Yirah Unlocks Divine Concealment
מה ה"א שואל כו' כ"א ליראה כו'
"What does Hashem ask of you... only to fear..." (Devarim 10:12).
The verse asks seemingly only one thing of a person, namely yiras Shamayim, and the Sfas Emes opens by highlighting this.
אף שחושב עוד כמה מעלות
This is so even though the verse goes on to enumerate several more lofty traits.
Even though the pasuk continues by listing additional avodos such as walking in Hashem's ways and loving Him, the central demand it singles out is yirah.
רק שע"י יראה אמיתית יכולין לבא לכל השאר
Rather, it is specifically through genuine yiras Shamayim that one is able to arrive at all the rest.
Yiras Shamayim is the gateway, for only through true fear of Heaven can a person reach all the other levels of avodah.
וחז"ל למדו מכאן הכל ביד"ש חוץ מיראת שמים
And from here Chazal derived their teaching: "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven" (Berachos 33b).
Chazal's well-known statement that everything is in Heaven's hands except yiras Shamayim flows directly from this idea, since yirah is the one thing left to a person's own choice.
הפי' שיראה הקדמה לכל דבר
The meaning is that yiras Shamayim is the prerequisite that comes before everything else.
Yirah is described as a prerequisite because it is the foundation that must precede all other service of Hashem.
ובאמת הכל מהשי"ת רק שע"י יראה יוכל האדם להרגיש הארת השי"ת שיש בכל דבר
And in truth everything comes from Hashem Yisbarach; it is only that through yirah a person is able to sense the illumination of Hashem Yisbarach that is present within every single thing.
Although everything truly comes from Hashem, it is yirah that opens a person's eyes to perceive the Divine light hidden inside every created thing.
וחז"ל אמרו על יראה שנק' מפתחות החיצוניות
And Chazal said regarding yirah that it is called "the outer keys" (Shabbos 31b).
Chazal call yirah the "outer keys," the keys that unlock the external shell of the world.
שהחיצוניות מסתיר הפנימיות והעצה לזה שע"י היראה נופל פחד על החיצוניות ומתגלה הפנימיות כנ"ל
For the outer dimension conceals the inner dimension, and the remedy for this is that through yirah a dread falls upon the outer dimension and the inner dimension is revealed, as explained above.
The outer surface of things hides their inner spiritual core, and yirah causes that outer shell to tremble and give way, so the inner Godliness shines through.
וכל דבר שמבקשין מהאדם נכלל בהקדמת היראה שעי"ז עוזר השי"ת על השאר
And every single thing that is asked of a person is included within the prerequisite of yirah, for through it Hashem Yisbarach assists him with all the rest.
Whatever Hashem asks of a person is really contained within this one demand of yirah, because once a person has yirah, Hashem helps him accomplish everything else.
וכן אז"ל אל תקרי מה אלא מאה ולמדו ק' ברכות כו'
And so too Chazal said (Menachos 43b): "Do not read it as 'what (mah),' but rather as 'a hundred (meah),'" and they derived from it the obligation of one hundred berachos.
Chazal reread the word "mah" (what) as "meah" (a hundred) and learned the requirement to recite one hundred berachos each day.
שיש בכל דבר ברכה מהשי"ת ורק ע"י הכנעת האדם לידע כי מה הוא וע"י השפלות והיראה מתדבק בהאחדות והוא כח השי"ת וזה פי' הברכה לדבק כל דבר בשורשו שהוא רק מהשי"ת
For there is a berachah from Hashem Yisbarach within every single thing; and it is only through a person's submission, to recognize that he is nothing more than "what," and through lowliness and yirah, that he becomes attached to the Oneness, which is the power of Hashem Yisbarach. And this is the meaning of a berachah: to bind every thing back to its root, which is solely from Hashem Yisbarach.
Every thing contains a hidden berachah from Hashem; only when a person humbles himself, recognizing that he is mere "what," does he cling to Hashem's Oneness, and a berachah is precisely this act of binding each thing back to its Source in Hashem.
וזה א"ת מה אלא מאה כנ"ל:
And this is the meaning of "Do not read it as 'what (mah)' but rather as 'a hundred (meah),'" as explained above.
This is why the same word "mah" is reread as "meah," tying a person's self-nullification to the hundred daily berachos, as the Sfas Emes explained.
Summary: The Sfas Emes asks why the pasuk in Eikev presents yiras Shamayim as the single thing Hashem asks of us, when it goes on to list further avodos. He answers that genuine yirah is the prerequisite that unlocks everything else: although all things come from Hashem Yisbarach, it is only through yirah that a person can sense the Divine illumination concealed within every created thing. This is why Chazal call yirah the "outer keys" and teach that everything is in Heaven's hands except yiras Shamayim, for yirah makes the concealing outer shell tremble so that the inner Godliness is revealed. The Sfas Emes then ties this to the rereading of "mah" (what) as "meah" (a hundred) and the hundred daily berachos: through humility and lowliness, recognizing he is mere "what," a person binds every thing back to its root in Hashem, and that binding is the very essence of a berachah.