Yitro - יִתְר֨וֹ Shemot ~ Exodus Making Torah Personal ~Yirah 18:1 – 20:23

(1) Jethro priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the LORD had brought Israel out from Egypt. ....(7) Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed low and kissed him; each asked after the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent.

(1) On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. (2) Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain,

but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.” Moses came and summoned the elders of the people and put before them all that the LORD had commanded him.

I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods besides Me. You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not swear falsely by^-b the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not clear one who swears falsely by His name.

Come, my sons, listen to me;
I will teach you what it is to fear the LORD. Who is the man who is eager for life,
who desires years of good fortune? Guard your tongue from evil,
your lips from deceitful speech. Shun evil and do good,
seek amity and pursue it.

Should you find yourself questioning God, keep silent. By virtue of this silence, your very thoughts will provide you with an answer to your questions.

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.

That is, this true fear which our sages said of it: "The Holy One, blessed be He, has nothing in His world except a treasury of fear of heaven" (Berachot 33b). Only for Moshe was it easy to attain due to his great clinging to G-d, blessed be He. But to other people, certainly the physical is a powerful impediment within them. However it is proper for every Chasid to exert himself to attain of it all that he is capable, and it is written: "Fear the L-rd, His holy ones" (Tehilim 34:10).

One who is God-fearing is able to break another person’s haughtiness.

And no deed is considered worthy unless it contains pure reverence. Therefore, it is necessary to make known to everyone that every man who wants to bring his soul towards the attainment of good qualities must mingle reverence to Heaven with each and every quality. For it is fear of the Lord, reverence of God, that strengthens all of our qualities. And fear of the Lord or reverence of God is like the thread which we run through the holes of pearls and then we tie a knot at its end so that it will firmly hold all the pearls. There is no doubt that if the knot should tear, all of the pearls will fall. Such is the reverence of Heaven. It strengthens all of the qualities and if you will undo the knot of reverence, then all your good qualities will depart from you, and when you have no good qualities within you then you have neither Torah nor Commandments. For the whole Torah depends on the constant improvement of the qualities. As regards the qualities, the good and the bad, the wise man can make good ones of bad ones but the fool can make evil qualities out of good ones. As for him who walks in the darkness, and does not consider the improvement of his qualities, it is possible that one quality will destroy all of his merit. For example, one who takes great pride in his deeds and boasts and preens himself always with the shame of his companions, and seeks to obtain honor through his companion's disgrace, such a man is like one who fills a barrel with fine wine, but there is in the bottom of the barrel a little hole. There is no doubt that all of the fine wine will be lost because of the small hole, if he does not stop it up. So this man who is arrogant, even though he is filled with Torah, will lose everything through this evil quality if he does not hasten to repair it.

The Holy One performs miracles for a person who always cleaves to the fear of God.

Wearing a head covering leads to the fear of God.

Those who fear God, He rewards with peace.

(7) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and Mussar.

(12) And now, O Israel, what does your God יהוה demand of you? Only this: to revere your God יהוה, to walk only in divine paths, to love and to serve your God יהוה with all your heart and soul,