Post by Rabbi Neil on Sept 27, 2023 15:40:11 GMT
On Erev Rosh Hashanah, I spoke of how our fear of the future can empower us to act in positive ways. I explained that once the promise of redemption is removed, once we have lost any belief in the messiah or in the resurrection, the onus falls totally on us to act so that our worst fears are never brought to bear. I said that that fear motivates our teshuvah and that, in turn, gives us hope that allays our fears. On Rosh Hashanah morning, I spoke of two differing expressions of fear of God – the first being Abraham’s which led him to blind obedience of a murderous decree, and the second being the midwives which led them to resist a murderous decree. I suggested that the test for Abraham with the Binding of Isaac was not to see if he would blindly follow God’s word, but to see how he made his God-fearing real in this world. I introduced the phrase from Orna Pilz of “fearful awe” because while English uses two differing terms of fear and awe, Hebrew uses only one word which combines the two – yirah.
I know that these were challenging sermons because in Reform Judaism we don’t really talk much of fear. We prefer love. So, where is love in all of this? After all, doesn’t Sh’ma say va’ahavta et Adonai elohecha, that you shall love the Eternal One your God? Well, yes and no. You can’t command emotions, you can’t order someone to love you. When we look at ancient contracts, they often use the word “love” to imply a strong contractual relationship, in other words, it’s about showing positive things to the other party in the relationship and not just feeling positive things. That’s what Sh’ma is really talking about. More than that, though, Sh’ma is more than one paragraph. The second paragraph of Sh’ma, which was removed from American Reform liturgy so you may not know it as well, comes from a very important chapter of Torah – Deuteronomy 11 – when considering love of God because that chapter seems to suggest three differing levels of love. The first level, which is evident in verses 1-12 is love of God based on our knowledge of God’s wonder. The second level, evident in verses 13–21, the traditional second paragraph of Sh’ma, explores love of God out of fear of punishment, and the third level, verses 22-25, describes love of God in the belief that it will bring reward.
The first level of love of God is probably the loftiest. This is love of God because we can look back at the past and see that God has been a part of our lives, and love God because of this awareness. There is no expectation from this love. We don’t expect reward, and we don’t love out of fear of punishment. We love God because we realize that without God we simply would not be here. We love God because of the wonder of our existence. This is the level of loving God that is most accessible to Jews today who may even not specifically use God-language but can appreciate the wonders of their lives and be thankful for them.
The second level of love is the level that was removed from our siddur. That is the second paragraph of Sh’ma, which is traditionally read quietly because we don’t want to vocalize the punishments that might befall us if we stray from God. Perhaps another subconscious reason is that we know that this isn’t an ideal expression of love of God. It’s like the parent who holds a hand over a child to smack them and says, “Love me or else.” In the modern mindset, it also doesn’t say much that is positive about God, so it’s perfectly understandable that Mishkan T’fillah removed it entirely. This is the form of love that is more covenantal than emotional. Just as ancient political agreements would talk of the smaller nation loving the protecting nation, meaning showing dedication to them for their awesome power and protection, the second paragraph of Sh’ma speaks in similar terms. This understanding of love may seem colder than the emotional love that we’re used to, but it certainly makes sense given the context – it’s not possible to command emotional love, but it is possible to command love as expressed through service.
The third level of love is, I think, the lowest – it’s still love of God, which is good, but it’s not the ideal way. This is the level from verses 22 onwards, which tells us that if we love God then God will perform wonders for us. It’s love, but only for reward, which I would suggest is not a very pure expression of love at all. Looking through these three levels of love, then, we see love of God based on thanks for our lives, which is the closest form of love to emotional love. Then there is love of God who dominates and protects us, which is more like a contractual agreement. And, finally, there is love of God for our own benefit.
So, if there are three clearly differing levels of love of God in Deuteronomy 11, why did my Rosh Hashanah sermons focus on fear of God? Because one chapter earlier, Deuteronomy says “And now, O Israel, what does the Eternal your God ask of you but to fear the Eternal your God, to walk in obedience to God, to love God, and to serve the Eternal your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Fear and love go together.
About five hundred years ago, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote in “The Prince” that “it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.” People often assume that he was saying that it is better to be feared than loved, but they miss a vital part of what he says - “it is better to be feared than to be loved, if one cannot be both.” It is actually, in Machiavelli’s opinion, better to be feared and loved, which, interestingly, is similar to what Jewish tradition asks of us regarding God.
If both fear and love are not possible, where Machiavelli says that fear is preferable than love, Jewish commentaries say the opposite, which shouldn’t be surprising. Rashi says that “one who acts out of love is not like one who acts out of fear.” Sifre D’varim says that “one who serves their master out of fear leaves and goes away once the master overburdens them,” but the one who serves out of love does not leave even when the burden seems too great.
Rabbi Karyn Kedar says that “in the spiritual world, the opposite of fear is love,” but I don’t agree with her – I think that fear and love go hand in hand. Maimonides writes that “it is a mitzvah to love and to feel fearful awe for … God.” He asks, “What is the path [to attain] love and fearful awe of God? When a person contemplates God’s wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates God’s infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, they will immediately love, praise, and glorify [God], yearning with tremendous desire to know [God's] great name…When they [continue] to reflect on these same matters, they will immediately recoil in fear, appreciating how they are a tiny, lowly, and dark creature, standing with their flimsy, limited, wisdom before the One who is of perfect knowledge.” For Maimonides, fear and love go hand in hand. We are afraid and we are in awe, but the fact that we still exist instills feelings of love.
This Shabbat Shuvah, then, let us deepen our sense of fearful awe by contemplating how love plays an essential role in it. Let us be humbled by the glory of the universe and love the fact that we can participate in it. Let us be fearful of the moment, and simultaneously love the gift of the moment. Let us be open to the fullness of our feelings, to fearful awe and to love, so that we might move through this High Holy Day season and serve God “with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our might,” and let us say, Amen.
I know that these were challenging sermons because in Reform Judaism we don’t really talk much of fear. We prefer love. So, where is love in all of this? After all, doesn’t Sh’ma say va’ahavta et Adonai elohecha, that you shall love the Eternal One your God? Well, yes and no. You can’t command emotions, you can’t order someone to love you. When we look at ancient contracts, they often use the word “love” to imply a strong contractual relationship, in other words, it’s about showing positive things to the other party in the relationship and not just feeling positive things. That’s what Sh’ma is really talking about. More than that, though, Sh’ma is more than one paragraph. The second paragraph of Sh’ma, which was removed from American Reform liturgy so you may not know it as well, comes from a very important chapter of Torah – Deuteronomy 11 – when considering love of God because that chapter seems to suggest three differing levels of love. The first level, which is evident in verses 1-12 is love of God based on our knowledge of God’s wonder. The second level, evident in verses 13–21, the traditional second paragraph of Sh’ma, explores love of God out of fear of punishment, and the third level, verses 22-25, describes love of God in the belief that it will bring reward.
The first level of love of God is probably the loftiest. This is love of God because we can look back at the past and see that God has been a part of our lives, and love God because of this awareness. There is no expectation from this love. We don’t expect reward, and we don’t love out of fear of punishment. We love God because we realize that without God we simply would not be here. We love God because of the wonder of our existence. This is the level of loving God that is most accessible to Jews today who may even not specifically use God-language but can appreciate the wonders of their lives and be thankful for them.
The second level of love is the level that was removed from our siddur. That is the second paragraph of Sh’ma, which is traditionally read quietly because we don’t want to vocalize the punishments that might befall us if we stray from God. Perhaps another subconscious reason is that we know that this isn’t an ideal expression of love of God. It’s like the parent who holds a hand over a child to smack them and says, “Love me or else.” In the modern mindset, it also doesn’t say much that is positive about God, so it’s perfectly understandable that Mishkan T’fillah removed it entirely. This is the form of love that is more covenantal than emotional. Just as ancient political agreements would talk of the smaller nation loving the protecting nation, meaning showing dedication to them for their awesome power and protection, the second paragraph of Sh’ma speaks in similar terms. This understanding of love may seem colder than the emotional love that we’re used to, but it certainly makes sense given the context – it’s not possible to command emotional love, but it is possible to command love as expressed through service.
The third level of love is, I think, the lowest – it’s still love of God, which is good, but it’s not the ideal way. This is the level from verses 22 onwards, which tells us that if we love God then God will perform wonders for us. It’s love, but only for reward, which I would suggest is not a very pure expression of love at all. Looking through these three levels of love, then, we see love of God based on thanks for our lives, which is the closest form of love to emotional love. Then there is love of God who dominates and protects us, which is more like a contractual agreement. And, finally, there is love of God for our own benefit.
So, if there are three clearly differing levels of love of God in Deuteronomy 11, why did my Rosh Hashanah sermons focus on fear of God? Because one chapter earlier, Deuteronomy says “And now, O Israel, what does the Eternal your God ask of you but to fear the Eternal your God, to walk in obedience to God, to love God, and to serve the Eternal your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Fear and love go together.
About five hundred years ago, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote in “The Prince” that “it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.” People often assume that he was saying that it is better to be feared than loved, but they miss a vital part of what he says - “it is better to be feared than to be loved, if one cannot be both.” It is actually, in Machiavelli’s opinion, better to be feared and loved, which, interestingly, is similar to what Jewish tradition asks of us regarding God.
If both fear and love are not possible, where Machiavelli says that fear is preferable than love, Jewish commentaries say the opposite, which shouldn’t be surprising. Rashi says that “one who acts out of love is not like one who acts out of fear.” Sifre D’varim says that “one who serves their master out of fear leaves and goes away once the master overburdens them,” but the one who serves out of love does not leave even when the burden seems too great.
Rabbi Karyn Kedar says that “in the spiritual world, the opposite of fear is love,” but I don’t agree with her – I think that fear and love go hand in hand. Maimonides writes that “it is a mitzvah to love and to feel fearful awe for … God.” He asks, “What is the path [to attain] love and fearful awe of God? When a person contemplates God’s wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates God’s infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, they will immediately love, praise, and glorify [God], yearning with tremendous desire to know [God's] great name…When they [continue] to reflect on these same matters, they will immediately recoil in fear, appreciating how they are a tiny, lowly, and dark creature, standing with their flimsy, limited, wisdom before the One who is of perfect knowledge.” For Maimonides, fear and love go hand in hand. We are afraid and we are in awe, but the fact that we still exist instills feelings of love.
This Shabbat Shuvah, then, let us deepen our sense of fearful awe by contemplating how love plays an essential role in it. Let us be humbled by the glory of the universe and love the fact that we can participate in it. Let us be fearful of the moment, and simultaneously love the gift of the moment. Let us be open to the fullness of our feelings, to fearful awe and to love, so that we might move through this High Holy Day season and serve God “with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our might,” and let us say, Amen.