פרשת וירא
Chazal teach us in Pirkei Avos (Chapter 5 Mishna 3) that God tested Avraham Avinu with ten trials in order to demonstrate His love for Avraham, and he successfully withstood these trials. The tenth and final test, mentioned in this week’s parsha, is Hashem’s commandment to Avraham to sacrifice his beloved son, for whom he had waited for almost a century. After Avraham successfully passed this test, Hashem told him that it was now clear that he truly feared God. This proclamation seems rather odd. One would have thought that Avraham’s actions portrayed his love of God, more than his fear of God. We know that love is a higher level of service than fear, and self-sacrifice is usually something that one does out of love more than out of fear. Why then did Hashem testify about Avraham that he now had shown that he “fears” God?
R’ Leib Chasman dwells on this difficulty and offers a very interesting resolution based on the Yerushalmi in Sotah (5;5). The Yerushalmi states that one must serve Hashem out of love and also out of fear, because while fear is an effective tool for motivating a person, if it is not accompanied by love, it will eventually lead to resentment, and the person will come to hate Hashem. While love is also an effective tool, it is not strong enough to hold a person, and keep him steadfast when he is going through difficult times, so only when these two powerful motivators are working in tandem can a person develop into a true servant of Hashem. We see from this interesting Yerusahlmi, says R’ Leib, that one needs to possess a deep level of love and fear for God at all times in order to be able to use the emotion that is required to serve God at any given time. Sometimes fear is not appropriate and will not help a person and sometimes love will be of no use to him, but together, these two emotions will allow a person to fully serve God on a consistent basis. With this understanding, concludes R’ Leib, we gain insight as to why Avraham Avinu was labeled as one who fears God at the end of this difficult ordeal. When asked to sacrifice his son, a deed that engenders tremendous anguish, had he not been able to draw on his fear of God, there would have been a very real possibility that Avraham might have felt the urge to rebel against God and would not have been able to carry out His commandment. When Avraham successfully passed this test, he showed once and for all that he truly feared God more than anything else.
I once heard a different explanation as to why Avraham’s success in this trial specifically demonstrated his excellence in the attribute of fear of Heaven. The Midrash says that the Satan appeared to Avraham, hoping to dissuade him from his holy mission. The Satan said to Avraham, “You foolish old man. Didn’t God say to you that your progeny would be continued through Yitzchak? How then can He command you to sacrifice him? You must be mistaken!” Avraham replied that it was not his job to try to understand God’s ways, but rather to perform God’s direct command, and that surely the answer to this apparent contradiction would eventually be revealed. From this incident we see what a servant of God Avraham truly was. A servant does not need to understand his master’s reasoning, he merely heeds his master’s will to perfection, regardless of whether or not it makes sense. This type of servitude can only come from true fear of Heaven. Only if one’s fear of Heaven is galvanized will he be able to do God’s will even though he cannot comprehend the correctness of God’s will at the time. This is not necessarily true when it comes to love. One could love somebody but still feel confused by their actions. However, when one possesses an authentic fear, one would not even question the will of the one who commands him. We too must serve God in such a way, with unswerving dedication, even if we don’t always understand God’s reason for doing what He does, or His commandments.
The holy sefarim bring down an amazing concept. They say that each and every one of us is tested with our own ten trials during the course of our lifetimes, just as Avraham was. They may not be of the same caliber that Avraham’s were, but nonetheless, the success with which we perform these ten trials will determine our place in the world to come. The Slonimer Rebbe explains that these trials will be very difficult for a person to successfully overcome because very often during these trials, Hashem removes our ability to think rationally or to reason properly due to the suddenness and intensity with which these trials can come upon us. In order to succeed, a person must have previously fostered strong feelings of fear of Heaven, so that when these trials come, he will be able to negotiate them properly. His fear of Heaven will have given him the innate knowledge that his foremost responsibility is to follow the ways of the Torah. It will allow him to do so almost instinctively, even if he doesn’t understand why at the time, or if he feels temporarily conflicted due to the temptation he is facing or the pressure that he is under. The Brisker Rav was once standing by the window of his house in Vilna when a group of young Jewish teenagers passed by who were obviously under the influence of the “modern” times. The boys and girls were walking together, frolicking in the carefree manner that was prevalent amongst the non-Torah crowd. The Brisker Rav at first felt shocked and saddened that Judaism had fallen so far, such that religious Jews were not afraid to walk that way in public, and he then sat down and repeated the verse, “We shall serve Hashem, I and my household,” five times slowly and with great intent, until he felt satisfied that the negative effect of seeing Jews who had abandoned the ways of the Torah would not wear off on him and affect his fear of Heaven.
May we merit to foster a true fear of Hashem and to properly serve Him in all circumstances!