Yiras Shomayim & Simcha

There's a remarkable passage in the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat. The Gemara comments that

אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא יראת שמיים בלבד.

As it were, the only thing which is of value to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this vast cosmos that He created and sustains is yirat shamayim. The Gemara quotes as its prooftext

ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלוהיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה.

What does Hakadosh Baruch Hu want of you? He wants yirat shamayim. And then the Gemara juxtaposes a pasuk from Sefer Iyov of הן יראת ה' היא חכמה. And the Gemara says that hen in Greek means one. So there's something singular and unique about yirat shamayim that if you remove yirat shamayim, so what's left, kaveyachol, as it were, is of no interest, is of no significance in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's eyes. So what Chazal are telling us is that yirat shamayim is a foundational, fundamental mitzvah. It's the foundation on which everything else rests. And that's why if you remove the foundation, so then there's nothing left.

אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא יראת שמיים בלבד.

You take away the foundation of the building, there's nothing left. Let's begin by just reviewing in outline form what we mean by yirat shamayim. So as you know, the sefarim all distinguish between two types of yira. There's one type of yira, yirat ha-onesh, that a person has a sense of accountability, right, the eleventh of the Rambam's thirteen Ani Ma'amins.

אני מאמין באמונה שלמה שהבורא יתברך שמו גומל טוב לשומרי מצוותיו ומעניש לעוברי מצוותיו.

So we believe, we believe wholeheartedly, be'emuna shelema, that we're accountable. We're accountable to Hakadosh Baruch Hu for how we live our lives, for what we perceive as the big things in life and what we perceive as the little things in life. So we live with a sense of accountability, and yirat ha-onesh means to have that fear which that accountability engenders. I don't know, if your parents have ever been audited, the tax returns, so then you get a little bit nervous. You do your best to fill it out honestly, accurate, truthfully, but if you know you're being audited, so it's a little, it's a little unnerving. So yirat ha-onesh, that's one type of yira, that's one level of yirat shamayim, the fear, yirat ha-onesh, the fear of punishment for any sins, rachmana litzlan, which we don't set straight through teshuva. Then the sefarim tell us that there's another level of yira, yirat ha-romemut. In this context, yira is not translated fear as it is in the context of yirat ha-onesh, but it's better translated as a sense of awe. A sense of awe because Hakadosh Baruch Hu is so exalted, He's so awesome that it engenders or should engender within us a sense of awe before Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The Rambam in his Sefer Ha-Mitzvot formulates yirat ha-onesh, לירא ביאת עונשו בכל עת, to be afraid of punishment for again, for averos not set straight by teshuva. And then in הלכות יסודי התורה, the Rambam talks about yirat ha-romemut. He talks about בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים, when a person reflects upon the extraordinary, wondrous creation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so he realizes, the person realizes, he or she realizes, that

הוא בריה שפלה ואפלה ועומדת בדעת קלה לפני תמים דעות.

A person realizes within when he glimpses a reflection of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's infinite wisdom, so he realizes what a small, puny creature he, she is with. such meager and limited understanding, and מיד הוא נרתע לאחוריו and the person recoils in just overcome, overwhelmed with that sense of awe. So those are two levels or two dimensions of yirat shamayim. This Shabbos is Shabbos Mevarchim, so when we, when we bentch Rosh Chodesh, so we ask for חיים שיש בהם יראת שמים ויראת חטא. So what does yirat cheit mean as distinct from yirat shamayim? Isn't it just that yirat shamayim expresses itself in yirat cheit? If we have a proper yirat shamayim, so then that translates into yirat cheit. So there's a little mussar sefer from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Orchos Yosher, and he explains there that what the phrase yirat cheit means as distinct from yirat shamayim is maybe we'll just give a mashal first of what he says. Let's say imagine that imagine that there's a live wire somewhere. A live wire falls down. And everyone's admonished not to touch the wire. So the fear that we have of touching the wire is not only because we'll be breaking the rules, not only because there's an injunction against touching the wire, but we realize that just inherently, intrinsically, it's something dangerous, it's something destructive. If we're told, if we're told don't don't eat that that food, it may be contaminated. So we're inhibited not only because we've been given a directive, not only because we've been prohibited from eating it, but because we recognize that just inherently, intrinsically, it's something that that could be a source of food poisoning. So Rav Chaim Kanievsky explains that yirat shamayim means that when we we have a sense of yira not to violate what Hakadosh Baruch Hu says. But there's an even higher level, which is to recognize that whenever Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells us not to do something, it's the in the mashal, so it's like staying, it's like telling us to stay away from the live wire. It's it's comparable to telling us to stay away from the food which has been contaminated. And that's what yirat cheit means, that the person again has has a fear of cheit as though cheit were a, recognizing that cheit is a spiritual toxin, that it's a spiritual poison. So when we talk about yira, again, we can talk about yirat ha'onesh. We can talk about yirat haromemut, both of those under the heading of yirat shamayim, and then additionally we also talk about yirat cheit. And that's what the Gemara tells us that this is something which is foundational, it's fundamental. Dovid Hamelech also says, right? ראשית חכמה יראת השם. The basis, the foundation for everything is yirat Hashem. All of which leaves us wondering, I don't know, we hear lots of shiurim, drashos, sichos, shmuzen about important central topics in Yahadus. We hear about tefilla, we hear about Shabbos, we hear about many things. Could be I'm mistaken, but kimedumeh that we don't hear very much talk about yirat shamayim. So how is that? How is that? It's it's so it's foundational. It couldn't be more fundamental to life, to everything, to pretty powerful statement,

אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא יראת שמים בלבד.

Dovid Hamelech's statement, ראשית חכמה יראת השם. And yet, I don't know, we hear lots of very important and discussions and but somehow the spotlight isn't isn't on yirat shamayim. So one suspects that the reason for that is that Western culture frowns upon fear. Maybe that's even too too weak a formulation, maybe a more accurate formulation is it demonizes fear. And the reason for that is that Western culture, probably very much under Culture frowns upon fear. And maybe that's even too weak a formulation, maybe a more accurate formulation is it demonizes fear. And the reason for that is that Western culture, probably very much under the influence of modern psychology, sees fear as something which is antithetical to happiness. And and happiness is the, it's the idol of Western culture, right? The inalienable, God-given rights: the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. So if fear is something which is antithetical to happiness, because how can you be happy and frightened simultaneously? So then we need to to banish fear. That conception of fear then has shaped in the popular Western mind and unfortunately too much in our minds as well, the notion of religion. And religion is then restructured and reimagined as something which just makes us feel good. And not only is that the is that the end result of religion, but every step along the way has to measure up to that standard of: does it make me feel good? And if reflecting on the possibility of onesh rachmana litzlan for everything I did wrong for which I don't do teshuva doesn't make me feel very good, it doesn't engender happiness, so it's, it's not something we focus on. But yet in Yahadus, so Yiras Hashem is a mitzvas asei and moreover it's the foundational mitzvah. So what does that mean? Does that mean that that Yahadus disavows simcha? That we're not supposed to be be-simcha, that we're not supposed to be be happy? We should skip from Chodesh Shvat to Chodesh Nissan? So obviously we know that's not true. And and not only does does Yahadus allow for simcha, it insists on simcha.

תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלהיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב.

There's a famous passage in the Rambam at the end of Hilchos Lulav where the Rambam says, where the Rambam writes,

השמחה שישמח האדם בעשיית המצוה ובאהבת האל שצוה בהן עבודה גדולה היא.

The simcha, the joy, the happiness that a person should experience in fulfilling mitzvos and the sense of ahava that one should have for Hakadosh Baruch Hu who commanded these mitzvos is a very, very great form of service of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. וכל המונע עצמו ראוי להיפרע ממנו. I skipped a word or two there. And someone who holds himself or herself back from experiencing that simcha is to be held accountable. And then the Rambam proceeds to quote Dovid HaMelech's response to Michal as to why he was dancing so ecstatically in front of the Aron together with all the other Jews. So how do we then reconcile, how do we integrate yira and simcha? So let's begin perhaps by trying to define simcha. And then we'll follow up אם ירצה השם בלי נדר with a reflection upon yira and try to see how the picture looks then. I think in Western culture, simcha or happiness is understood as if one can live a life which is carefree, no worries, no burdens, one can indulge oneself, one can gratify whatever wishes, desires one has. That composite, that's a good life, that's a happy life: carefree, no worries, no burdens. How do we define simcha? So the Mishna tells us at the end of Berachos that חייב אדם לברך על הרעה כשם שמברך על הטובה. That a person rachmana litzlan makes a beracha on bad tidings the same way one makes a beracha on good tidings. So if a person receives good tidings that affect again not only the person hearing it but someone else as well so the beracha is Hatov Vehameitiv. ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם הטוב והמטיב. Rachmana litzlan if one receives bad tidings let's say one of the seven immediate relatives is informed of the passing of an immediate relative so the beracha is ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם דיין האמת. So it's not the same beracha. So what does it mean kesheim? So the Gemara says that both berachos, both the beracha of Hatov Vehameitiv, Hatov Vehameitiv, you win the lottery and you and a partner buy a ticket together you win the lottery. And rachmana litzlan the beracha of Dayan Ha'emes are both said likabelinhu b'simcha. He's supposed to say both berachos b'simcha. So what does that mean Dayan Ha'emes but b'simcha? So Rashi says, Rashi comments on that Gemara in Masechet Berachos and says likabelinhu b'simcha to receive the tidings b'simcha Rashi says two words: b'levav shalem. Wholeheartedly. So Rashi gives us a profound definition of simcha. Simcha is this deep seated profound sense of serenity and menuchas hanefesh which comes from knowing that things are as they should be. That what is should be. What is ought to be. Now whether or not external factors surrounding us are as they ought to be, that's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's province. That's up to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So when one receives rachmana litzlan a bad tiding, so the emuna that הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is perfect and that what he does is perfect and that what he does is supposed to be, should be, so a person is not we wouldn't use the word happy that's not the right word. The person is not joyous but there is this sense of simcha in the sense of b'levav shalem that the person has the menuchas hanefesh all the pain and anguish notwithstanding of knowing that things are as they should be. But to be b'simcha so not only do external factors have to be as they should be but internal factors have to be as they should be also. It's up to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and he does his share that I can be b'simcha about everything around me so that's because Hakadosh Baruch Hu ensures that what happens around me what happens to me is as it should be. But in order for me to be b'simcha I also need to know that what I do which is up to me which is subject to my free will in order for me to be b'simcha so I need to know that I'm living the way I ought to be living. To go to sleep at night with a smile on my face with this sense of serenity I need to know that the way I lived this day of my life was good and proper and real and genuine. So that's what simcha is. Simcha is not this again superficial carefree indulgent life but simcha is the serenity and the menuchas hanefesh of knowing that things are as they should be and that I'm living as I should be, I'm doing what I should be. Another supplementary or maybe it's It's really just a deeper understanding but another perspective on simcha. The Gemara in Moed Katan records the halacha that when there's a clash between aveilus Rachmana litzlan and Yom Tov, let's say a person began sitting shiva Rachmana litzlan a couple of days before Yom Tov, so then when that clash happens, so then Yom Tov wins out and the shiva is terminated. Or if Rachmana litzlan let's say the clash materializes in a different way, let's say a person passes away and is buried on Chol HaMoed, so now again Yom Tov prevails and the shiva is postponed. So either way whenever there's a clash between Yom Tov and aveilus, so the Gemara tells us that Yom Tov prevails. So Rav Soloveitchik asks a fascinating question. He says but there's one thing the Gemara just takes for granted, axiomatically, and doesn't really explain to us: who says there's a clash? Let's say for men, so what's the normative expression of simcha on Yom Tov? The normative expression of simcha on Yom Tov for a man is he eats meat and drinks wine. That's the normative expression of simcha for a man on Yom Tov. An avel Rachmana litzlan is allowed to eat meat and drink wine. At an earlier stage between Rachmana litzlan the passing of a relative and the burial when a person is not an avel but a person is an onen, so then basar va-yayin are prohibited. But immediately after kvurah, as soon as the burial is complete, excuse me, and the person is no longer an onen, a person is now an avel, so consumption of basar va-yayin is permissible. So why is there a clash? Why do we take for granted that there's a clash between Yom Tov and aveilus and then we rule in favor of Yom Tov? The two can coexist. So the Rav explains very famously that both simchas Yom Tov as well as aveilus, the nihugim, the practices associated are just expressions of an inner emotional, psychological mindset and frame of mind. And yes, a man eats meat and drinks wine, but that's only intended as an expression, as an objective, external expression of an inner sense of simcha. And similarly everything that an avel, all the restrictions of aveilus, the avel doesn't wash and so many other eleven core halachos of shiva, also that's not the essence, the core of the aveilus, that's the expression of the aveilus. But the essence, the core of the aveilus again is this inner state. And the clash, the incompatibility between aveilus and Yom Tov is not on the practical level but is on that inner level, on the experiential level. Okay, so now let's be more explicit, more precise. So simchas Yom Tov, what experience is being objectified, is being expressed? So the Rav says a feeling of lifnei Hashem, u-smachtem lifnei Hashem. That on Yom Tov a person is lifnei Hashem and that being lifnei Hashem engenders, that closeness to Hakadosh Baruch Hu engenders simcha in a person. Aveilus Rachmana litzlan, so a person feels as though he's a menudah, a person feels as it were as though Hakadosh Baruch Hu has pushed him or her away. A person feels distant and distanced from Hashem Rachmana litzlan. Those two on that level, so simchas Yom Tov and aveilus can't coexist. For our purposes what we want to extract from that very, very beautiful... Inside of the Rav is another perspective on simcha is that simcha is that feeling which envelops a person when he or she feels, experiences, is Lifnei Hashem. Now let's reflect for a moment on yira and then we'll try to come back and understand the interplay and the complementarity of yira and simcha within our worldview. Now let's reflect for a moment on yira, but maybe we'll begin with a mashal. I don't know how it is today, it's been a very long time, but when I took driver's ed a long long time ago, part of driver's ed was that we watched a film. And in that film, we saw horrific scenes of car crashes. Still remember some of the images. And then on the screen, on the film, were flashed basic facts and figures, names of victims and their age. And obviously the ages were mostly upper teens. In Massachusetts where I grew up, you could get a license at age 16 and a half. 16-year-olds, 17, 18, 19, maybe some of them they had facts and figures, they had people in their low 20s. So what was the point of the film? Obviously the point of the film was to impress upon new drivers the responsibility that comes with getting behind the wheel, realizing what's at stake, to be attuned, to be in touch with the reality of what's involved in taking the controls, in sitting behind the wheel and driving. So fear, let's say you buy an electric appliance. You buy an electric appliance, it gives instructions how to use it properly. It also cautions what constitutes improper use and it also says what can happen, Rachmana litzlan, if that appliance is used improperly. So what's the role of fear in both of those scenarios? It's something very healthy. What it means is to be in touch with reality, to be attuned, to be able to, it enables us to relate to and act appropriately, to be in touch with reality. Fear certainly is an inhibiting factor. It certainly does generate inhibition, but that's not always a bad thing either. I'm not sure how many of us that every single impulse within us is so pristine and so noble that we don't benefit from a degree of inhibition. If you've ever had the misfortune of seeing someone drunk and seen sometimes the inappropriate speech or behavior that can result, it's a reminder that inhibition is not always something negative. Inhibition can be very healthy because there are things within us that are best suppressed and best inhibited. In light of the understanding of simcha, simcha is either the belev shalem, simcha is lifnei Hashem. The function of yirah is to have a realistic relationship, to have a realistic relationship. So yirah and simcha not only can coexist, but the truth is that yirah provides the foundation for genuine simcha. If a person doesn't have yirashamayim, there's no way a person goes to sleep at night with that profound menuchas hanefesh of my life, I'm living my life the way it should be lived. There's no way a person, the genuineness, the authenticity, the goodness, the truthfulness is not going to be there if a person is not, doesn't have yirashamayim. There's no basis, there's no foundation for simcha. If a person doesn't have yirashamayim, how can a person have any closeness to Hakadosh Baruch Hu? That understanding of simcha also can't be present but without yirah. That there is a passage in one of the Midrashim, in the Tanna Debei Eliyahu, it's much quoted in Hasidic literature, and it's six words that יראתי מתוך שמחתי שמחתי מתוך יראתי. The Tanna Debei Eliyahu says that yirah and simcha nourish each other. They feed off each other. The yirah again as we just tried to understand a little bit, the yirah provides the foundation for simcha. It allows again if you take Driver's Ed and you learn the lesson of the film and you drive responsibly so then you can enjoy it. It enables by inhibiting, it enables ultimately what it does is enable, it enables the simcha and the simcha brings a person closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so a person feels more yirah and it's a never-ending upward cycle. Let's try to maybe understand a little bit more, a little bit better the coexistence of yirah and simcha. Call it prudence or call it cowardice, I don't, I've never been on a roller coaster. I personally prefer to think of it as prudence but some people think of it as cowardice but I've never been on a roller coaster, but I've been to an amusement park and I've seen people on roller coasters. And what one sees is people shrieking with fear and delight. No? Is that's what you see. They're screaming, screaming and you sort of you can't separate out the fear from the delight, the delight from the fear. So somehow or other sometimes fear and again this is the delight spiking, sometimes they do coexist. How do they coexist? Because apparently in the bria there are some things which just inspire both. And even if logically when we think about it they seem to be if not contradictory there seems to be a tension, but the reality is there are things in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's world and again forgive the triviality of the of the moshal, of the example, but think of the example of the roller coaster, there are things that simultaneously inspire both. Coming back to the Rambam that we mentioned before in the second chapter of Yesodei HaTorah, so the Rambam says something remarkable. The Rambam says כיצד היא הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו. How is a person inspired to look, to try to cultivate and develop on the one hand ahavas Hashem, ahavas Hashem closely linked to simcha, on the other hand to cultivate and develop yiras Hashem? The Rambam says again the lines we mentioned before but before I sort of edited it out a little bit: בשעה שיתבונן אדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים. When a person reflects on Hakadosh Baruch Hu's handiwork, on His creation, how wondrous they are, ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ואין לה קץ. The chochma is chochma that that can't be, you can't even assess it. It it defies it defies assessment. Ein lah erech, the value it can't can't be assessed, ve'ein lah keitz, it's endless, it's open-ended, infinite.

מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר ומתאווה תאווה גדולה לידע השם ברוך הוא.

Right away, immediately, what's what's one's reaction? It's it's an instinctive reaction, miyad, it's an instinctive reaction. It's not a doesn't have to be a deliberate, premeditated decision. מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר, a person is enthralled, a person is praising, a person is glorifying Hakadosh Baruch Hu, umit'aveh ta'avah gedolah, and and is overcome with this tremendous tshuka, this tremendous yearning to come closer to know Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Rambam continues: וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמם, when a person reflects on these very same phenomena, when a person reflects on the very same experience, impression of חכמתו שאין לה ערך ואין לה קץ, is מיד הוא נרתע לאחוריו. He recoils. Veyarei veyipached, and and he's he's trembling. He's overcome by the awe, terrified by the awe, ויודע שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפילה. And he realizes what a what a puny, puny creature he or she is. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, maybe maybe whether whether we get it logically or not, Hakadosh Baruch Hu just... the nimshal to the roller coaster mashal is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu inspires, He elicits on the one hand ahava, simcha, on the other hand yira. So to sort of sum up until now, it certainly would not be correct, it would be a gross mischaracterization, it would be a distortion, a wholesale distortion to describe Yahadus as a religion of fear. It certainly is not. But miedach gisa, yira is something foundational. Yira is the foundation of life. Yiras Hashem is the behei hayedia is the foundation of life. A foundation which allows for a person to experience and enjoy and be energized and exhilarated by the simcha which is so central to one's life, to one's avodas Hashem. So maybe just for a few more minutes let's reflect on how we can try to implement this a little bit. How does a person how does a person attain yiras Hashem? The Rema, the very beginning of Shulchan Aruch, it's the first comment or the first gloss. Something the Rambam says at the end of the Moreh. He talks about שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. Anyway, some people attribute this paragraph to the Rambam in the Moreh, some people attribute it to Yisroel Salanter, some people attribute it to Yisroel Volozhiner, but either way this is, either way it's gufei Torah.

שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד הוא כלל גדול בתורה ובמעלות הצדיקים.

Dovid Hamelech says שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is always before me. I place Hakadosh Baruch Hu neged. ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר. Here's Har Sinai, here's where Bnei Yisrael camped. Neged hahar, right, right, right opposite. שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד, I, I place Hakadosh Baruch Hu before me always. Hu klal gadol, that, that reality, if a person lives that way, so

הוא כלל גדול במעלות התורה והצדיקים ההולכים לפני אלהים תמיד.

This is a defining, orienting principle in life. Why? Because you can't, says the Rama quoting from the Rambam,

אין ישיבת האדם ותנועותיו ודבורו והרחבת פיו והוא לבדו בביתו,

the way we conduct ourselves when we have the benefit of being in private quarters. So we're relaxed. So the way we sit, more informally, the way we act, not necessarily on our best behavior, we don't feel that pressure to be on our best behavior all the time as one would on an interview, say. And even diburo v'harchavas piv, even how we choose our words, whether we prattle, you can't, you can't compare the way a person conducts himself or herself v'hu levado b'beiso as if the person were bimshov hamelech. The king invites one to sit down, so one doesn't sit down leaning back like this. You sort of sit very, very straight and rigid, and one's words are carefully chosen and measured, diburo v'harchavas piv. One's words are carefully chosen and measured. Says the Rama, again paraphrasing, quoting the Rambam, that

כל שכן כשישים האדם אל לבו שהמלך הגדול הקדוש ברוך הוא אשר מלא כל הארץ כבודו עומד עליו ורואה במעשיו.

If a person will only take to mind, take to heart, if a person will only internalize that we're always bimshov hamelech, we're always in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Now listen to these next four words: מיד יגיע אליו היראה. Immediately, naturally, instinctively, a person will have yiras hashem. So there's a tremendous insight here, tremendous insight, a life changer. What the Rama is telling us, again coming from the Rambam, is that if a person has proper beliefs, we do, baruch Hashem, chasdei Hashem, a person believes in Hakadosh Baruch Hu, he believes that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us the Torah, and believes that l'achar me'ah v'esrim there's a din v'cheshbon.

אני מאמין באמונה שלמה שהבורא יתברך שמו גומל טוב לשומרי מצותיו ומעניש לעוברי מצותיו.

If a person has those proper beliefs, so then the challenge is, the challenge is just not to be distracted. A person doesn't have to work on having yiras hashem. yiras hashem is the most natural, instinctive reaction. The reason we struggle so mightily to have yiras hashem is because we're distracted from the reality. We're distracted from, from the reality. If, if I'm driving on the, the road, on a country, on a winding country road, and I realize that there's no guardrail and I realize how close I am to the edge, so that awareness, you don't have to tell me to be careful. You don't have to tell me to be responsible. You don't have to tell me to act accountably. I'm aware of it. I'm aware of it. I don't have to work on, well, how am I gonna cultivate that sense of responsibility? No, it just comes naturally. מיד יגיע אליו היראה means that if only we're not distracted, so then the again that healthy, healthy fear, the healthy fear, the enabling fear, the fear that's the foundation of יראת ואהבת השם בשמחה, it just comes from being in touch with reality, the ultimate reality, that we're always in the presence of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So then our question now has changed, right? So the question is no longer how do we cultivate, how do we directly cultivate yiras shamayim, but the question has now morphed into how do we keep from being distracted? How do we keep from losing touch with that reality, the ultimate reality of being in the presence of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? So we're not gonna be comprehensive but mention three reminders which are built into our lives, which can be built into our lives. The Rambam says at the beginning of Hilchos Brachos, he says why did Chazal inundate us with brachos? Whatever you turn around, it's time to say a bracha again. Chazal inundated us with brachos. He says why? Why? So he says כדי לזכור את הבורא תמיד. Because if we say brachos properly, that if is in capital bold italics. If we say brachos properly, so Baruch Atah, so who's atah? You. We're talking to HaKadosh Baruch Hu in the second person, right? I could only talk to you in the second person if you're right here, if you're in front of me. I can talk to you in the second person. If you're down the block, I can talk about you in the third person. I can't talk to you in the second person. I can only talk in the second person if you're here. So if we would make brachos properly, says the Rambam, what's achieved is לזכור את הבורא תמיד. And that's why Chazal are helping us. Chazal the constant, right, seemingly neverending list of brachos and occasions for bracha is that we shouldn't drift, is that we should have these constant, constant reminders built in. Baruch Atah Hashem. One reminder that is, can be built into our lives. Another reminder, tzniyus is something which occupies a pivotal role for men and women, but is obviously even more accentuated in the in the life of a woman. So what does tzniyus reflect? What's the underlying experience, awareness, mindset of tzniyus again, tzniyus in behavior, tzniyus in dress, tzniyus in its broad sense? So there's a very, very strange very strange Gemara in Maseches Brachos. Gemara tells a story that hahu safdana, there was a eulogizer who was eulogizing someone who had died and he said in his hesped the person was very tzanua. So the Gemara says that Rav Nachman accosted him, I think it was Rav Nachman. Rav Nachman accosted him and said how do you know whether he was tzanua? Did you ever spy on that person in the beis hakisei, in the bathroom? Strange, strange Gemara. So what in the world, and then the Gemara quotes a braisa that ein korin tzanua, a person can only be described as tzanua if he, she, if that individual is tzanua in the bathroom. So what does that mean? So that Gemara is talking tells us that we make a mistake. We think that the audience which demands tzniut is people. I have to be tzanu'a because other people are around. I have to there's a certain privacy, a certain dignity that has to be upheld, there's a certain reserve, there's a certain things have to be hidden, that's part of the dignity, that's part of that dignified reserve because other people are around. The Gemara says no, that's all wrong. That's not what's driving tzniut. Ultimately what drives tzniut is that it's an expression of an awareness of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Why am I acting with that reserve? Why am I acting with that reserve again which expresses kedusha and tahara? Why? Because I realize I'm in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That's what that seemingly again strange, strange comment of Rav Nachman of the Baraita, it's only if only if you can spy on a person when that person thinks that he or she is not being seen by human eyes, when that person thinks that he or she has all the comfort and guarantee of absolute privacy, if the person is tzanu'a then as well, then you know that that person is genuinely tzanu'a because clearly what's fueling the tzniut, what's driving the tzniut again is the sense of reserve which the overwhelming presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu engenders. Imagine imagine if right now in the middle of our conversation imagine that a great person would walk into the room. So right away we'd stop talking. Everything everything would stop because it's inappropriate. That recoiling, that inhibition is an appropriate reaction to the presence of greatness. So what tzniut really really is designed to express is an awareness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So now when a person acts again dresses one's whole demeanor is one of tzniut. So when we understand what tzniut is intended to express, it's a reminder. So why why can't I be more ostentatious in my behavior? Why am I why am I being understated? Why do I look to conduct myself in a self-effacing way? Why? Why? If one understands what the tzniut expresses, so then it's a very very powerful constant reminder of the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's sort of a they reinforce each other. The presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu engenders the tzniut-dik deportment, the tzniut-dik demeanor and the tzniut-dik demeanor is a reminder of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Finally and again this list is by no means comprehensive or exhaustive but maybe just three things for us to think about. The famous Iggeret HaRamban. The Ramban tells his son, he says always talk softly. Always talk softly. He says if you always talk softly he says ובזה תינצל מן הכעס. He says if a person trains himself herself to talk softly so then that will preempt ka'as. How does talking softly preempt ka'as? Because talking softly means that there's a certain cap. I think on your car if you want so you can set it that the speedometer cannot exceed a certain miles per hour. So you can set it that if you don't trust yourself so you can set it that you can put a cap that the car just can't go the engine can't go more than sixty-five or seventy or whatever miles per hour. If a person trains himself... Or self to talk softly so that means there's a certain again healthy cap in terms of of of there's a certain discipline of emotion. Anger means when when emotion gets the better of us. That's what anger a person only succumbs to anger when when when emotion overwhelms us when it gets the better of us. So the Ramban says talking softly he says avoids ka'as. He says when a person avoids ka'as so then a person has a sense of of that again that discipline of I I have to be measured I I have to be careful. That instills within a person a sense of anavah a sense of yirah and then the Ramban says you're on your way. So three again three reminders that can be that are built into our lives to help to help us cultivate to help us inculcate that foundational yirah all the while realizing that the yirah is simcha mitorch yirasi is that the yirah is a healthy yirah. It's a yirah that that serves as a foundation as a platform for living a life of simcha a real genuine life of simcha where a person always has this sense of menuchas hanefesh of living the way life is supposed to be lived doing what's supposed to be done and being oved Hashem b'simcha.