As the last surviving son and successor of the Brisker Rov, Rav Meshulam Dovid HaLevi Soloveitchik, zt’l, was a staunch guardian of derech ha-limud (study method) and the family traditions and spiritual practices received from his revered father, the Gaon Rav Yitzchok Zev, the GRY”Z. As a rosh yeshiva in Yerushalayim, Rav Dovid was a faithful gatekeeper of the Brisker dynasty and of meticulous observance, analytical study and strict and uncompromising adherence to Halacha and minhag.

Yeshivas Brisk in Yerushalayim is renowned for its powerful learning and its serious commitment to precision and punctiliousness. One morning, as a talmid arrived late for morning seder, he saw that Rav Dovid was standing in front of the building. Certainly he would notice the bachur’s lateness. Well aware of how makpid (strict) the Rosh Yeshiva was about shemiras ha-sedarim and valuing every moment of learning, he lowered his eyes and kept walking quickly, as if he was on his way to some other destination, hoping Rav Dovid wouldn’t see him. But Rav Dovid had seen him….

The Rosh Yeshiva was extremely distressed over what had transpired and struggled to hide his displeasure. He was so visibly upset that his older, closest talmidim finally asked him was wrong. When Rav Dovid described the incident the talmidim seemed unmoved—nu, sometimes a bachur comes later to seder; it didn’t seem like such a big deal.

Rav Dovid explained. While he was bothered by the young man’s lateness, that was understandable. “What hurts me is that he was concerned that I would see him, and he made a shpiel out of it. That means he is worried about what I’ll think, or say, or do. Why wasn’t he concerned about the Ribbono shel Olam thinks? Who am I? Yes, a moment of discomfort before one’s rosh yeshiva is normal. But what about the shame before the Borei Olam (the Creator)? Where have we gone wrong here?”

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Our sedra recounts the wonderful brachos that flow from a life of living with ratzon Hashem (will of Hashem) as well as the pitfalls of forgetting that we are constantly in God’s presence.

Pesukim selected from our parsha are customarily recited by many as the Parshas haYirah each day after davening:

וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ שֹׁאֵל מֵעִמָּךְ כִּי אִם־לְיִרְאָה אֶת ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ לָלֶכֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו וּלְאַהֲבָה אֹתוֹ וְלַעֲבֹד אֶת־ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶׁךָ: לִשְׁמֹר אֶת־מִצְות ה׳ וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לְטוֹב לָךְ:

And now Yisrael, what does Hashem, your God, ask of you? Only to fear Hashem your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship Hashem your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. To keep the commandments of Hashem and His statutes, which I command you this day, for your good. (10:12-13)

To many of us, living with deep yiras Hashem sounds exceedingly difficult, a level reserved for the likes of Moshe Rabbeinu, highly attained ovdei Hashem and great roshei yeshiva. Surely, this is where Rav Dovid was standing when lamenting the talmid’s seeming lack of yiras Shamayim. He expected the talmid to be on an exalted spiritual level as if it was completely natural to fear Hashem more than people.

Regarding the language in our pasuk, the Gemara seems to agree: אַטּוּ יִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם מִילְּתָא זוּטַרְתָּא הִיא, “Is yiras Shamayim, fear of Heaven, a minor matter that it can be presented as if Hashem is not asking anything significant of us — כי אם, ‘only’ to fear God?” Rather, “Fear of Heaven is the beginning of wisdom” — yiras Shamayim is valued and treasured over all else! The Gemara then responds:

אִין, לְגַבֵּי מֹשֶׁה מִילְּתָא זוּטַרְתָּא הִיא. דְּאָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא: מָשָׁל לְאָדָם שֶׁמְבַקְּשִׁים מִמֶּנּוּ כְּלִי גָּדוֹל, וְיֵשׁ לוֹ דּוֹמֶה עָלָיו כִּכְלִי קָטָן. קָטָן, וְאֵין לוֹ דּוֹמֶה עָלָיו כִּכְלִי גָּדוֹל.

Indeed, for Moshe, yiras Shamayim is a ‘minor matter’. As Rabbi Chanina stated, “This 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 one. One who is asked for just a small vessel and he does not have one, it seems to him like a large vessel. Therefore, Moshe could say, ‘What does the Hashem your God ask of you other than to fear’—because Moshe Rabbeinu had acquired true yirah, in his eyes it was not a big deal.”

For those of us not on the level of Moshe Rabbeinu or the Brisker Rosh Yeshiva, yiras Shamayim is a very big vessel and a very big deal. However, in another Gemara, Rebbi Yochanan (Brachos, 28b), brings a resolution and hamtakah, guiding his students within the reality of the human condition: we are baderech, in process….

The students of Rebbi Yochanan ben Zakai gathered around his deathbed and said to him: רַבֵּינוּ, בָּרְכֵנוּ, “Our teacher, bless us.” Rebbi Yochanan said to them, יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁתְּהֵא מוֹרָא שָׁמַיִם עֲלֵיכֶם כְּמוֹרָא בָּשָׂר וָדָם, “May it be His will that the fear of Heaven shall be upon you like the fear of flesh and blood.”

His students were puzzled and said: עַד כָּאן? That’s it? To that point and not beyond? Shouldn’t one fear God more (than one fears flesh and blood)?” The elderly leader of the generation responded, וּלְוַאי, תֵּדְעוּ כְּשֶׁאָדָם עוֹבֵר עֲבֵירָה אוֹמֵר: שֶׁלֹּא יִרְאַנִי אָדָם, “If only a person would achieve that level of awe! Know that when a person commits an aveira, he says to himself: ‘I hope that no person will see me!’ If one would be as concerned about avoiding shame before God as he is before people, he would never in fact sin.”

The Mishna (Avos, 4:12) too accepts our fear of flesh and blood, while employing it in our growth toward greater yiras Shamayim: וּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמָיִם, “(And let) the yirah you have for your teacher (become) like your fear of Heaven.”

Indeed, earthly fears were created in order to lead us toward awe of Hashem and teshuva: “Thunder was created to straighten out the crookedness of the heart” (Brachos, 59a). May we therefore accept ourselves if and when fear of flesh and blood or other earthly fears arise — and may we leverage them (our fears?) to achieve higher states of awe and wonder….

סוֹף דָּבָר הַכֹּל נִשְׁמָע אֶת־הָאֱלֹקִים יְרָא וְאֶת־מִצְותָיו שְׁמוֹר כִּי־זֶה כּל־הָאָדָם׃

The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Have yirah for Elokim and observe His commandments, for this is the whole of human existence (Koheles, 12:13).

Rabbi Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children. He is the mashpiah of OU-NCSY, founder of Tzama Nafshi and the author of “Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva.” Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife Ora and their family.