Shabbos Parashas Eikev - 5779

Shabbos Parashas Eikev - 5779

Rabbi Hal Miller

Now, Israel, what does Hashem your God ask from you? Only to fear Hashem your

God to go in all His ways and to love Him and to serve Hashem your God with all

your heart and with all your soul, to observe the commandments of Hashem and

His decrees which I command you today for your benefit. [Devarim 10:12-13]

Our verse contains many twists. What does it mean, only to fear God? Did He ask

this or command it? Sforno reminds us that God does not need anything, so He is

not requesting something for Himself, rather for us, as in the end of the verse.

Onkelos understands 'ask' to mean 'demand', but the Hebrew does not support this.

Rambam says it means 'require', which is also not what the Hebrew says, except that

he reads it in context with his explanation of 'fear' as being that we are required to

learn about God and His Creation. The word here means 'ask'. So what is Moshe

telling us that God is asking? As Rambam saw, that gets us to the word 'fear'.

Earlier, in Devarim [7:18-19] Moshe told the people not to fear the Canaanites they

were about to go up against, but to remember what God did to the Egyptians, and

to know that He would fight their upcoming battles as well against "all the peoples

before whom you fear". This is the definition that most readily comes to our minds.

But there is more to it in our context.

Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that there are two aspects to fear of God. The first

is the natural desire to avoid punishment, but the second is the awe one feels when

faced with something amazing. He writes, "the fear of punishment is one of the

fundamental tenets of faith." But that alone is not enough. This could just as well

explain our view of a human master. We must combine it with an understanding of

the grandeur of what God has done and is doing for us, which should draw us to

the observance of His commandments.

Abarbanel writes that fear "refers to God's continuous hashgacha, that man knows

that there is a superior force that controls him, thus to the gratitude we must have

for what He does for us." This is very similar to Rav Moshe's position, but Abarbanel

expands on it. We often hear that "One who serves God out of love is greater that

one who serves out of fear," but Abarbanel adds, "God only demands that we refrain

from sinning based on fear." Thus, 'ask' goes along with 'only', and means this is a

minimum.

According to Nechama Leibowitz, this verse is "the crux of the entire Torah". Moshe

has just completed reviewing the sad history of the failings of the Jewish people to

follow God's commands, and by this verse starts a new chapter, a new beginning

with another chance to get back into God's good graces. She cites Rambam, "this is

the crux of free will. If a man desires to be righteous, he is free to do so. If he desires

to follow an evil path he is free to do so." We can fear punishment, and should, but

we must also recognize His grandeur, meaning that it is to our benefit to learn about

Him and what He has done for us.