Shavuot 2025: Turning פחד into יראה

(16) Terror and dread descend upon them; Through the might of Your arm they are still as stone— Till Your people cross over, ה׳, Till Your people cross whom You have ransomed.

(5) You need not fear the terror by night, or the arrow that flies by day,

(10) The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD; all who practice it gain sound understanding. Praise of Him is everlasting.

(16) On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. (17) Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain. (18) Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for ה׳ had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. (19) The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder. (20)ה׳ came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and ה׳ called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

(15) All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. (16) “You speak to us,” they said to Moses, “and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” (17) Moses answered the people, “Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of God may be ever with you, so that you do not go astray.” (18) So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו AND THAT HIS FEAR MAY BE [BEFORE YOUR FACES] — Through the fact that you see that He is feared and dreaded you will know that there is none beside Him and you will therefore fear Him and not sin.

Therefore, at the Giving of the Torah, when the Holy One wanted to reveal His Malkhut and the fear of Him, God submitted Himself to the Jewish people, as it were, and requested of them that they accept His Kingship. He gave them a number of assurances, as it is written (Exodus 19:6), “You will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation….” All these assurances are the aspect of submissiveness. This was all in order to reveal His Malkhut and the fear of Him, as it is written (Exodus 20:17), “in order that the fear of Him be on your faces.” For all this was for the sake of fear, which is the aspect of malkhut, as explained above. God lessened Himself in order to reveal His Kingship, as explained above.

On this fear Moshe Rabeinu, peace be unto him, said: "in order that His fear shall be upon your faces, so that you shall not sin" (Shmot 20:17). For this is the primary fear - that a man fear and tremble always until this fear never leaves Him. For through this, certainly, he will not come to sin, and if he does come to sin, it will be considered as accidental. Isaiah said in his prophecy: "this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2). And king David extolled in this: "Princes have pursued me for nothing, but my heart feared [only] Your word" (Tehilim 119:161).

Know, too! a person must cross a very, very narrow bridge. The main rule is: Do not be frightened at all!

(2) God is our refuge and stronghold, a help in trouble, very near. (3) Therefore we are not afraid though the earth reels, though mountains topple into the sea—

When Bnei Yisrael received the Torah, they feared for their lives and asked Moshe to speak instead of Hashem. The pasuk (Shemos 20:17) states, “Moshe spoke to the nation and said, ‘Do not fear, for Hashem has come to test you, and so that His fear will be upon you, so that you do not sin.’” This seems contradictory: Moshe says not to fear but then emphasizes the importance of fear. The explanation is that fear is necessary to prevent sin, but one must also serve Hashem with love. Even if one feels distant due to sin, the pasuk “His banner of love was over me” (Shir Hashirim 2:4) shows that Hashem's love allows one to draw closer. Hashem acknowledges that even though Bnei Yisrael were far from Moshe's level, their sincere desire to get closer would be accepted.

If a man's mind is never empty of these seven matters we mentioned, he will always be humble and lowly. Humility will cling to his nature and will not separate from him. When he clings to humility, all the snares of arrogance, haughtiness, and pride will keep far from him, as we mentioned. He will be saved from sin and from stumbling as written "and that His fear may be before your faces, that you sin not" (Shemos 20:20). And our sages said: "Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin. Know from where you came and where you are going and before whom you are destined to give account and reckoning. From where have you come? - from a putrid drop. Where are you going? - to a place of dirt, worms, and maggots. Before whom are you destined to give account and reckoning? - before the supreme King of kings, the holy One, blessed be He" (Avos 3:1).

וינועו, a word describing involuntary movements of one’s body, trembling. One is unable to arrest one’s motion i.e. that which is known as נע. The word appears transitively in Numbers 32,13 ויניעם במדבר, “He made them wander in the desert.” It occurs intransitively also in Isaiah 24,20 תנוע ארץ כשכור, “the earth is swaying like a drunkard.” The Israelites’ trembling was inspired by the fright they experienced at hearing G’d’s voice.