Choosing Fear Of Heaven
בפסוק מה ה"א שואל כו' דרשו חז"ל הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים
On the verse "What does Hashem your God ask of you" (Devarim 10:12), Chazal expounded: "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven."
The verse asks what Hashem requests of us, and the Gemara teaches that everything is decreed by Heaven except a person's yiras Shamayim, which is left to his own choice.
שלא כמדת מלך ב"ו שראשית הוא להטיל יראה על העם
This is unlike the way of a flesh-and-blood king, for whom the very first thing is to impose fear upon the people.
A human king's first move is to force his subjects into awe of him, since his rule depends on imposing fear from above.
אבל מלך מה"מ הקב"ה הכל בידו ונתן הבחירה ביד האדם שכן צריך להיות שיפול מעצמו מורא המקום על בני אדם כמ"ש מי לא ייראך כו'
But the King who is King over all kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He has everything in His hand, yet He placed free choice in the hand of man; for it must be that the fear of the Omnipresent should fall upon people of their own accord, as it is written, "Who would not fear You" (Yirmiyahu 10:7).
Hashem, who controls everything, deliberately did the opposite and handed free will to man, because true fear of Him should arise naturally from within a person rather than be forced upon him.
ובאמת כל זה עשה הקב"ה בעבור בנ"י כי הכל נברא בשביל בני ישראל היינו שהניח הבחירה ביד האדם שיתוודע מזה כחן של בנ"י כענין המשנה במאמר א' הי' יכול להבראות כו' כי וודאי הי' יכול לברוא העולם שיתגלה מוראו על כל ברי' רק שרצה שבנ"י יבררו זאת בכחם
And in truth, all of this Hashem did for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, for everything was created for the sake of Bnei Yisrael; that is, He left the choice in the hand of man so that through this the power of Bnei Yisrael would become known, like the matter of the Mishnah that "with one utterance the world could have been created" (Avos 5:1) for surely He could have created the world in such a way that His fear would be revealed upon every creature, but He desired that Bnei Yisrael should clarify and bring this forth by their own power.
Hashem arranged things this way for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, so that their unique strength would be revealed when they themselves draw out the awareness of His presence; He could have made His awe automatic upon all creation, but He wanted Bnei Yisrael to accomplish it through their own avodah.
ומוטל על בנ"י לברר מלכותו ית' וכשהיו בנ"י שרוין על אדמתם היו מטילין באמת אימה ויראה על כל האומות ג"כ
And it falls upon Bnei Yisrael to clarify and establish His kingship, may He be blessed; and when Bnei Yisrael dwelt upon their own land, they would indeed cast dread and fear upon all the nations as well.
It is the task of Bnei Yisrael to reveal and establish Hashem's kingship in the world, and when they lived securely in Eretz Yisrael they actually instilled awe of Hashem even in all the surrounding nations.
וז"ש שואל מעמך דייקא כמ"ש ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כו'
And this is what it means, "asks of you" precisely, as it is written, "and you shall be unto Me a kingdom of Kohanim" (Shemos 19:6).
The verse stresses that Hashem asks this "of you" specifically, since Bnei Yisrael were designated to be His kingdom of Kohanim who bring His fear into the world.
וכל המדרגות שהם באים משמים המשיך מרע"ה לבנ"י
And all the levels that come from Heaven, Moshe Rabbeinu drew down to Bnei Yisrael.
Every spiritual level that descends from Heaven was channeled down to Bnei Yisrael through Moshe Rabbeinu.
רק יראה שהיא בידי אדם לכן אמר ועתה כו':
Only the fear of Heaven, which is in the hand of man, therefore he said, "And now" (Devarim 10:12).
Only yiras Shamayim was not handed over ready-made, because it rests in man's own free choice, which is why the verse opens with the word "And now" addressed to our personal avodah.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the teaching that everything is in the hands of Heaven except yiras Shamayim. Unlike a human king who must impose fear upon his subjects, the Holy One, Blessed is He left free choice in the hand of man so that fear of Him would arise naturally from within rather than be forced from above. He arranged this for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, so that their power would be revealed when they themselves clarify and establish His kingship in the world; indeed, when they dwelt securely in Eretz Yisrael they cast awe of Hashem even upon all the nations. While Moshe Rabbeinu drew down to Bnei Yisrael every level that descends from Heaven, yiras Shamayim alone remains in man's own hand, which is why the verse turns to us with "And now" as a call to our personal avodah.