Halakhah sobre Jó 39:13

(Yod) “The fear of the Lord was its storage chest” (Isaiah 33:6). And [this] means like that which [Rabbi Bachya] said in the Duties of the Heart, “And be careful that that your enterprise in your acts for God not be like the enterprise of the bird about which the verse says that it lays its egg and warms it on top of the ground and so fails to safeguard it, to the point that other animals destroy it and it does not become a fledgling.” [This is] like the verse states (Job 39:13-14), “The wing of the ostrich spreads […]. She leaves her eggs on the ground, etc.” And even one who is occupied with Torah, the commandments and acts of lovingkindness require safeguarding. And that is fear [of God] – like the kav of ḥomton (a substance that keeps pests away from grain), as is elucidated in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a-31b).⁸⁷See the next paragraph. And it is written,⁸⁸The first and last part of the quote is from Exod. 20:16-17, but the middle is from Deut. 5:22. “You speak to us […] and we will hear, lest the great fire consume us. And [Moshe] said […], ‘Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be upon your faces.’” And at first glance, this is not understood – first he says, “Be not afraid”; and at the end he says, “in order that the fear of Him may be upon your faces.” And it appears to me [that it can be explained] according to that which is said about one of those who had fear [of God]: That they found him sleeping in one of the wildernesses and said to him, “Are you not afraid of lions; that you are sleeping in this place?” He said [back] to them, “I am ashamed in front of God to have any fear besides my fear of Him.” [This is] brought in the Duties of the Heart (in the Section on Love, Chapter 6).⁸⁹10:6. See there. And this is the intention of the statement of [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, “‘That fear of Him may be upon your faces’ – this is [referring to] shame” (Nedarim 20a). The explanation is that they be embarrassed to fear anything else behind Him, may He be blessed. And this is what Moshe told them, “Be not afraid,” meaning that they not be afraid from the voices and the fire – like they said, “Lest it consume us.” But only “the fear of Him should be upon your faces” – and that is the shame. And anyone who is on this level will have all of his actions dedicated to His name, may He be blessed. And with this, there will be a safeguarding of his Torah and his good deeds. And so did Kohelet say (Ecclesiastes 12:13), “Fear God and guard His commandments” – and its explanation is that only through fear of Him will his commandments be guarded, just like the wheat with the kav of ḥomton. And without the safeguarding, the Torah [that one studies] and the commandments [he performs] are not lasting. And in the Zohar, fear [of God] is given the name daughter; and Torah, the name son. And it is possible that they were hinting to this in the Talmud (Bava Batra 141a), “A daughter first is a good sign for sons. […] because she raises [the sons].” [This is] according to that which is written in Avot 3:9, “Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, etc. And anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, etc.” And this is [the meaning of “A daughter first,” meaning fear, “is a good sign for sons,” meaning Torah – “because she raises [the sons].” As through it, the Torah [study becomes] lasting. And through this, the explanation of the song of Haazinu becomes elucidated – “The Lord saw and was vexed, and spurned His sons and His daughters” (Deut. 32:19): [This] means that they had the son come before the daughter – the explanation of which is that Torah [preceded] fear. “And He said, ‘I will see how they fare in the end, for they are a generation of reverses’” (Deut. 32:20), as they reverse the order; and as a result of this, they are “children with no faith in them,” – the explanation of which is that also the Torah [study] that they have with them will not grow and be lasting with them.