Fear and Surrender to God

וימאן ויאמר הן אדוני כו’. “But he refused. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this house, and all that he owns he has placed in my hands.” (Bereishit 39:8) הוא עצה לכל אדם שיעלה על דעתו איך הי’ ברשותו ית’ שלא יהי’ ברשות האדם לעשות שלא כרצונו. This is good advice for anyone when challenged by the yetzer hara, to contemplate how it would be if one was completely under the jurisdiction of HaShem where man would not be able to choose to go against HaShem’s will. ואעפ”כ כל שתה תחת רגליו. Nevertheless you have “Laid the world at his feet” (Tehillim 8:7) ורק השי”ת מבקש יראתו כדכתיב מה ה’ שואל כו’ כי אם ליראה. And all that HaShem requests from man, is that he fears HaShem. As it says “What does HaShem want from you, only to fear him…” (Devarim 10:12) וז”ש כי אם אותך באשר את אשתו כו’. Yosef was indeed referring to this “and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife. How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before HaShem?”. He was expressing that because his master trusted him so much, he should refuse her. לכן צריך אדם להתבייש לפניו ית’. ושלא יוכל לסור מרצונו. This therefore should cause a person to be abashed before HaShem (due to the great trust that HaShem places in us and gets abused). This should cause one to feel that he cannot turn from the will of HaShem. ואעפ”כ ישוב זה בא לו ע”י וימאן שמקודם צריך אדם לסור מרע בלי טעם. Nevertheless this level of contemplation first comes through the refusal. A person needs to first refuse the evil inclination without any reasoning. ועי”ז זוכה להשיג ולהבין האמת כדאיתא מי שיראת חטאו קודמת לחכמתו כו’: And through this he is able to comprehend and understand the truth. As it says Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom will endure (Avot 3:9) that the first thing necessary is fear of sin, and that subsequently leads to wisdom.