Liberal Judaism & Piety: The Challenge of God Consciousness

(12) And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His paths, to love Him, and to serve/worship the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, (13) keeping the Lord's commandments and His laws, which I command you today, for your good.

And Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. As it is stated: “What does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to fear” (Deuteronomy 10:12). Is fear of Heaven a minor matter? 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). Indeed, for Moses it 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; a small vessel, and he does not have one, it seems to him like a large vessel.

(3) Antigonos, man of Sokho, received from Shimon the Righteous. He would say, "Do not be as servants who are serving the master in order to receive a reward, rather be as servants who are serving the master not in order to receive a reward; and may the fear of Heaven be upon you."

(26) May they always be of such mind, to fear Me and follow all My commandments, that it may go well with them and with their children forever!

(24) Then the LORD commanded us to observe all these laws, to fear the LORD our God, for our lasting good and for our survival, as is now the case.

(1) Hallelujah. Happy is the man who fears the LORD, who is ardently devoted to His commandments.

(1) Let no man say: "Behold, I perform the precepts of the Torah, and engage myself in its wisdom so that I will receive all the blessings described therein, or so that I will merit the life in the World to Come; and I will separate myself from the transgressions against which the Torah gave warning so that I will escape the curses described therein, or so that I will suffer excision from the life in the World to Come". It is improper to serve the Lord in such way, for whosoever serves the Lord in such way, he is a worshiper because of fear, which is neither the degree of the prophets nor the degree of the sages. And the Lord should not be worshiped that way, save only by ignorant men, women and infants who are trained to worship because of fear, until their knowledge increases when they will worship because of love.

(2) The worshiper because of love, engages himself in the study of the Torah and the observance of precepts and follows the paths of wisdom on no account in the world, neither for fear of evil nor in order to inherit the good; but he does the true thing because it is true, and in the end the good comes because thereof. That degree is a great degree, indeed and not every scholar attains it; for such was the degree of Abraham our father, whom the Holy One, blessed is He! called His beloved, because he worshiped not, save because of love, and it is, furthermore, the degree concerning which the Holy One, blessed is He! commanded through Moses, saying: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God" (Deut. 6.5); for, when man will love the Lord with a proper love, he will momentarily perform all of the commandments because of love.

(3) And what is the proper love? He shall love the Lord with an exceeding great and very strong love so that his soul be tied to the love of the Lord, finding himself in a constant tremor, as if he were suffering of lovesickness, when his mind is free because of love for that woman, being continuously agitated about her, whether he sitting down, or whether he is standing up, even when he is eating and drinking. More than this should the love for the Lord be in the heart of those who love him, meditating therein constantly, even as He commanded us: "With all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Ibid.). This is what Solomon allegorically said: "For I am love-sick" (Songs 2.5). And, the whole book, Song of Songs, is an allegory on this subject.

(5) He who engages himself in the study of the Torah in order to receive a reward, or in order to prevent himself from being overtaken by punishment, is one who studies the Torah not for its own sake. But he who studies it neither because of fear nor because of reward, but because of love for the Lord of the whole earth Who commanded concerning it, is one who studies it for its own sake. Therefore when instructions are given to infants, to women and the ignorant in general, they should not be instructed save to worship because of fear, until their knowledge will increase, and they will became wise in wisdom, when this secret is revealed to them little by little, and get them acquainted with this subject slowly, until they will attain and know it, when they will serve Him because of Love.