On the spiritual path, there are guidelines that lead us to final correction. This path is divided into corrections, the first of which is called Ira—fear or awe.

In The Book of Zohar, a question is asked: where can this awe come from if the Creator is good and does good, if He is perfect and above all calculations for Himself? Why then should a person fear Him? It does not befit the Creator, who abides in absolute perfection, to act in a way that causes fear. How can this be?

The Zohar explains that there is a kind of fear called fear on the level of our world, when a person fears punishments for himself and for his family in this world. Moreover, he fears what will happen to him in the world to come, although this is already a higher concept. Nevertheless, it is still fear of punishment.

But when a person corrects his Kelim into Kelim of bestowal and acquires a screen (Masach), then he ceases to fear the Creator altogether, because he sees that He is good and does good. The Creator is revealed to him, and he begins to understand that even before he felt fear not because the Creator exists and can punish him, but because within his uncorrected Kelim he feared receiving punishment. In truth, there is no such thing as punishment from above. Separation from the Creator is itself the punishment.

And so, a person comes to another kind of fear—to awe that he may be unable to bestow. This essentially is correction itself; it is the thing that gives him the ability to build the Kelim of bestowal of his soul. In the revelation of this awe, a person receives the filling called love. Thus, love is the result of awe.

To the extent that he fears being unable to bestow, the light fills him and conveys a sensation of love to him, a feeling of similarity to the Creator, equivalence with Him in qualities, unity and adhesion with the Creator. Therefore, the concept of awe is correction. Because initially we are created with a desire to receive, and it must be for the sake of bestowal; otherwise, we will not feel delight.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/26, Rabash, “Concerning Fear and Joy”

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Love and Awe

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