Before you put on your tallit in the morning, before you open a book of Torah, before you do anything holy at all, you need one thing first. Fear.
Not terror. Not dread. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi describes something more precise: the innate refusal to rebel against the King of kings that lies dormant in the heart of every Jewish person. Without awakening this fear, even love of God is not enough.
The practice he prescribes is strikingly concrete. Before performing any commandment, pause. Contemplate that the Ein Sof (אין סוף), the Infinite One, fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds. "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" God asks through the prophet (Jeremiah 23:24). And yet this God who fills everything has chosen to bestow His kingship upon you, personally. As the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) teaches, every person must say, "For my sake was the world created" (Sanhedrin 4:5).
Now hold both truths at once. God stands over you. The whole world is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3). He searches your heart and mind (Jeremiah 11:20) to see if you are serving Him properly. You are standing before the King.
The Tanya then reveals what this fear accomplishes when directed toward specific commandments. When you put on tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer) with this awareness, you are not just strapping leather to your arm. The divine wisdom and understanding of your soul are being absorbed into the wisdom and understanding of the Ein Sof that is clothed in those parchment scrolls. Your mind merges with the Infinite Mind.
Fear of God is not the opposite of intimacy with God. It is the gateway. Without it, the door to every other spiritual experience remains shut. As the Tanya puts it: fear is the root and core of all divine service, the foundation upon which everything else is built.
One must, however, constantly bear in mind the beginning of the service and its core and root. By this is meant that, although fear is the root of “turn away from evil” and love—of “do good,” nevertheless it is not sufficient to awaken the love alone to do good, but one must at least first arouse the innate fear which lies hidden in the heart of every Jew not to rebel against the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, as has been stated above,1 Ch. 4; set also end of chs. 19, 38. so that this [fear] shall manifest itself in his heart or, at least, his mind. This means that he should at least contemplate in his thought on the greatness of the En Sof, blessed is He, and on His Kingship, which extends to all worlds, both higher and lower, and that “He fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds,” as is written, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”2 Jeremiah 23:24. Yet He leaves both the higher and lower [worlds] and uniquely bestows His Kingdom upon His people Israel, in general, and upon him in particular, as, indeed, a man is obliged to say, “For my sake was the world created.”3 Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5. And on his part, he accepts His Kingdom upon himself, that He be King over him, to serve Him and do His will in all kinds of servile work. “And, behold, G–d stands over him,”4 Allusion to Genesis 28:13. and “The whole world is full of His glory,”5 Isaiah 6:3. and He looks upon him and “Searches his reins and heart”6 Jeremiah 11:20. [to see] if he is serving Him as is fitting. Therefore he must serve in His presence with awe and fear like one standing before the king. One must meditate profoundly and at length on this thought according to the capacity of apprehension of his brain and thought and according to the time available to him, before he occupies himself with Torah or a commandment, such as prior to putting on his tallit or tefillin. He should also reflect how the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, which encompasses all worlds and pervades all worlds, which is identical with the Supernal Will, is clothed in the letters and wisdom of the Torah and in the tzitzit and the tefillin, and through his study or donning these latter he draws over himself His light, blessed be He, that is, over “the portion of G–dliness from above” which is within his body,7 See above, beg. ch. 2. that it may be absorbed and nullified in His light, blessed be He. Specifically, in the case of the tefillin, [he should intend] that the attributes of wisdom and understanding which are in his divine soul may be nullified and absorbed into the attributes of wisdom and understanding of the En Sof, blessed is He, which are clothed, in particular, in the chapters of קדש and והיה כי יביאך.8 Two of the four parchment scrolls contained in the tefillin are inscribed with the portions of Exodus 13:1-10 and Exodus 13:11-16; the other two are mentioned below. That is to say that he should use his wisdom and understanding that are in his soul only for G–d alone. Similarly that the attribute of daat that is in his soul, which includes both chesed (kindness) and gevurah (sternness), i.e., fear and love, in his heart, be nullified and absorbed into the attribute of the Higher Knowledge, which contains chesed and gevurah, which is clothed in the chapters of שמע and והיה אם שמוע.9 Deuteronomy 6:4-8 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. See note above. This is what is written in the Shulchan Aruch:10 Orach Chaim 25:5. “That he make his heart and brain subservient to Him….” And while putting on the tzitzit he should bear in mind what is written in the Zohar, namely, to draw over himself His kingship, blessed be He, which is the kingship over all worlds…to bestow it particularly upon us through this commandment. And this corresponds to the subject of “You shall surely set a king over yourself.”11 Deuteronomy 17:15. In such a case, even though after all this [contemplation] no fear or dread descends upon him in a manifest manner in his heart, nevertheless since he accepts upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven and draws fear of Him, blessed be He, over himself in his conscious thought and rational volition, and this submission is beyond doubt a sincere one—for it is the nature of all Jewish souls not to rebel against the Holy King, blessed be He—then the Torah he studies or the commandment he performs because of this submission and because of this inspired fear in his mind are termed “perfect service,” like all service [performed] by a slave to his master or to his king. On the other hand, if one studies and performs the commandment with love alone, in order to cleave to Him through His Torah or commandments, it is not termed “service of a servant,” which is what the Torah demands, viz., “And you shall serve the L–rd your G–d…,”12 Exodus 23:25. and “Him shall you serve…,”13 Deuteronomy 13:5. as explained in the Zohar [Parashat Behar], “Just like the ox on which one first places a yoke in order to make it useful to the world…so, too, must a human being first of all submit to the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven…and if this submission is not found in him, holiness cannot rest on him….”14 Zohar III:108a, with slight changes. [See also Raaya Mehemna, ibid., 111b] that every man must be of two categories and levels, namely, the category of a servant and that of a son. And although there is a son who is also a servant, it is not possible to attain to this degree without the prerequisite of yirah ilaah, as is known to the initiated. Furthermore, even in the case of him who in his mind and thought feels no fear or shame on account of the poor capacity of his soul, originating in the lower degrees of the ten sefirot of Asiyah, nevertheless since he is intent in his service to serve the King, it is a complete service, for fear and service are accounted as two commandments of the total of 613, and they do not deter each other. But as a matter of fact, he also fulfills the commandment of fear in that he introduces the fear into his thought, for at this hour and moment, at any rate, there rests on him the fear of Heaven, at least like the fear in the presence of an ordinary mortal, even not a king, who is watching him, when he would restrain himself from doing anything unbecoming in the other’s eyes. This is termed fear, as Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said to his disciples: “May it be G–d’s will that the fear of Heaven be upon you like the fear of a human being…for you know that when a person commits a sin, he says [to himself], ‘May no one see me….’”15 Berachot 28b. However, such fear is termed yirah tataah (“lower fear”) and yirat chet (“fear of sin”) which precedes wisdom,16 Avot 3:9. while the higher fear is the fear of shame…,17 See above, ch. 3. “For there are two kinds of fear….”18 Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction 5b. Without any fear at all, however, it does not soar on high through love alone, just as a bird cannot fly with one wing, for fear and love are the two wings [as has been explained in the Tikkunim]. Similarly, fear alone is but one wing, and one’s service cannot ascend on high with it, although it is termed the “service of a servant,” for there must also be the filial quality, in order to awaken, at least, the natural love that is hidden in his heart, to become conscious of it in his mind at any rate, to be aware of his love of the One G–d in his thought and desire to cleave to Him, blessed be He. This should be his kavanah when occupying himself with the Torah or the particular commandment, that his divine soul as well as his vivifying soul, together with their “garments,” shall cleave to Him, as has been explained above.19 Chs. 23, 35, 37. See also ch. 14. Yet in fact the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said that a man should never separate himself from the community.20 Berachot 49b; here in a figurative sense. Therefore he should intend to unite and attach to Him, blessed be He, the fount of his divine soul and the fount of the souls of all Israel, being the spirit of His mouth, blessed be He, called by the name Shechinah,21 See above, ch. 37. because it dwells and clothes itself in all worlds, animating them and giving them existence, and is that which imbues him with the power of speech to utter the words of Torah, or with the power of action to perform the particular commandment. This union is attained through the drawing forth of the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, here below by means of occupation in the Torah and the commandments wherein [the light of the En Sof] is clothed. And he should be intent on drawing His light, blessed be He, over the fount of his soul and of the souls of all Israel to unite them. The meaning of this union will be discussed at length later on, note there.22 Ch. 46. This is the meaning of “For the sake of the Union of the Holy One, blessed is He, with His Shechinah, in the name of all Israel.”23 Text of this declaration, introducing the Morning Prayer, is to be found in the Siddurim following the Lurianic custom. NOTE: Thereby the gevurot will, of themselves, also be sweetened by the chasadim through the coalescence of the middot and their union by means of the revelation of the will of the Supreme One, blessed is He, which is revealed on high through the impulsion from below, namely, its revelation here below in the occupation in the Torah and commandment which are His Will, blessed be He. Thus it is written in Idra Rabbah and in Mishnat Chassidim, Tractate Arich Anpin, ch. 4, that the 613 commandments of the Torah are derived from the “whiteness” of arich anpin,24 See Addendum, Glossary. which is the Supernal Will, the source of the chasadim.* And although in order that this kavanah should be sincere in his heart, so that his heart should truly desire this yichud elyon (higher union), there needs to be in his heart the “great love” (אהבה רבה) for G–d alone, to do what is gratifying only to Him and not [even] for the purpose of satiating his own soul which thirsts for G–d, but he must be “Like a son who strives for the sake of his father and mother, whom he loves more than his own body and soul…” (as explained above25 Ch. 10. in the name of Raaya Mehemna), nevertheless every man should habituate himself to this kavanah. For though it may not be in his heart in perfect and complete truth, so that he should long for it with all his heart, nevertheless his heart does genuinely desire it to some small extent, because of the natural love in every Jewish heart to do whatever is the will of the Supreme One, blessed is He, and this union is his true desire, namely the higher union in Atzilut, which is produced by the impulsion from below, through the union of the divine soul and its absorption into the light of G–d which is clothed in the Torah and commandments in which it occupies itself so that they become One in reality, as has been explained above.26 Chs. 5, 23. For by reason of this are also united the source of Torah and commandments, i.e., the Holy One, blessed is He, with the source of his divine soul which is called Shechinah. These are the two categories of “filling all worlds” and of “encompassing all worlds,”27 The immanent and transcending Divine attributes are thus brought into unity through the agency of man. as is explained elsewhere at length. But the union of the soul with, and its absorption into, the light of G–d, making them one, this is what every member of Israel desires in very truth, utterly, with all his heart and all his soul, because of the natural love that is hidden in every Jewish heart to cleave to G–d and not, under any circumstances, to be parted or sundered or separated, G–d forbid, from His Unity and Oneness, blessed be He, even at the cost of his very life. And occupation in the Torah and commandments and prayer is also a matter of actual surrender of the soul, as when it leaves the body at the end of seventy years, for it no longer thinks of bodily needs, but its thought is united with, and clothed in, the letters of the Torah and prayer, which are the word and thought of the G–d, blessed be He, and they truly become one. This is [also] the whole occupation of the souls in the Garden of Eden, as is stated in the Gemara and in the Zohar, except that there they find delight in their apprehension of, and absorption into, the light of G–d. This is why it was ordained to recite at the beginning of the Morning Blessings before the prayer, “My G–d, the soul which You have given me is pure…You have breathed it into me…and You will eventually take it from me….” Meaning: Inasmuch as You have breathed it into me and You will eventually take it from me, I therefore as of now hand it over and return it to You to unite it with Your Oneness, as is written, “To You, O L–rd, I lift my soul,”28 Psalms 25:1. that is, through the binding of my thought with Your thought, and of my speech with Your speech, by means of the letters of the Torah and of prayer; and, especially, when one speaks to G–d in the second person, as “Blessed are You,” and the like. With this preparedness to surrender his soul to G–d, he should begin [to recite] the morning benedictions, “Blessed are You….” Similarly, with this preparedness he should also begin to learn a regular course of study immediately after prayer. So, also in the course of the day, such preparation is necessary at least before he begins to study, as is known that the essential preparation [of intent] “for its own sake,” where it is sine qua non, is before the beginning of study in the case of benonim (intermediates). This is the same as in the case of [writing] a bill of divorce or a scroll of the Torah, requiring sine qua non “for their own sake,” and it is sufficient if at the commencement of writing he says, “I am now about to write for the sacred purpose of the scroll of the Law,”29 Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 274:1. or [in the case of a bill of divorce] “for him and for her….”30 Ibid., Even HaEzer 131:1, 8. However, when he studies for a number of consecutive hours he should reflect on the preparedness referred to above, at least at hourly intervals. For in each hour there is a different flow from the higher worlds to animate those who dwell here below, while the flow of vitality of the previous hour returns to its source [in accordance with the esoteric principle of the “advance and retreat” in Sefer Yetzirah] together with all the Torah and good deeds of those who dwell here below [performed within that hour]. For in each hour of the twelve hours of the day, there rules one of the twelve combinations of of [the letters that form] the Ineffable Name of G–d, blessed is He, while the combinations of the name A-D-N-Y rule at night, as is known.31 Regarding the doctrine of tzerufei otiot (“letter combinations”) in the process of Creation, see Likkutei Amarim, Part II, ch. 1. Now, all his intent in the surrender of his soul to G–d through Torah and prayer, to elevate the spark of G–dliness therein back to its source, should be solely for the purpose of bringing gratification before Him, blessed be He, as, for example, the joy of a king when his only son returns to him, being released from captivity or imprisonment, as has been mentioned above.32 Ch. 31. This kavanah is genuinely and truly sincere in every Jewish soul at every season and every hour, by virtue of the natural love which is a heritage bequeathed to us from our ancestors. Nevertheless, one needs to establish set periods for reflecting on the greatness of G–d in order to attain intelligent fear and love, and with all that, perhaps one may succeed, as has been stated previously.
