(20) Those among Pharaoh’s courtiers who feared the LORD’s word brought their slaves and livestock indoors to safety; (21) but those who paid no regard to the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the open.
Translation: Behold, yesterday in the Torah we read, "the one who fears/in awe of the word of God" and it is written afterwards "that one did not pay attention etc." (Exodus 9:20-21, verses from our parsha this week)
Meaning- the idea of fear/awe of God is to pay attention to everything, that one should not do anything that is not according to the will of the Lord of all, and to believe that the world is full of God's glory, and in this one can comprehend fear/awe of Heaven.
Rabba bar Rav Huna said: Any person who has Torah in him but does not have fear of Heaven is like a treasurer [gizbar] to whom they gave keys to the inner doors of the treasury but they did not give keys to the outer door. With what key will he enter? Although the Torah is the inner key, without fear of Heaven one cannot gain access to the genuine Torah.
Similarly, Rabbi Yannai would proclaim: Woe unto one who does not have a courtyard, and who makes a fence for the courtyard, i.e., a person who lacks fear of Heaven and is nevertheless involved in Torah study.
Rav Yehuda said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, only created His world so that people would fear before Him, as it is stated: “And God has so made it that men should fear before Him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).
As Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: The Holy One, Blessed be He, has in His world only fear of Heaven alone, as it is stated: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
Tangentially, the Gemara cites an additional statement by Rabbi Ḥanina concerning principles of faith. And Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. Man has free will to serve God or not, as it is stated: “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all of His ways, to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The Lord asks man to perform these matters because ultimately, the choice is in his hands.
The verse says: What does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear the Lord your God. The Gemara asks: Is fear of Heaven a minor matter that it can be presented as if God is not asking anything significant? Didn’t Rabbi Ḥanina 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). The Lord values and treasures fear of Heaven over all else.
The Gemara responds: Indeed, for Moses fear of Heaven is a minor matter. As Rabbi Ḥanina stated: It is comparable to one who is asked for a large vessel and he has one, it seems to him like a small vessel because he owns it. However, one who is asked for just a small vessel and he does not have one, it seems to him like a large vessel. Therefore, Moses could say: What does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, because in his eyes it was a minor matter.
(ב) וְכֻלְּהוּ כְּלִילַת לוֹן בַּת שֶׁבַע, וְלֵית סְפִירָה מִכֻּלְּהוּ סְפִירָן דִּיְהֵא לָהּ רְשׁוּ לְאַרָקָא בִרְכָאָן וּלְאַשְׁפָּעָא לְתַתָּאִין, אֶלָּא בְּבַת שֶׁבַע, בְּגִין דְּאִיהִי קִשּׁוּרָא דְכֻלְּהוּ סְפִירָן, דְּאִי סְפִירָן הֲווֹ מְרִיקִין לְבַר מִינָהּ הֲוָה פִּרוּדָא, וּבְגִין דָּא לֵית רְשׁוּ לְאַרָקָא סְפִירָה לְשׁוּם אֲתַר בַּר מִינָהּ, לְגַבֵּי תַּתָּאִין, וּבְגִין דָּא אִתְּמַר בָּהּ (ירמיה ט כב) אַל יִתְהַלֵּל חָכָם בְּחָכְמָתוֹ וְגוֹמֵר, כִּי אִם בְּזֹאת, בְּזֹאת יָבֹא אַהֲרֹן אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ (ויקרא טז ג), דְּלֵית רְשׁוּ לְנָבִיא וְחַכִּימָא לְמִנְדַּע לְעִילָא שׁוּם מַדָּע אֶלָּא בָּהּ.
All of them are included in Bat-Sheva, there is no permisson to give blessing and illuminate to the lower worlds except through Bat Sheva, for she is the connection to all other sefirot, for if the sefirot would give without her their would be division and for this reason there is no permission, for this reason it is written "Don't praise a wise person for his wisdom but only in this one should glory" (Jeremiah 9:22) and "with this Aaron should come to holiness" (Leviticus 16:3). That there is no permission for a prophet and a sage to know anything about God or have any connection to God except through her.
(10) The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD; all who practice it gain sound understanding. Praise of Him is everlasting.