A Life With Fear of Heaven
“Now Israel, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you: just to fear Hashem …” (Devarim 10:12). Chazal famously asked about the strange language of “just” considering that proper fear of Heaven is not so simple to attain (Berachot 33b). The gemara answers that for Moshe it was a simple thing, to which many ask that it does not seem relevant, as the commandment was said to all of Israel. The gemara also teaches us that “all is in the hands of Hashem except for yirat shamayim” (fear of Heaven). According to this, how can we pray (in Birkat Hachodesh): “Give us life that has within it fear of Heaven and fear of sin”? If it is up to us and not Him, how can we ask Hashem for the “gift” of yirat shamayim?
