Torah brings fear and humility

כתיב הקהל לי את העם ואשמיעם את דברי אשר ילמדון ליראה אותי כו'.

It is written, "Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me [all the days]" (Devarim 4:10).

The Sefas Emes notes that the stated goal of hearing Hashem's words and learning Torah is "that they may learn to fear Me" — yiras Shomayim.

שתכלית התורה לבוא ליראה אמיתית כדאיתא בגמ' וי למאן דלית לי' דרתא ותרעא לדרתא עביד.

For the purpose of the Torah is to arrive at true fear, as it is stated in the Gemara: "Woe to one who has no courtyard, yet makes a gate for the courtyard!" (Shabbos 31b).

Torah's ultimate aim is genuine yiras Shomayim. Chazal lament one who builds a "gate" (Torah learning) but has no "courtyard" (the yirah that the learning is meant to lead to) — the gate without the courtyard is pointless.

שהתורה פתח ליכנוס ליראת שמים ז"ש אשר ילמדון ליראה אותי שהלימוד יהי' כדי לקבל היראה בשלימות.

For the Torah is the gateway to enter into yiras Shomayim; this is the meaning of "that they may learn to fear Me" — that the learning should be in order to acquire the fear in completeness.

Torah is the entrance through which one reaches fear of Heaven. "That they may learn to fear Me" means the very purpose of learning is to attain complete yirah.

וז"ש מרע"ה לבנ"י שאמרו דבר אתה עמנו כו' פן נמות והשיב להם אל תיראו כו' ובעבור תהי' יראתו על פניכם.

And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu [said] to Bnei Yisrael, who said, "You speak with us... lest we die," and he answered them, "Do not fear... for [God has come] in order that His fear shall be upon your faces" (Shemos 20:16-17).

At Sinai the people, overwhelmed, begged Moshe to be the intermediary "lest we die." Moshe reassured them, "Do not fear," explaining that Hashem revealed Himself precisely so that His yirah would rest upon them.

וכבר אמרו חז"ל אין אומרים אל תירא רק למי שירא שמים לאמיתו.

And Chazal already said that one says "Do not fear" only to one who is truly God-fearing.

The phrase "al tira" (do not fear) is addressed only to a person who already possesses genuine yiras Shomayim — proof that Bnei Yisrael's reaction itself stemmed from real fear of Heaven.

א"כ הי' דברי בנ"י בשביל היראה.

If so, the words of Bnei Yisrael were [spoken] for the sake of the fear.

Their plea was not a flight from holiness but an expression of their deep yirah — they were concerned about preserving and not losing their fear of Heaven.

וכן אמר הקב"ה מי יתן והי' לבבם כו' ליראה אותי כו'.

And so HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, "Would that their heart be [like this] always... to fear Me" (Devarim 5:26).

Hashem Himself praised the people's heart at that moment and wished it would remain so forever — confirming that their reaction was rooted in authentic yirah.

והפי' שחששו בנ"י שע"י שיתקרבו יותר מדאי יתחלש אצלם היראה ויפלו ממדריגת היראה.

And the meaning is that Bnei Yisrael were concerned that by drawing too close, their fear would weaken and they would fall from the level of fear.

Their worry was that excessive closeness — over-familiarity with the Divine revelation — might dull their sense of awe and cause them to slip from their level of yirah.

פן נמות כי ירידה ממדריגה ושפלות נק' מיתה.

"Lest we die" — for a descent from one's level and a lowering is called "death."

"Lest we die" does not mean physical death but spiritual decline; falling from one's madreigah (level) is itself a form of death.

ומרע"ה השיב להם אדרבא כפי מה שיתקרבו ביותר יפול עליהם יראת הרוממות כי התורה מביא היראה.

And Moshe Rabbeinu answered them: on the contrary — the more they draw close, the more the fear of [His] exaltedness (yiras haromemus) will fall upon them, for the Torah brings the fear.

Moshe reversed their concern: closeness does not erode awe but deepens it. The nearer one comes through Torah, the more the exalted, awe-filled yiras haromemus descends — because Torah itself generates yirah.

והעד.

And the proof:

Moshe offers himself as living evidence for this principle.

מרע"ה שהי' שר התורה הי' עניו מכל אדם.

Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the "prince of the Torah," was the most humble of all men.

Moshe, who reached the very summit of Torah, was precisely the most humble person who ever lived — closeness to Torah produced not arrogance but profound anavah.

וענוה למעלה מיראה וכמ"ש וסביביו נשערה מאוד וכ"כ לכל המורא הגדול פי' חז"ל על קבלת התורה שאז הי' בחי' יראת הרוממות:

And humility (anavah) is higher than fear, as it is written, "and around Him it storms mightily" (Tehillim 50:3); and likewise "and for all the great awe" (Devarim 34:12), which Chazal explained as referring to the receiving of the Torah, for then there was the aspect of yiras haromemus.

Anavah stands even above yirah, and the deepest awe surrounds the One before whom even the loftiest tremble. Chazal connect "the great awe" of the Torah's end to Matan Torah, when Yisrael experienced yiras haromemus — the exalted fear born of drawing close to Torah, the very fear Moshe's humility exemplified.

Summary: The purpose of Torah is to reach true yiras Shomayim — Torah is the "gate" to the "courtyard" of fear. At Sinai, when Bnei Yisrael said "lest we die," they spoke out of genuine yirah, fearing that excessive closeness might cause them to fall from their level (a "death"). Moshe answered that the opposite is true: the closer one comes through Torah, the more the exalted yiras haromemus descends, for Torah generates fear. The proof is Moshe himself — the prince of Torah, yet the most humble of men — for anavah stands even higher than yirah, as experienced at Matan Torah.