¹⁸²The verse from Yeshayahu begins with a reference to emunah (stability, faith) and ends with a reference to fear of God (the storehouse). This alludes to the author’s statement above, that faith precedes fear, while fear gives context to faith. which is the root of the fear of God, whereas the fear of God is the vessel which holds faith. But what kind of faith are we talking about? It is the kind in which a person believes that God is all-powerful and exalted. On this, the Zohar writes:¹⁸³Introduction, 11b.“In the beginning God created…” This is the very first commandment, which is called, “Fear of God.” The fear of God is called, “the beginning,” as it is written, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God,” and (Mishlei 1:7), “The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.” It is the gate one must enter in order to arrive at faith.¹⁸⁴The reader may notice a contradiction here. Above, R. Gershon Henokh stated that faith preceeds fear of God; here, the Zohar states that fear of God precedes faith. As will become clear below, there are two types of faith: a deep, inner certainty in God’s existence, which leads to fear andn awe of Him, and a higher type of faith, which actually transcends the limited intellect and the duality of this world, which is the result of this type of fear. In this way, the whole world depends on this commandment. There are three aspects to the fear of God. The first two lack a correct foundation, which the third one has. The first kind is when a person fears God in order that He not bring harm upon his children,¹⁸⁵In retribution for the father’s own sins. or in order not to personally suffer physical retribution or financial loss.¹⁸⁶Such as on account of his transgressions. He fears God constantly for these reasons, yet his fear lacks a foundation. The second kind is when person fears God in order not to suffer punishment in the world-to-come or in Hell.¹⁸⁷Gehinom, more accurately translated as purgatory. These two kinds of fear are not true expressions of the fear of God. The third and true expression is when person fears God solely because He is the Great and Sovereign Ruler of the universe, the root and source of all the worlds, and that everything is considered as nothing before Him, as it is written (Daniel 4:32), “All the inhabitants of the world are considered as naught before Him.” One should place all of his desire on this place which is called “fear.”¹⁸⁸Notice how the author, using this passage from the Zohar, has changed the definition of fear. It is no longer centered upon the human being and his concerns, reducing God’s greatness in the process; rather, it opens a person to the absolute transcendence of God and takes him beyond his petty concerns – ultimately into a Divine realm that transcends logic and duality, as we will see below.

In addition I have found some more allusions from this story in this chapter: "…Nenatekah eth-moserotheimo, wenashlikhah mimenu `avotheimo/ Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" — bands are made of hide, the aspect of tefillin. "`Avotheimo" — `avot are cords, aspect of tzitzith, as our Rabbis obm expounded this verse in tractate Avodah Zarah [3b] regarding tzitzith and tefillin.
"Yoshev bashamayim yischak/ He Who dwells on High will laugh" — for, the bull and the ram laughed at him.
"Az yedaber eleimo ve'apo, uv'charono yevahaleimo/ Then He speaks to them in His wrath; and He panics them with His sore displeasure" — the anger, the panic and the fear mentioned above.
"Wa'ani nasakhti malki `al-tziyon har qodshi/ But I have poured/ anointed My king on Tzion, My holy mountain" — perhaps the allusion here is to the effigy that the king erected on the high mountain; zeh le`umath zeh (everything in holiness has its counterpart in evil), and this is counterpart to the king on the holy Mount Tzion, for, all the parts of the world are included there, and so forth, and this is the "mountain" there. "Nasakh" is a term as in "nasakh wayitzok/ pouring and pouring-molding" [the statue] [Gen. 35:14].
"She'al mimeni/ Ask of me" — all the advices mentioned above. "Goyim nachalathekha, wa'achuzathekha afsei-aretz/ Nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession" — to grasp together all ends of the earth, namely all seven parts of the world, and all the kings and nations as inheritance under him.
"`Ivdu/ Serve" — is tzitzith, "be'yir'ah/ with awe" — is tefillin, and "wegilu bir`adah/ and rejoice upon the trembling" — the trembling [of the wicked; Rashi there, citing Isa. 33:14].

[Notes Following the Story]
"Darkei Tziyon aveloth/ The paths of Tziyon are mournful" [Lam. 1:4; since the Temple has been destroyed, one is obligated to remember and mourn it, and unbridled joking and laughter are forbidden; v. S"A O"C 560. Also, there are no festivals or times when God can be "seen:" Ex. 23:15 etc.].
Tziyon is the aspect of the tziyunim [markers; placemarks] of all the countries, for they all gather there, as it is written, "wera'ah `etzem<sup>1</sup>The word `etzem was omitted here. adam uvanah etzlo tziyun/ and see the bone of¹The word `etzem was omitted here. man, then shall he set up a sign by it." [Eze. 39:15].
This is [the meaning of], "Chazeih Tziyon Qiryath Mo`adeinu/ Look upon Tziyon, the city of our assemblies" [Isa. 33:20], the acronym of which is MeTzaCheiQ (jesting), for that is where all the tziyunim [signs] gathered, and whoever needed to know whether to do something or some business transaction would know it there. May it be His will that it be rebuilt speedily in our days, Amen.

And he dreamt, etc, and Yaakov woke up from his sleep and said 'Surely H' is present in this place, and I did not know it! etc This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.' (Gen. 28:16-17) And there is a midrash that Yaakov awoke from his mishnah (Bereishit Rabbah 69:7). And this is surprising, and it appears to me [that the explanation is] that it is known that the essence of the service of a person, to come to the objective of completeness in their service to the Holy One of Blessing, to attain the Blessed One's Godliness, happens through Torah and Tefilah, and one cannot exist without the other. This is because an Am Haaretz cannot be a Hasid (Pirkei Avot 2:5), and also, Torah alone will not complete one's soul, as the saying of the sages z"l "anyone who says he has nothing other than Torah, has no Torah" (Yevamot 109b:4), since obviously through doing Torah for its own sake one can come to a great holiness when one learns for its own sake, and clings to one's life-force [nefesh], spirit [ruach] and soul [neshamah] through the letters of the Torah. However, one cannot come to the essence of Awe and Love and Longing in one's service to the Holy One of Blessing , and to grasp Godliness [with Torah alone], rather, through Tefilah, with self-sacrifice and enthusiasm as it is know from the sacred books. And behold the saying of the sages z"l is known: "and he encountered the Place, meaning, he fixed the evening prayer" (Brachot 26b:7) - behold he didn't know until that moment the secret of Tefilah, how great it is, and we find that Yaakov hid in the study house of Shem and Ever (Megillah 17a:5) and learned Torah, and we see that he knew the secret of Torah, however he did not discover God's Godliness until this moment, when it was revealed for him after he stood at the secret of Tefilah. And this is the explanation for the midrash "and he awoke from his sleep - from his mishnah" - they wanted to say from his Torah, that was awaken through this Tefilah, and he understood that he had not reached complete understanding through Torah alone, and so he said 'behold, there is Hashem in this place', meaning, through this tefilah he was able to understand more deeply the revelation of Godliness than he had until that moment, which was through Torah alone. "And I didn't know" this secret "this is but the House of Elokim", meaning through Tefilah, self-awakening and enthusiasm a persn can come to Higher Awe, which is called in the language of our sages z"l 'pity on one who has no courtyard etc' (Shabbat 31b:1). "And this is the gate to heaven" that Tefilah is the essence of the gate to heaven, to come to an understanding of Godliness and awe of heaven, a good treasure, since "awe of Hashem is God's treasure" (Isaiah 33:6) and pay attention to this, because it is correct.

Deuteronomy 28,12. “Hashem will open for you ‎His bounteous store, the heavens.” Although we have a ‎statement by our sages in B’rachot 33 that G’d’s only ‎‎“possessions” in His treasure chambers are the four cubits of ‎‎“halachah,” i.e. reverence for Him displayed by meticulous ‎observance of the laws of the Torah, [a statement based on ‎Deuteronomy 10,12, Ed.], we also have a rule that ‎although man’s spiritual journey in this world commences with a ‎dose of reverence and awe for Hashem, this is followed by a ‎feeling of pleasure which proves to have been “hidden” within ‎the folds of the garment called ‎יראה‎, awe. The reason why this is ‎so is that had service of the Lord commenced with feelings of ‎pleasure, its ethical value would have been null and void, as ‎‎“serving” the Lord would have been turned into an entirely ‎pleasurable act, not something that is the result of choosing this ‎option in the knowledge that the alternative appeared to offer ‎more immediate rewards. This is the reason why the pleasurable ‎aspects of practicing reverence and awe for the Lord need to be ‎hidden during life on this earth. When man “tires himself out” ‎during a lifetime of service to his Creator, then G’d will open His ‎treasure chamber in the heavens so that he will enjoy pleasure. ‎This has been alluded to in the words of Isaiah 33,6 where the ‎prophet said: ‎יראת ה' היא אוצרו‎,”reverence for the Lord –that was ‎her treasure. (Zion’s)
The word ‎אוצר‎, usually translated as “treasure, or granary,” ‎applies to something stored out of sight, hidden. This “treasure” ‎normally concealed inside the attribute of ‎יראה‎, “fear, awe,” will ‎be released openly, i.e. in due course G’d will “open” these ‎treasures previously kept hidden as a result of the recipient ‎having served the Lord loyally. Our verse therefore concludes ‎with the simile of beneficial rainfall, i.e. G’d’s treasures being ‎openly revealed to the Jewish people as well as the world at large ‎as His gift to them. [During early Jewish history, when ‎Yitzchok, in a year of famine, and although not a farmer by ‎vocation, could plant and his harvest was 100 fold the harvest in ‎normal years, this convinced the Philistines to remain on good ‎terms with him. (Genesis 26,12-14, and 26-31) Ed.] This is ‎also the reason why the Torah once decrees that we observe the ‎Sabbath by writing: ‎זכור את יום השבת לקדשו‎, “remember the ‎Sabbath Day to keep it holy, (Exodus 20,8) and another time ‎שמור את יום השבת לקדשו‎, “observe the Sabbath Day to keep it ‎holy;” (Deuteronomy 5,12). The first time reference is made to ‎serving the Lord by your actively observing the Sabbath; the ‎second time it refers to the time when you will be passive, i.e. ‎receive the reward for having observed the Sabbath here on earth.‎ ‎

Yet another meaning of the shalshelet draws our ‎attention to a mystical aspect of hitkashrut, the bond ‎between disciple and master. The numerical value of the letters in ‎the name ‎יוסף‎ when deducting the respective “zeros” as the 0 in ‎‎60, is the same as in the name of G’d ‎אהיה‎. This is the name of G’d, ‎which according to ‎שערי אורה‎, is the key to linking all of G’d’s ‎names together. The numerical value of the name ‎יוסף‎, i.e. 156 is ‎also the same as the numerical value of the word ‎ציון‎, and in ‎Hoseah 14,6 the prophet says of G’d: ‎אהיה כטל לישראל‎. “I (G’d) will ‎be as beneficial for Israel as dew.” In psalms 133,3 G’d also speaks ‎of being like the dew that falls on Mount Hermon which descends ‎on Mount Zion as a blessing. We also find that the abbreviated ‎form of G’d’s name as a substitute ‎כוזו‎ used on the back of the ‎מזוזה‎ equal in numerical value the word ‎טל‎ =39. (Compare ‎‎Zohar II 261 on this, where the author states that G’d’s ‎name ‎אהיה‎.includes all of G’d’s names and ‎כנוים‎, “G’d’s ‎pronouns.”) The shalshelet over the word ‎וימאן‎, is meant to ‎alert us to all this.‎