Chapter 1
רבי חנינא בן דוסא אומר כל שיראת
חטאו קודמת לחכמתו חכמתו מתקיימת
וכל שחכמתו קודמת ליראת חטאו
אין חכמתו מתקיימת
“Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa said: ‘Anyone whose fear of sin comes before his wisdom, his wisdom will endure; but anyone whose wisdom comes before his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure.’ ”1
An individual requires two qualities, a) Wisdom, i.e., to be a student of the Torah, studying alone as well as with a group in which one person teaches and the others listen; b) Fear of G‑d. To be G‑d-fearing entails a love of positive mitzvos and a hatred of sin.
Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa addresses himself to the question of which quality should come first, and says that not only should fear of sin precede wisdom, but it must precede wisdom if wisdom is to endure. If one’s Torah wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom will not last, for the fear of G‑d must come first.
Bartenura explains the Mishnah by postulating that it refers to thought processes; one thinks of his fear of sin before he thinks about Torah. This means to say that his first thoughts concern the results of his knowledge. Acting in such a manner assures that “His wisdom will endure,” i.e. his study of Torah will lead him to his heart’s desire of performing mitzvos. When a person does this, he can be sure that his study will bear fruit in the improvement of his deeds.
But when “his wisdom comes before his fear of sin,” he studies only to acquire knowledge and gain understanding, but does not want to translate the knowledge into the performance of mitzvos. Since his heart in this way turns from being G‑d-fearing, even the Torah knowledge he acquires will not last. Since he studies without fear of sin, his desire to study will only last a short time. Ultimately, the unbridled passions of his heart will gain dominance, and he will stop studying. Thus, not only is the foundation [of a Jew’s spiritual life] the fear of sin, but the fear of G‑d precedes one’s study of Torah.
There are individuals (may G‑d protect us) who desire to study Torah but do not want to perform mitzvos. There are also others (may G‑d protect us) who think highly of Torah study but very little about prayer. These individuals do not pray, or if they do they make light of it, indulging in various irreverent relaxations (kulohs).
Concerning such individuals, we are told by the Gemara:2 “Whoever says ‘I have nothing but Torah’ lacks Torah as well.” The Gemara is telling us that an individual who desires only study and does not want to perform mitzvos or pray does not even know the Torah he is studying.
Torah knowledge may be genuinely possessed only when it is accompanied by the performance of mitzvos and the service of prayer. When either is lacking, then one’s Torah knowledge is lacking as well, for the knowledge is not Torah but a deadly poison, as the Gemara says:3 “If the person merits, [the Torah] becomes for him a healing medication; if he does not merit [i.e. if his Torah knowledge is not accompanied by the performance of mitzvos and prayer], it becomes a deadly poison.”
Truly, we observe this to be so regarding individuals who once studied Torah and then went astray. These people descend lower both in their heresy and in their actual sinning than those who never studied at all. Spiritual shortcomings among people who have never studied stems from their desire to gratify their corporeal desires; they do not sin out of spite. Those who have learned and then go astray are heretics, and sin out of spite.
The first step [in such a descent] occurs when a person studies Torah but lacks the devotional service of prayer. Accordingly, it is quite understandable that “Whoever says ‘I have nothing but Torah’ lacks Torah as well,” [inasmuch as he lacks reverence of G‑d].
However, here in the Mishnah which discusses Torah study and fear of sin, we are speaking of an individual who not only desires to perform mitzvos and scrupulously observes prayer, but is also fearful of sin. [His only fault lies in that] his study of Torah precedes his fear of sin. [Though this is his only fault,] “his wisdom will not endure.”
We must understand the great merit of prefacing Torah study with a fear of sin; that only in this way will wisdom “endure.”
In summary: Putting fear of sin before Torah study causes Torah knowledge to endure. The Bartenura explains why fear of sin strengthens the endurance of Torah wisdom. There are those who study Torah and do not want to perform mitzvos, or who treat prayer with irreverence. Such people “lack Torah as well.” However, why is it that wisdom does not endure among those people who are fearful of sin but do not put this fear ahead of Torah study?
Chapter 2
Upon pondering deeply on fear of sin and Torah study, [we come to the conclusion that] Torah study is loftier than fear of sin. For Torah is wisdom and intellect, which is the greatest quality found not only within man but even among angels, who are termed4 “rational beings of the highest order,” sichli’im nivdolim.
The Rambam says5 there are 10 categories of angels, each known by a separate name. The names indicate the level of intellectual and emotional feeling of that category. The loftier the angel, the greater its comprehension of G‑dliness.
[Thus, while Torah study is a function of the higher level of intellect,] fear of sin is on a par with the emotional attributes. These attributes are not man’s primary quality; man’s primary quality is wisdom and intellect, while emotions are possessed by animals as well. The superiority of man’s emotional attributes over those possessed by animals comes to the fore when man’s emotions are permeated and guided by intellect.
Clearly, then, Torah study [which is intellect and wisdom] should by right strengthen the fear of sin [which is an emotional attribute]. This being so, it is difficult to understand why fear of sin must come before Torah study if study is to endure.
All the above leads us to understand that fear of sin is indeed superior to Torah study. Yet we find Rabbah bar Rav Huna stating6 that Torah is likened to the inner portals7 and keys, while fear of G‑d is likened [only to] the outer portals and keys, thus indicating that Torah is spiritually superior to the fear of G‑d.
Why then must fear of sin precede Torah study?
This will be understood as follows: [As mentioned earlier,] Torah is wisdom and intellect, while fear of sin is an emotional attribute. Though it is true that intellect is spiritually superior to emotions, G‑d implanted within the emotional attributes a characteristic which is superior to that implanted in intellect. The superior characteristic is that emotions are pnimi, inward and internal, while intellect is makkif, encompassing and external.
Intellect, too, is deemed pnimi compared to the soul powers of will and delight. This is because intellect possesses a specific organ in the body [the brain] which conforms to it, while will and delight lack specific bodily organs in which they reside. For this reason, when compared to the encompassing powers of will and delight, intellect is deemed pnimi.8 But when compared to the emotional attributes, intellect is termed makkif and the emotions are termed pnimi. Intellect is thus termed both makkif and pnimi, while emotions are only pnimi.
Accordingly, we will understand those Chassidic discourses9 that deal with the subject of Sukkah and its covering: that the Sefirah of Binah [the Supernal attribute of comprehension, the second of the three intellectual Sefiros] is the source of the encompassing levels of makkifim [the plural of makkif].
At first glance, this matter seems to defy logic. Binah is the explanatory level of comprehension [the level which makes an intellectual concept clear]. Comprehension itself means that the luminary aspect of intellect clothes itself in the vessels of intellect, at which time it becomes pnimiyus; it is internalized. This comes about through the level of Binah. How then is Binah the source of makkifim?
This will be understood as follows: It is true that intellect is a luminous soul power that clothes itself in a particular vessel, for which reason it is considered pnimi. However, the specific characteristic of intellect is makkif, for intellect merely comprehends a matter; it does not become it. Emotions, on the other hand, become that which is being felt. This is true both with regard to the emotion of love and drawing close, as well as that of fear and drawing away.
It is for this reason that a person can tolerate thinking objectively about a matter which is hateful to him, while the nature of emotions is such that if something is totally despicable, [the emotions cannot bear to dwell on it even fleetingly]. The reason for this is that intellect merely comprehends a matter, while the emotions unite themselves with it.
This is why it is necessary to put fear of sin before Torah study. Without fear of sin, i.e. without fearing that one may do something wrong, one’s Torah cannot endure, and may even be a deadly poison. By beginning with a fear of sin, Torah study will endure and become a healing medication.
In summary: Intellect is the highest level found within created beings, so much so that angels are divided into categories according to their comprehension of G‑dliness. Emotions are on a lower level, and are therefore found even among animals. Torah, which is intellect and the inner portals, is higher than fear of sin, which is emotion and the outer portals. The merit of emotions is that they are pnimi’im and completely permeate an individual, in contrast to Torah, which is wisdom and intellect [and only makkif].
