There are two kinds of awe, and they lead to entirely different places. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi maps them with surgical precision in the Tanya, drawing on the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law)'s paradox: "Where there is no fear, there is no wisdom. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear" (Avot 3:17).
The first is yirah tata'ah (יראה תתאה), lower fear. This is the awe you feel when contemplating the sheer scale of creation. The Talmud says the distance from earth to the first heaven is a journey of 500 years. From that heaven to the next, another 500 years. And the feet of the Chayot, the living angelic creatures, measure up to all of them combined (Chagigah 13a). Layer upon layer upon layer, and all of it is merely God's "garments," the external coverings in which the King conceals Himself.
This fear is real. It drives a person to fulfill the Torah and commandments. But it is called "external" and "inferior" because it comes from looking at the garments, not at the King Himself.
The second is yirah ila'ah (יראה עילאה), higher fear. This is not fear of punishment or even fear of God's vastness. It is a fear born of shame, an inner trembling that comes from seeing reality as it truly is. The word Chochmah (חכמה), wisdom, can be read as koach mah (כ"ח מ"ה), the power of "what" or "nothing." True wisdom is seeing that everything, the heavens, the earth, your own body and soul, is absolutely nothing compared to the word of God that sustains it all. Like the light of the sun dissolving inside the body of the sun itself, all of reality is nullified within its Source.
The lower fear opens the gate. The higher fear is what you find on the other side. You cannot reach wisdom without first practicing awe, and you cannot reach the deepest awe without first acquiring wisdom.
Concerning this yirah tataah (“lower fear”), which is directed toward the fulfillment of His commandments, in both areas of “Turn away from evil and do good,”1 Psalms 34:15. it was said, “Where there is no fear [of G–d], there is no wisdom.”2 Avot 3:17. It comprises a quality of “smallness”3 Referring to the “natural” fear defined in chs. 41 and 42. and a quality of “greatness.” The latter being the quality of fear that has its origin in contemplation on the greatness of G–d—that He fills all worlds, and “From the earth to the heaven is a distance of 500 years…and [similarly] from one heaven to the next…the feet of the Chayot measure up to them all…,”4 Chagigah 13a. and similarly on the evolvement of all the worlds, one above the other to the topmost heights—nevertheless this fear is called an “external” and “inferior” fear because it is derived from the worlds which are “garments” of the King, the Holy One, blessed is He, Who conceals and hides and clothes Himself in them, to animate them and give them existence, that they may exist ex nihilo, and so on, yet [this fear] is the gate and entrance5 I.e., a preliminary and prerequisite. to the fulfillment of the Torah and commandments. As for the yirah ilaah (“higher fear”), however, a fear stemming from a sense of shame, an inner fear that derives from the inward aspects of G–dliness within the worlds, it was said concerning it that “Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear,”6 Avot 3:17. for חכמה is [made up of the letters] כ״ח מ״ה,7 See above, ch. 19. and “Chochmah comes from ayin” (nothing),8 A paraphrase of Job 28:12. and “Who is wise? He who sees that which is born.”9 Tamid 32a. Note the reinterpretation. That is to say, he sees how everything originates and comes into being ex nihilo by means of the word of G–d and the breath of His mouth, blessed be He. As is written, “And by the breath of His mouth all their hosts.”10 Psalms 33:6. Therefore, the heavens and the earth and all their hosts are truly nullified in reality, within the word of G–d and the breath of His mouth, and are accounted as nothing at all, as nought and nothingness indeed, just as the light and brightness of the sun are nullified within the body of the sun itself. And let not man regard himself as an exception to this principle, for also his body and nefesh and ruach and neshamah are nullified in reality in the word of G–d, Whose word, blessed be He, is united with His thought, and so on, as has been explained above at length [chs. 20 and 21], taking as an example the human soul, one utterance of whose speech and thought are veritably as nothing, and so forth. This is what is meant by the verse, “Behold, the fear of the L–rd, that is wisdom.”11 Job 28:28. However, one cannot attain this fear and wisdom except in the fulfillment of the Torah and commandments through the lower, external fear. And this is what is meant by the statement, “Where there is no fear, there is no wisdom.”12 Avot 3:17. Now, in love, too, there are two grades—ahavah rabbah (“great love”) and ahavat olam (“eternal love”).13 Lit. “worldly” love, i.e., of this world, a love of G–d derived from contemplation of G–d in nature, as explained later on. “Great love” is an ecstatic love, and it is “a fiery flame that rises of itself.” It comes from above in a manner of a “gift” to him who is perfect in fear, as is known from the saying of the Rabbis, of blessed memory, “The way of a man is to search for a woman.”14 Kiddushin 2b. For love is called “man” or “male,” as is written, “He has remembered His lovingkindness,”15 Psalms 98:3; a play on the word זכר (“remembered”) which can be read by merely changing one vowel as זכר (“male”). while a woman [symbolizes] “fear of G–d,” as is known.16 A reference to Proverbs 31:30. Cf. Zohar III:42b, where the whole ch. 31 of Proverbs is interpreted allegorically. “Male seeking female” is here metaphorically explained as “love seeking fear” in order to fulfill itself. Without the prerequisite of fear, it is impossible to attain to this “great love,” for this love originates from the realm of Atzilut, wherein are no sundering or separateness, G–d forbid. Ahavat olam, however, is that which comes from the understanding and knowledge of the greatness of G–d, the En Sof, blessed is He, Who fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds and before Whom everything is accounted as nothing at all, like the nullity of one utterance within the intelligent soul while it still remains in its thought or in the desire of the heart, as has been explained earlier.17 Ch. 20. For as a result of such contemplation, the attribute of love that is in the soul will be divested of its garments, i.e., it will not clothe itself in anything of pleasure or enjoyment, whether physical or spiritual, to love it, and will not desire anything whatsoever in the world other than G–d alone, the Source of the vitality of all enjoyments, for they are all nullified in reality and are accounted as nothing at all, compared with Him, there being no manner of comparison or similitude between them, G–d forbid, just as there is no comparison between that which is absolutely nought and nothing—and everlasting life. As is written, “Whom do I have in heaven [besides You]? And when I am with You I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart yearn, Rock of my heart….”18 Psalms 73:25-26. And this will be explained later.19 Ch. 48. Also one whose soul’s quality of love is not clothed at all in any physical or spiritual enjoyment is able to kindle his soul as with burning coals and an intense fire and a flame that strives heavenward through the contemplation referred to above, as will be enlarged upon later. This quality of love sometimes precedes fear, according to the quality of the daat which fathers it, as is known. [For daat incorporates both chasadim and gevurot, which are love and fear, and sometimes the chasadim descend and manifest themselves first.] Therefore it is possible for a wicked and a sinful person to repent by virtue of the love that is born in his heart at the time he remembers the L–rd his G–d. At any rate, fear, too, is included therein [in the love], as a matter of course, except that it is in a stage of “minuteness” and “concealment,” namely, the fear of sin, of rebelling against Him, G–d forbid, while the love is in a revealed state in his heart and mind. However, such a case is but an accidental and spontaneous occurrence, or an “emergency prescription” through G–d’s particular providence as the occasion requires, as happened with Rabbi Eliezer ben Durdaya.20 Avodah Zarah 17b. However, the order of service, which is determined by and depends on man’s choice, is to begin with the fulfillment of the Torah and commandments through the “lower” fear in its state of “minuteness” at least, to “turn away from evil and do good,” so as to illuminate his divine soul with the light of the Torah and its commandments, whereupon the light of love will also shine forth upon it [for the word ואהבת—“And you shall love”—has a numerical value twice that of אור—“light”21 Alluding to the light of Torah and its commandments, which arouses the light of love.—as is known to the students of Kabbalah].
