Q&A: Maimonides, Foundations of the Torah
Maimonides, Foundations of the Torah
Question
To the Rabbi,
Greetings and blessings!
Foundations of the Torah
1. Our teacher, in the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, chapter 1, halakha 11, writes: "And so the sages said: Above there is neither sitting nor standing, neither back of the neck nor weariness." What does our teacher mean by "back of the neck" and "weariness"?
2. Our teacher, in the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, chapter 2, sections 1-2, writes that there is a commandment to fear God, and that this fear is His exaltedness; but in the Laws of Repentance, chapter 10, sections 1-2, our teacher writes that it is not proper to serve God out of fear, and there Rabbi Kapach writes that according to our teacher there is no "fear of exaltedness,"
A. At first glance, Rabbi Kapach's words are hard for me to understand in light of what is written in chapter 2.
B. How should our teacher's words in chapter 2, where he sees fear as a commandment, be understood alongside his words that it is not proper to serve God out of fear?
Thank you very much, and all the best.
Ayel Ben David
Answer
- Perhaps weariness.
- A. Ask Rabbi Kapach or his students. B. I have explained this more than once. There is a commandment to love and fear the Holy One Blessed be He, but at the same time it is not correct to serve Him because of fear and love of Him, but rather because of accepting His divinity. In the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah he is speaking about the commandments of love and fear, and in the Laws of Repentance he is speaking about the motivation for serving Him. See column 631 on this.