“He Shall Read from it all the Days of his Life” | Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Beit Midrash

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Parashat Hashavua

קטגוריה משנית

Torah Portion and Tanach
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Harav Shaul Yisraeli – from Siach Shaul p. 518-9

He shall read from [the Torah] all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Hashem" (Devarim 17:19). There is no amount of time that we can say suffices to learn all the Torah that we should. The study that we need to pull out of ourselves cannot be given a set amount of time, small or large. We require concentration all the time, our entire lives – no less than that. Studying partially, sometimes, cannot bring us close to the goal. Learning to fear is a course of study for one’s whole life, not just for simple people but even for the greatest of people.
There are two types of fear, one is desirable and one is undesirable, and both are found in our parasha. The fear of G-d is desirable and needs to be studied, not for a matter of hours but for one’s whole life. The undesirable type is the man who is too afraid to take part in battle (ibid. 20:8). Just as we are to toil to acquire the first, we are to toil to remove the other. The two are also contradictory, and the stronger the positive one is, the weaker the negative one becomes.
"Who are you that you should be afraid of a mortal man?" (Yeshayahu 51:12). Negative fear does not appear only at the time of war, but in peacetime too. Most of our actions are motivated by our great desire to escape things that scare us. The gemara (Menachot 103b) says that the collapse of confidence at the time of "divine rebuke" refers to "one who has to rely on the baker." We are always afraid. What will we eat tomorrow, the next day, and later in the future. This feeling is the doing of the Satan. A person wants to know he has shoes for seven years when he does not know he will be alive for more than seven days. This makes the Satan laugh at him.
We are afraid of that which is distant and that which is near, lest they put pressure on us and infringe on our lives. A baby can be born on the other side of the world, and we feel it can take something away from us in the distant future. It turns out that we toil so much for that which we do not need, but just to have as extras – nice clothes, fancy drapes, etc. All of that difficult work is just because of what others might say. This is a fear of a mortal person.
The Torah instructs us to not be intimidated by people, and this gives us the mindset of a free person. The Torah writes about a king that he should learn to fear Hashem. The gemara (Horayot 11a) describes a king as one who has no one "above" him other than Hashem. Bnei Yisrael are called "the sons of kings," so this should apply to the nation as a whole. Whoever does not internalize fear of Hashem will be afraid of a falling leaf. Only the proper fear is what will give us a firm backbone. If we lower our posture before Hashem, we can stand straight before others.
"He who is afraid and has a weak heart" regarding going to battle refers to fear of his own sins (Sota 8:5). Someone who is disrespectful to his Maker and does not see Him as the Master will acquire for himself hundreds and thousands of human masters.

Shoftim

Parashat Hashavua