Chazal[1]
teach us that everything is in the hands of God except for fear of Heaven. They learn this from the following pasuk in our parsha, "מה ה'
א-להיך שואל מעמך כי עם ליראה את ה' א-להיך ללכת בכל דרכיו ולאהבה אותו ולעבוד את ה'
א-להיך ... לשמור את מצוות ה' .../What
does God your Lord ask of you if not to fear God your Lord, to go in His ways,
and to love Him, and to serve God your Lord … to observe God's commandments …"
(Devarim 10:12) However, looking
at this pasuk we see that much more is required of us than fear of Heaven
alone. While fear of Heaven is the first
requirement, the pasuk goes on to list essentially everything else in the Torah
including serving God as best we possibly can and doing all the mitzvos. And conventionally, we understand this Chazal
as meaning that the only thing about which we have a choice is whether to fear
God. Everything else is in His
hands. How then, can Chazal infer from
this pasuk that everything is in God's hands except for fear of Heaven? Furthermore, are Chazal saying that we have
free will only regarding fear of Heaven?
The Sfas Emes explains. Chazal are teaching us that awe of God is the
prerequisite for everything that follows.
When Chazal say that everything is in the hands of God, they mean that the
power of God is latent in everything. Of course, we have a
choice as to whether we will perform a mitzvah.
However, even if we decide to perform it we will only be able to
acknowledge the spirituality latent in that mitzvah (and in everything else) if
we fear God – acknowledging His presence.
This is what Chazal[2] mean
when they said that awe of God is the key to unlocking the spirituality of the
Torah that is inherent in everything.
We can learn the
importance that Chazal attached to awe of God as a prerequisite in our service
to Him from a homily on the pasuk above. "מה ה' ... שואל מעמך .../What does God … ask of you?" Chazal[3] read
the word מה/what, as מאה/hundred, and learn that we are required to say one hundred
blessings each day. What compelled
Chazal to learn מאה/one
hundred blessings, from מה/what, of this pasuk
specifically?
The answer involves
an understanding of the significance of a blessing. When we say, for example, the blessing, בורא פרי העץ/Who has created fruit of the tree, we are
acknowledging that the power of God is in the fruit of the tree. The blessing is a recognition of our
limitations. The word מה/what, as well, alludes to our limitations (as in ונחנו מה/for what are we.) Chazal
therefore learn of our requirement to say blessings specifically from this
pasuk because this pasuk teaches us the importance of understanding our
limitations by acknowledging God in everything.
May we merit it!
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