Monday, June 14, 2010

About the "Fear of G - d"

B"H

The Talmud Tractate Shabbat 31a teaches the following:

Rabbah bar Rav Huna said: "Any person who has acquired for himself Torah knowledge but has not acquired for himself the fear of Heaven is comparable to a treasurer to whom the keys to the inner chamber have been handed, whereas the keys to the outer chambers were not handed to him. How can such a treasurer possibly gain entrance to the inner chamber ?

Commentary:

The keys to the inner chamber are useful only if one can pass through the outer chamber first. So too, if one possesses fear of Heaven - the foundation for Torah knowledge - he will be enabled thereby to observe the Torah and perform the Mitzvot. If he lacks fear of Heaven, however, he will disregard the Torah training (Rashi). Ultimately his Torah knowledge will "spoil" (Maharsha).

My personal commentary:

There are many people today studying Torah only for their private financial purposes and in order to gain honour. Meaning that people write books about religion / Haredim / ultra - Orthodox Judaim or give lectures without being religious and without the desire to gain something from it. Studying Mitzvot or Chassidut just like a piece of wood without any feelings and only in order to impress, become famous and earn money.

The Talmud says that those people's fame won't last long and eventually is going to vanish.

Such behaviour upsets me and my personal goal (also in my blogs) is improving myself towards a certain religious goal. Even if someone is not perfect today, he should at least honestly struggle.

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