DEUT411 See [[DEUT484]] Deuteronomy 10:20 worship DUTIES 739-41

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DEUT412 See [[GEN634]] Genesis 8:21 evil DUTIES 543

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DEUT413 Similarly, when one marries, he should do so for the sake of Heaven, to fulfill the command to be fruitful and have children who will serve Hashem and be God-fearing. Another valid motivation is desiring to satisfy his urge and assuage his desire through his wife, so that he will not desire other women; or to live with his wife when he sees that she desires him, so that she will not desire other men. Likewise, he may be justly motivated by a desire for the well–being of his body, the emission of semen being conducive to bodily health. But if one overindulges in intercourse, he will fall prey to many illnesses. One who follows this course all of his days serves the Blessed One constantly, even in his business, and even in his conjugal relations, for his thought in all is to satisfy his needs so that his body will be in the proper state for Divine service. And even when he sleeps, if he does so for the purpose of resting mind and body so that he not become ill and be impeded from Divine service, then his sleeping becomes a form of Divine service in itself. Our Sages commanded us in this respect, saying (Avos 2:12): "And let all of your deeds be for the sake of Heaven." As stated by Shelomo in his wisdom (Mishlei 3:6): "In all of your ways, know Him, and He will straighten your paths." Let a man abandon all loves and cleave to the love of the Creator, Blessed be He. The love of the Blessed One is the object of all the qualities, the end of all the virtues on the scale of all the servants of Hashem. All of the traits are as a ladder to the attainment of love. It is the soul–gift of the saintly, the prophets, and the consecrated ones--it is the end of all; there is nothing higher than it. Many times the Torah places fear of God before love of Him, as it is written [this verse]: "And now, Israel, what does Hashem your God ask of you but to fear Him and to love Him." And because fear is the end and epitome of self-consecration and the closest of the approaches to the level of the love of God, and because it is impossible for a man to attain it unless it be preceded by fear and awe of God--therefore, fear precedes love. And what is this love? It is the pining of the soul and its natural inclination toward the Exalted Creator, to cleave to His Divine light.

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DEUT414 Therefore, we must pity those men who are sunk in meaningless vanities and teach them ... what are the best ways, so that a man will choose from the beginning the path that will bring him to a fresh and fertile place were all good is to be found. And this is the fear of Hashem, which is the purpose of all deeds. And this is the query addressed by Hashem to all men, as it is written [this verse]: "What does Hashem your God ask of you, but fear." And no deed is of much value without pure fear. Therefore, all men must be informed that anyone who wishes to attain worthy character traits must intermix fear of Hashem with each trait, for fear of Hashem is the common bond among all of the traits. This may be compared to a string which has been strung through the holes of pearls, with a knot tied at its end to hold the pearls. There is no question that if the knot is cut, all the pearls will fall. It is the same with fear of Hashem. It is the knot which secures all of the good traits, and if you remove it, all of the good traits will depart from you. And if you do not have good traits, you do not have Torah and mitzvot, for all of Torah hinges upon the perfection of one's traits.

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DEUT415 See [[DEUT135]] Deuteronomy 4:37 loved OXFORD 40

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DEUT416 Know well that fearing Hashem is the basis of all mitzvos, as the pasuk says [this verse], "And now, Yisrael, what does Hashem, your God, request of you? Only to fear Hashem, your God." Through this, Hashem favors His creatures, as the pasuk says (Tehillim 147:11), "Hashem favors those who fear Him." (Continued at [[LEV268]] Leviticus 18:30 restrictions GATES 167)

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DEUT418 See [[DEUT205]] Deuteronomy 6:5 heart DUTIES 13-15

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DEUT417 Merged within the word yirah are two human experiences that are linked in the Hebrew but separated in English. One is fear. The other is awe. Experience shows us that these can be totally distinct qualities--you can be terrified of the bear, and in awe at the sunset. But experience also justifies linking them together. Imagine standing right at the lip of the Grand Canyon, looking down into the vast and rainbow-colored canyon. Fear and awe merge into one exuberant inner experience.

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DEUT419 The rabbi's, endeavoring to discover a basis for prayer in the Torah, found it implied in the Deuteronomic monition: "To love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart with all your soul" (this verse). They asked: "What is the service of the heart?" And replied: "It is prayer." Sifre, Deut. 11:13; Taan. 2a. Though the worship of prayer did not come into its own until the sacrificial worship ceased, attempts were made to trace the institution of prayer to the patriarchs themselves. R. Elazar ranked prayer above sacrifice. Ber. 26b; 32b. R. Joshua b. Levi believed it to be so efficacious that it breaks even an iron wall which separates Israel from the Heavenly Father. Sotah 38b. Prayer removes all obstacles and dangers to the spiritual life. Maimonides treats prayer in his Code under the section Ahavah. Love is, indeed, the life breath of prayer, love in the sense of longing and yearning for God and of the direction of the spirit and self-dedication to Him. It is the placing of oneself at the disposal of God, offering heart and mind, soul and being upon His altar. R. Nahman of Bratzlav considered prayer a category of faith, of spiritual creativeness which fills the emptiness of the heart with the consciousness of the Divine. Through prayer God's holiness increases. True spiritual vitality is derived only through prayer. Horodetzki, Torat R. Nahman, Tephllah.

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DEUT421 See [[EXOD214]] Exodus 15:2 glorify COHON 150-1

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