Back to Question of the Week Back to Archives Q: Why do we refer to and read of fearing G-D? Is He not a loving G_D? Dr. Aaron
		A: Although God (whose English noun (not name) I am not afraid to write), is loving, , our tradition has generally advocated for a balance of both fear and love from our side in our relationship with God. Thus, Deuteronomy 10:12: And now, Israel, what does the Eternal, your God, require of you, but to fear the Eternal your God, to walk in all Its ways, and to love It, and to serve the Eternal, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. Why should we "fear" a loving God? I think the "fear" is partly a sense of awe and humility that recognizes the smallness of the individual human being in comparison with even God's created universe, and all the more so in comparison to God Itself. Listen to what Maimonides says in his Mishneh Torah: An what is the way that will lead to the love of It and the fear of It? When you contemplate Its great and wondrous works and creatures and from them obtains a glimpse of Its wisdom which is incomparable and infinite, you will straightway love It, praise It, glorify It, and long with an exceeding longing to know Its great Name; even as David said, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:3). And when you ponder these matters, you will recoil frightened, and realize that you are a small creature, lowly and obscure, endowed with slight and slender intelligence, standing in the presence of That which is perfect in knowledge. And so David said, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers-what is humanity that you are mindful of it?" (Psalm 8:4-5). (The Book of Knowledge, Foundations of Torah 2:2) The fear is also a sort of religious, existential dread; We recognize the fact that we must choose our actions, that our actions have consequences, that there is right and wrong, and that God wants us to do right. In this sense, the fear of God is related to another emotion that is unpopular with many contemporary spiritual seekers: guilt. I thank God for guilt because it is part (though only part!--it is balanced with love!) of my internal mechanism for making moral decisions. May we all come to know the greatness of God that is terrifying and the love of God that is equally comforting. written by Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz
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