Transcription
Listeners, this coming holiday of Sugot, we would read in the show the shelves of diverse the 10 Commandments that were given to our people. That among them, the first command to Commandments are: "No clear shamela, careful the attorney says, under Lord your God was taking out remedial." And the second commandment is: "The year the father in my favor upon earth shall not have other gods before me."
These two Commandments, the first one, the positive commandment of believing in God, and the second commandment, a negative one of not having other gods, usually go together. One may ask, isn't it self-evident that if one believes in the eternal that has taken out the Jewish people from Egypt, isn't this obvious or self-evident that he will not have other gods? Why is it necessary, after the Torah emphasizes in the city of believing God, to mention again, "Do not have other gods"?
A number of years ago, I was present at a wedding and I made a speech in which I mentioned the necessity of fearing God. At that wedding, a member of the of the Freemasons of France, with fairly high positions in the Masons, was present. He turned to me and asked, "How come your Orthodox rabbi speaks about the fear of God, while we speak about love? Fear is a negative quality. It limits, it shrinks the personality of an individual, while love expands and makes an individual grow. Why do you emphasize fear of God?"
I remember I told them then, "You know, very cases of two young people who are deeply in love with each other, and they're sincere about their love. When they're convinced that this love will stay forever, that nothing will ever come between them to hurt or destroy that love. Nevertheless, after a few years, it happens that this love is transformed into a hatred which is much stronger than the original love. What's the reason for that? This straight transformation? They seem to have been sincere with the first feeling of love for each other. What has happened?"
The answer is that the trust of love without fear. Love is a very delicate and vulnerable flower that has to be cultivated and has to be accompanied by constant fearfulness that one might do something or act in a way that might impair or hurt or minimize that love. One wants to be constantly careful not to do anything that that might hurt that love. And because it is love without fear, when the fear is missing, the love gets weaker and we, and eventually disappears. That was to be accompanied by fear of not hurting that love.
Belief in God, belief in the eternal, is the most sublime, the highest form of expression of the Jewish soul, and there's a very positive attitude. But it has to be accompanied constantly by a fear, by fearfulness of not doing anything that might hurt, minimize, or impair that belief in the eternal. That's right. The Torah always mentioned believing God goes together with not having other gods, which means not doing anything, not that they are engaging in any kind of activity or association that might weaken that belief in the eternal. So that it's necessary after we know "Dr. Nathie our Femina kappa, the Lord has taken you out of Egypt," it's absolutely necessary to make sure I have no other gods, which means, in other words, not to do anything that can impair or hurt that belief in the eternal.
Have a good Shabbos.