Jirát sámájim

The Gemara continues discussing the conduct of the Sages, citing that Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the faith of your times shall be a strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, the fear of the Lord is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6)? Faith; that is the order of Zera’im, Seeds, in the Mishna, because a person has faith in God and plants his seeds (Jerusalem Talmud). Your times; that is the order of Moed, Festival, which deals with the various occasions and Festivals that occur throughout the year. Strength; that is the order of Nashim, Women. Salvations; that is the order of Nezikin, Damages, as one who is being pursued is rescued from the hands of his pursuer. Wisdom; that is the order of Kodashim, Consecrated Items. And knowledge; that is the order of Teharot, Purity, which is particularly difficult to master. And even if a person studies and masters all of these, “the fear of the Lord is his treasure,” it is preeminent.

It is written in the Torah, "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God?" (Deut. 10:12). And it is writen, "You must revere the Lord your God" (ibid., 10:20). And it is written, "And the fear of the Lord which is His treasure" (Is. 33:6). And they said (Shabbath 31b, and see Berakoth 33b), "The Holy One has nought in His world save for the awe of Heaven," as it is written, "And unto man he said, "Behold (hen), the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). (The fear of the Lord is unique in God's affections — Rashi, (ad. loc.) The Hebrew word hen can be interpreted to mean "one" for in Greek they pronounce the word "one" as "hen."

Noting that this trait was counted after all the virtuous traits we mentioned until now is enough to awaken us to its [lofty] matter. Certainly it must be an important and fundamental matter and difficult to attain. For it can be reached only by one who has already acquired all of the previously mentioned traits.

The second type of fear is fear of G-d's exaltedness (Yirat Haromemut). It means that a person distances and refrains from sin because of G-d's great honor, blessed be His Name. For how could his heart of flesh and blood, lowly and petty, allow or dare do something against the will of the Creator, blessed and exalted be His Name?!

But the third kind of fear of God is the precious pearl. This is when he fears the Holy One, Blessed be He, for no reason in the world, except that he trembles before Him and all of his limbs shudder with awe as he remembers His Greatness and His Might. Now this is a very profound thing for people to understand, since the way of people is that they do not do their deeds unless they hope to derive some sort of profit or to avoid some injury to themselves. And if one of these considerations does not apply, then they consider the deed worthless and empty.

Faithfulness to Your charge was [her] wealth,
Wisdom and devotion [her] triumph,Reverence for GOD—that was her treasure.

This is what Moshe, our teacher, peace be unto him, teaches us saying: "And now, Israel, what does the L-rd your G-d ask of you, but that you fear the L-rd your G-d to walk in all His ways, and to love Him and serve the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the mitzvot (commandments) of G-d and His statutes..." (Deut. 10:12)

And now, O Israel, what does your God יהוה demand of you? Only this: to revere your God יהוה, to walk only in divine paths, to love and to serve your God יהוה with all your heart and soul,

Tangentially, the Gemara cites an additional statement by Rabbi Ḥanina concerning principles of faith. And Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. Man has free will to serve God or not, as it is stated: “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all of His ways, to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The Lord asks man to perform these matters because ultimately, the choice is in his hands.