Last I checked, fear is an emotion we like to avoid most of
time outside of a short thrill ride or at most two hours of tension during a
frightening film. Even then, the fear is only acceptable because I’ve chosen to
experience it. However, fear that is put
upon me, such as shaky turbulence on a plane, I can’t wait for it to end so
that the tension is released. Given our
pejorative relationship to fear, it becomes difficult to understand why fear
becomes the focus of G-d’s relationship with us. It is mentioned double the
amount of times of love in the Torah, and it appears from this week’s parsha
that it is the only thing that G-d really wants from us- to fear him.
Further,
if we examine the human reaction to fear from an action stand point, things make
less sense. The goal of fear is to
inspire a person to move away from that which causes fear, to create a
distance. If the goal of Judaism is to
create a relationship with G-d, then why is G-d encouraging us to maintain a
safe distance from him?
A way of
thinking about this is that relationships need fuel to function. Nothing is more toxic than when a relationship
is in a state where both parties feel that they’ve ‘made it’. As soon as that feeling sinks in, the effort
goes down and the cracks start to set in.
Relationships are always dynamic and always need an input to stay connected.
The impetus for input is a realization that there is still a distance between the
parties, and therefore, room for growth.
A healthy dose of fear reminds us that despite all of our commonalities
with G-d, having a physical dimension means there is still a massive gap
between us and G-d. This gap is what
makes us ‘fear.’ There is a distance that we can’t seem to close, and fear is
the emotion we use not only to cause distance but to imply distance. However, G-d can’t make us see this gap, we
have to realize it is there for our self. Ironically, had G-d made us see the
gap it would in the process close the gap; therefore, this is one area of life
where G-d stays out. This is behind the
talmud’s famous dictum, all is in the hands of heaven except for fear of
heaven.
