<html><head><title>[Aspaqlaria] Yir'ah and its Middos</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/wp-content/themes/twentyten/style.css" type="text/css" media="screen" /></head><body>Aspaqlaria has posted a new item, '<a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2012/11/yirah-and-its-middos.shtml">Yir'ah and its Middos</a>'<br />
<br />
<font size=+1><br />
<p style="text-align: justify;">The story so far…</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Words are how we divide the space of ideas into more specific “countries”. Our choice of vocabulary therefore not only reflects our thoughts, but shape them. And more importantly, they change what parts of our experience we notice, remember, and reinforce in our memories. We can’t really work on our <em>yir’as Shamayim</em> if we continue dividing the space in terms of fear (and terror, panic, etc…) and awe. <em>Yir’ah</em> may cover some of the same territory as the English concept of “fear” and much of the territory as “awe”. But the language<em></em> the mesorah speaks in does not divide this “continent” by the feelings generated by neurochemicals and hormones. Rather, it speaks of each constelation and dynamic of emotions in various kinds of encounters and entities in themselves. <em>Pachad</em> in the face of a well understood thread, <em>eimah</em> when facing someth
ing remote and incomprehensible, and <em>yir’ah</em>. Defining <em>yir’ah</em> as “awe / fear” misses this basic difference in perspective. We still think in terms of various bodily responses rather than recognizing the feeling of participating in something important — both the awe of the moment and the fear of making the wrong decision about something momentous. In reality, it’s all one sensation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A thought that would have belonged in my previous post if I would have had the before writing it…</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Rabbi Chanina speaks of “<em>yir’as Shamayim</em>” rather than “<em>yir’as Hashem</em>” when he says “All is in the control [literally: hands of] <em>Shamayim</em> except for <em>yir’as Shamayim</em>.” The one thing we can choose for ourselves is what we value. Are those values in line with Hashem’s plan for us, or are they creations of our own? <em>Yir’ah</em> as the key to free will isn’t so much our notion of Hashem’s importance in and of itself as the importance of that which He decreed central to our lives. This is “<em>Shamayim</em>“, Hashem in the context of a “retinue” running the universe.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But now, on to the intended topic…</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>Yir’ah</em>, <em>Zehirus</em> and <em>Zerizus</em><br />
</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Zehirus</em> is usually translated Watchfulness or Caution. I would suggest “Awareness”. The Ramchal opens <a title="WikiSource: Mesilas Yesharim ch. 2" href="http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%AA_%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%91" target="_blank">Mesilas Yesharim ch. 2</a> (<a title="Shechem: Mesillat Yesharim (English), ch. 2" href="http://www.shechem.org/torah/mesyesh/2.htm" target="_blank">tr. R’ Shraga Simmons</a>) with a description:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="rtl">הנה ענין הזהירות הוא שיהיה האדם נזהר במעשיו ובעניניו, כלומר, מתבונן ומפקח על מעשיו ודרכיו, הטובים הם אם לא, לבלתי עזוב נפשו לסכנת האבדון חס וחלילה ולא ילך במהלך הרגלו כעור באפלה.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">THE IDEA OF WATCHFULNESS is for a man to exercise caution in his actions and his undertakings; that is, to deliberate and watch over his actions and his accustomed ways to determine whether or not they are good, so as not to abandon his soul to the danger of destruction, God forbid, and not to walk according to the promptings of habit as a blind man in pitch darkness.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The connection to <em>yir’ah</em> is self-evident. Less obvious is the connection to <em>zerizus</em>. Again, turning to the Ramchal, this time ch. 6:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="rtl">אחר הזהירות יבוא הזריזות, כי הזהירות סובב על ה”לא תעשה” והזריזות על ה”עשה”, והיינו (תהילים לד:טו): סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב. וענינו של הזריזות מבואר, שהוא ההקדמה למצות ולהשלמת ענינם. … ותראה כי טבע האדם כבד מאד, כי עפריות החמריות גס, על כן לא יחפוץ האדם בטורח ומלאכה. ומי שרוצה לזכות לעבודת הבורא יתברך, צריך שיתגבר נגד טבעו עצמו ויתגבר ויזדרז, שאם הוא מניח עצמו ביד כבדותו, ודאי הוא שלא יצליח. הוא מה שאמר התנא (אבות ה:כ): הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּשֶׁר, וְרָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן
אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם….</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">AFTER WATCHFULNESS comes Zeal, Watchfulness pertaining to the negative commandments and Zeal to the positive, in accordance with the idea of “Depart from evil and do good <span style="font-size: small;">(<a href="http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2634.htm#15">Psalms 34:15</a>).” </span><span style="font-size: small;">“Zeal,” as the name implies, signifies alacrity in the pursuit and fulfillment of mitzvoth. … <span style="font-size: small;">A person’s nature exercises a strong downward pull upon him. This is so because the grossness which characterizes the substance of earthiness keeps a man from desiring exertion and labor. One who wishes, therefore, to attain to the service of the Creator, may His Name be blessed, must strengthen himself against his nature and be zealous. If he leaves himself in the hands of his downward-pulling nature, there is no question that he will not succeed. As the Tanna says (Avos
5:20) <strong>“Be fierce as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.”</strong></span><br />
</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Zerizus</em> is described at the flipside of <em>zehirus. </em>What <em>zehirus</em> taught us about when not to act (“<em>sur meira</em> — turn from evil”)<em>, zerizus </em>teaches about when to do so (“<em>va’asei tov –</em> and do good”). More than that, the Ramchal notes that the basic job in developing <em>zerizus </em>is fighting the mass that comes with a body, laziness. <em>Zerizus </em>is actually a form of <em>zehirus</em>; it is a caution about being overly lazy, being aware about the cost of inaction.<em></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Both are actually expressions of <em>yir’ah</em>, fear of damaging some of great value.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As we saw, <em>yir’ah</em> is the point about which free will revolves. It is not surprising, then, that both the motive for inaction and for action flows so directly from <em>yir’ah</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>Yirah</em> and <em>Anavah</em></strong></p><br />
</font><br />
<br />
You may view the latest post at<br />
<a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2012/11/yirah-and-its-middos.shtml">http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2012/11/yirah-and-its-middos.shtml</a><br />
<br />
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted.<br />
Best regards,<br />
micha<br />
micha@aishdas.org</body></html>