Two kinds of yiras Shomayim

בפסוק דבר אתה עמנו כו' ואל ידבר עמנו אלקים פן נמות.

On the pasuk: "You speak with us … and let Elokim not speak with us, lest we die" (Shemos 20:16).

The Sefas Emes opens with Bnei Yisrael's request at Sinai that Moshe, not Hashem directly, convey the rest of the Torah to them.

וקשה כי מסרו א"ע ע"ד כבוד שמו באמרם נעשה ונשמע [*ועתה יראו] מן המיתה.

And this is difficult: for they had given themselves over for the sake of His honor when they said "na'aseh v'nishma" — and now they are afraid of death?

It is puzzling that the same people who selflessly declared "we will do and we will hear" should suddenly recoil out of fear of dying.

אך נראה לפרש כי הרגישו אבותינו שקבלו התורה כי הם מוכנים ליפול מזאת המדריגה [*כמ"ש אכן] כאדם תמותין ולב יודע מרת נפשו.

But it appears that one may explain: our forefathers who received the Torah sensed that they were liable to fall from this lofty level — [as it says,] "indeed, like Adam you shall die" (Tehillim 82:7), and "the heart knows its own bitterness" (Mishlei 14:10).

They were not afraid of physical death at that moment, but sensed that they might later fall from the exalted madreigah of receiving the Torah — each heart knowing its own vulnerability.

ולכן חששו כי אם ישמעו כל הדברות מהשי"ת בעצמו יהי' אח"כ נפילה שאין לה תקומה ח"ו.

Therefore they were concerned that if they were to hear all the Dibros from Hashem Yisborach Himself, there would afterward be a fall from which there is no recovery, chas v'shalom.

They feared that receiving the entire Torah directly from Hashem would set them so high that a subsequent fall would be irreparable.

וכעין זה אמר הכתוב בחטא אדם ועתה פן ישלח ידו ולקח גם מעץ החיים כו'.

And similar to this the pasuk said regarding the sin of Adam: "and now, lest he send forth his hand and take also from the Eitz HaChaim," and so on (Bereishis 3:22).

The Sefas Emes draws a parallel to Adam after the sin, where Hashem acts to prevent an irreversible state.

פי' שלא יהי' נגיעה בחטאו לעץ החיים.

Meaning: that his sin should not have any contact with the Eitz HaChaim.

Adam was removed from the Garden so that his sin would not touch the Tree of Life and become permanent and incurable.

כמו כן ממש חששו באומרם פן נמות.

In exactly the same way, they were concerned when they said "lest we die."

Their "lest we die" reflected this very concern — of reaching a height that would make any future fall fatal and irreversible.

א"כ נכון יותר לשמוע ממך.

If so, it is better to hear from you.

Hence they reasoned it was wiser to receive the Torah through Moshe Rabbeinu, leaving room for recovery should they later fall.

ומרע"ה בהיותו רחוק מן החטא אמר אל תיראו כו'.

And Moshe Rabbeinu, being far from sin, said "Do not fear," and so on (Shemos 20:17).

Moshe, untouched by sin, reassured them that they need not be afraid.

ולהבין פי' הכתוב אל תיראו כי לבעבור נסות כו' ובעבור תהי' יראתו על פניכם.

And to understand the meaning of the pasuk: "Do not fear, for in order to test you [Elokim has come] … and in order that His fear be upon your faces" (Shemos 20:17).

The Sefas Emes now turns to resolve an apparent contradiction within Moshe's words.

וקשה לאו רישא סיפא.

And this is difficult: the beginning [of the pasuk] contradicts the end.

The pasuk seems self-contradictory.

אל תיראו.

"Do not fear."

First Moshe tells them not to fear.

תהי' יראתו על פניכם.

"His fear shall be upon your faces."

Yet immediately he says that Hashem's fear should rest upon them — seemingly the opposite.

אכן נפרש כי לא כתיב אל תִּירְאו רק תּירָאו והוא התפעלות האדם ע"י היראה והוא יראת העונש.

However, we may explain that it does not say "do not fear (tir'u)" [in the same sense], but rather "tira'u" — which is a person's own being-stirred through fear, and this is yiras ha'onesh (fear of punishment).

The two "fears" are different: the kind Moshe negates is yiras ha'onesh, a self-generated dread of punishment that agitates a person.

כי יראת ה' הטהורה היא למעלה מההשגה וע"י הביטול לה' נופל על האדם יראה זו ונק' יראתו על פניכם.

For the pure yiras Hashem is above comprehension, and through bittul to Hashem this fear descends upon a person — and it is called "His fear upon your faces."

True yiras Hashem cannot be grasped or manufactured; it settles on a person only through bittul, self-nullification before Hashem, and this is the "fear upon your faces."

ובזה לא שייך לקבל היראה כי האדם בטל לגמרי ביראה זו ולכן נקראת יראת הרוממות שמתרוממת על האדם.

And with this [fear] it is not applicable to "receive" the fear, for the person is entirely nullified within this fear; therefore it is called yiras haromemus (the fear of [Hashem's] exaltedness), for it rises exalted above the person.

This higher fear is not something one actively takes on; rather, a person is completely subsumed within it, which is why it is termed yiras haromemus — a fear that towers above and elevates him.

אבל תִּירָאו הוא יראת העונש כנ"ל.

But "tira'u" is yiras ha'onesh, as explained above.

The lower fear that Moshe addresses with "do not fear" is the self-centered fear of punishment.

וז"ש לבעבור נסות אתכם בא פי' לרומם אתכם בהנהגה שלמעלה מהטבע:

And this is the meaning of "in order to test (nasos) you He came" — meaning, to elevate you (l'romem) with a conduct that is above nature.

Reading "nasos" as related to "nes" / "hisnasus" (uplifting), the purpose of the Revelation was to raise Bnei Yisrael into a supernatural mode of existence governed by yiras haromemus.

Summary: Bnei Yisrael's request "let Elokim not speak with us, lest we die" was not cowardice but a deep sense that receiving the whole Torah directly from Hashem would set them so high that a future fall would be irreparable — like Adam barred from the Eitz HaChaim — so it was wiser to receive it through Moshe. The Sefas Emes then distinguishes two fears: yiras ha'onesh, the self-generated fear of punishment that Moshe negates ("do not fear"), versus yiras haromemus, the pure fear of Hashem that descends only through bittul and within which a person is wholly nullified — and the Revelation's purpose was to uplift Bnei Yisrael into that supernatural fear of Hashem's exaltedness.