פרשת מסעי
This week’s Parsha contains the Mitzvah of the עיר מקלט or the city of refuge. The Torah commands us to set up cities in which a person who accidentally murdered another Jew can flee to in order to seek protection from his victim’s angry relatives who wish to exact revenge upon him. The Steipler explains that this Mitzvah is a very deep Mitzvah which contains within it simultaneously both great kindness for the murderer, and at the same time, a very stringent punishment for him. On the one hand, he is confined to the city of refuge with no ability to leave even for a short time, possibly even for his entire life. Chazal teach us that if he dies in the city of refuge, he must even be buried there. He is not allowed to take one step outside of this city, even if he has no fear of being attacked by a vengeful relative. Furthermore, all the money in the world cannot redeem him from his incarceration in the city of refuge. Yet on the other hand, this Mitzvah contains a tremendous amount of consideration for the murderer’s welfare. Firstly, as we said, the city offers him shelter from any potentially spiteful family members of the victim. Secondly, the Torah commands the Jewish people to be very careful to set up signs along the roads to direct all travelers to the nearest city of refuge. Thirdly, the Jewish people were responsible to provide all the necessary food and drink for each and every member of the city of refuge. And finally, the Torah even commands the Jewish people to concern themselves with the spiritual welfare of the inhabitants of that city by commanding the Rebbi of the murderer to enter into the city with him and continue teaching him Torah. The Steipler asks however, why would the Torah be so stringent with him as to permit the relations of the victim to murder him if he even takes one step outside of the city? This kind of corporal punishment seems a bit harsh for such a minor infraction. The Steipler answers beautifully that this too is the mercy of God. Hashem knew how hard it would be for the murderer to remain within the confines of the city without ever being allowed to visit his friends and family again. Hashem therefore had to create a consequence which was so drastic, that it would quash all desire that the murderer may have of leaving the city and breaking the Torah’s law. God planned that his fear of death would deter him from sinning by leaving the city of refuge.
The Steipler extrapolated from this incredibly deep commandment of the Torah a very interesting principle. We see from this Mitzvah how powerful the Yetzer Hara is and that the only way to stop it is through a prevailing fear. Chazal teach us that when the Yetzer Hara is present, there is no Yetzer Tov in the vicinity whatsoever. This murderer’s frustration and sensations of solitude after being caged up in the same city for so many years is unimaginable. During that moment, when his loneliness has reached its climax, there is nothing he wants to do more than to break out of that city and go anywhere. Yet the Torah does not allow him the luxury of freedom and demands that he serve out his sentence until the Cohen Gadol passes away. The only deterrent influential enough to prevent him from giving in to his Yetzer Hara at that trying moment is the fear of death. The Steipler would explain that from this Mitzvah we see how important it is to foster a dominant fear of punishment, and how during a time when the Yetzer Hara is in power, this fear is the only sensation which will be instrumental in successfully winning the battle. The Steipler would explain that although certainly the primary sensation that person should have on a regular basis is the sensation of awe and wonder at God’s greatness, during a time of temptation, the only awareness that will help him is one of abject terror, and for these times, it is critical that we have fostered this feeling in order to have it in our arsenal to be able to use it in a time of need.
Based on these words of the Steipler, we can resolve a conflict in the Rambam. In the second chapter of Yesodei Torah, the Rambam says that the primary awareness a person must foster is the awareness and awe of God’s greatness, and in the tenth chapter of Hilchos Teshuva, the Rambam adds that fear of sin is only appropriate for the masses of people who are ignorant and are capable of no other means of motivation to perform the Mitzvos. Yet the Rambam in the Sefer Hamitzvos (4) writes that the primary way to fulfill the commandment to fear God is to foster a strong fear of sin and that this feeling is one which a person is required to maintain during all hours of the day. Based on what we have seen in the Steipler, there is no conflict. Certainly we are required to begin with the sense of abject fear of sin, and this feeling every Jew must develop. After we have achieved this awareness, the Rambam is teaching us that we should evolve and foster an awe and wonder at God’s greatness. Yet even after we have evolved to this level, we must also maintain a strong connection with the first level that we have achieved in order to be able to draw upon it when necessary.
Truthfully, we as human beings are not as motivated by the esoteric promise of a good afterlife, but rather by the real and present danger that may result as a direct consequence of our actions. This is perhaps why the second paragraph of the Shema focuses on the terrible life that will ensue on this earth if we sin, and only refers to the results on our afterlife in passing. This is not because our afterlife is not the primary concern of all of our actions, but rather because the Torah understood that the only way to subjugate the desire to sin is through an immense fear of being punished. The Gemorah in Bava Basra (10a) says, “A powerful body can only be broken through fear”. R’ Yitzchak, the Rosh Yeshiva of Slobodka explains this Gemorah to mean that when a person has a powerful desire, (powerful body), the only thing that can disrupt that desire is fear.
In the Yeshiva which I studied, in Brisk, this attribute of fear was perhaps one of the hallmark traits which stood out. Any remote fear of any action that was performed which may have led to a sin was shunned categorically. The Brisker Rav once saw a child carrying a Muktze item, and was visibly disturbed. When questioned about his reaction, the Rav responded, “If a person saw a child sticking his hand in fire, would he not be alarmed”? R’ Mendel Solovechik said sarcastically about the Beis Halevi that he would not receive any reward in the afterlife for not sinning, because his fear of sin was so great, he was completely incapable of sin! Anybody who ever had the merit to observe the Beis Halevi up close, became almost instantaneously aware of his excellence in this trait.
May we all merit to foster this important trait of fear of sin!