We continue this week with the middah of yirah. Last week Neil Harris wrote a beautiful piece that has received some great feedback. He talked about how you would feel at an art gallery if you stood in front of a Rembrandt painting. You would be in awe at the painting and also afraid to reach out and touch it.
It is that mixed feeling of awe and fear that we all hope to develop this week as we lead into Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment.
We reach the heights of our spiritual growth with a balance of yirah and love for Hashem. Yirah and love are the wings on which we can soar higher to the Heavens to connect with Hashem as the Zohar teaches us. However, imagine if one wing was weighted more than the other. We would have difficulty flying a straight path and reaching our destination. It’s appropriate then that we reflect on how we can use yirah this week as a counterbalance to love for our final preparations for Rosh Hashana.
Many years ago on Rosh Hashana I prayed with 1,000 Breslov Chassidim at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron, Israel. When we reached the part in the service where we call out “HaMelech (the Supreme Ruler),” 1,000 people started to applaud. The applause grew in intensity, speed and volume until it reached a crescendo as though the beloved star of the show had just entered the space. I was moved emotionally as I expect many of the others there were also. The Supreme Ruler had indeed entered the space. ...
