Musar su Deuteronomio 6:13

Now that it has been made clear that our intent is to further the service of the Creator, blessed be He, for because of that the world was created, we say that the service of God is an obligation upon us to fulfill, both from Scripture and from reason. From Scripture, we learn that the Creator, blessed be He, created the world for no other reason than for the Torah, as it is said (Jeremiah 33:25), “If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.” And it says further (Proverbs 3:19), “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.” And it says further (Proverbs 8:22), “The Lord made me the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old.” We can say that the service of God is an obligation upon us, for the Creator gave the Torah to Israel at Mount Sinai, only as the means to serve Him, as it is said (Exodus 20:17), “God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.” And it is written (ibid., 3:12), “When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” And it is said (Deuteronomy 6:13), “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; and Him shalt thou serve.” Scripture placed “fear” before “service” to teach that if there is no fear there can be no serving of God. Thus it is said (ibid., 10:12), “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God… .” Now that we know that the world was created only for the sake of the Torah, we also know that the world was created for no other purpose than the service of God. As long as service to God and righteousness stand, the world will stand upon them. As it is said (Proverbs 10:25), “But the righteous is an everlasting foundation.” Since it has been explained that the service of God is what we are obligated to do according to Scripture, we will now explain how it is derived by way of reason. We will say that it is well known that with regard to a mortal king, his kingdom is not firmly established except by the faithful service of his servants. If his servants do not serve him or fear him, then he has no sway over them, and there is no way in which his authority over them can be known. We see that such a king rewards his servants according to their service and their fear of him. If a king of flesh and blood must show his dominion and authority over his servants who are creatures such as he, and who may even be better than he, how much more is it fitting that the dominion of the Creator, blessed be He, should be apparent from our fear of Him. In what way can it be known that He is our Creator and we His servants, and that He endures forever, while we are transitory? How can we make all of this known except by doing His will and by our fear of Him? In this way, we will know what we are and what our lives are.

And they, may their memory be blessed, explained about the matter of the apikoros (Sanhedrin 99b), that he is a man who does not act in a manner of awe and exaltation towards Torah scholars, even though he does not spurn them. For example, he spurns his fellow in front of a Torah scholar, and he does not pay attention to the honor of the sage’s Torah status. For since the Torah is not exalted in his eyes - to act with honor towards it - he has no share in the world to come. For this one too will be considered as one of those that profane the Torah. Therefore, our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Pesachim 22b), “‘Fear the Lord, your God’ (Deuteronomy 6:13) - [this is] to include Torah scholars.”

Another among the qualities of the soul is fear. One should fear God and the wrath of God and his parents and his teachers, as it is said (Deuteronomy 6:13), “Thou shalt fear the Lord, thy God.” And he should fear places that are sacred to God (see Leviticus 19:30). He should fear the vicissitudes of time and the troubles that beset man. And he should fear the day of death. And he should fear his wrongdoings. He should be in fear lest he merit not to behold the face of his God.