Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Yiras chet
יראת חטא
Fear of sin (yiras chet)
Dread of sin, for the lack and blemish it makes above, reaching the root of all roots, or for the separation from G‑d it brings; even the smallest prohibition looks like a mountain.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶21As a mitzvah raises a person to draw life from the supernal will, a sin’s blemish reaches above the Havayah that brings all into being, to the root of all roots; fear of sin is fear of that lack and blemish. Chet means lack, so it applies even to neglecting a positive mitzvah or a detail of the Sages (with LT Matot 1:22: it comes after holiness through the mitzvos and humility, which let one feel by contrast how great the blemish is).
שם מגיע הפגם והעונש של העבירה שהכרת תכרת בשרש כל השרשים
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶8To the righteous every small prohibition looks like a mountain, a screen between him and his Maker. This comes from fear of sin, the awe included in love: from the strength of his love he fears the sin, lest the rope of love be cut. It is the “mound” (gal-ed) that divides him from the sitra achra.
וענין יראת חטא הוא בחי׳ יראה הכלולה באהבה
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1, ¶29Fear of sin is drawn from the tekheles of tzitzis, the “throne of judgment.” Evil is more bitter than death, slinging the soul far from G‑d’s face, so that even the judgment above is a cure and a kindness to the sinner; the sin is worse than the judgment, and from this one draws great fear of sin.
ומזה ימשיך האדם יראה גדולה בנפשו להתיירא מאד מן החטא
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 1, ¶2On “whoever’s fear of sin precedes his wisdom”: real evil, anything forbidden, even a light rabbinic prohibition, is complete evil, and fear of sin must come before wisdom for it, since turning from it needs no wisdom.
הא׳ הוא רע ממש באיסור אפי׳ הוא איסור קל של דברי סופרים הוא רע גמור
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 8, ¶22On “whoever’s fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom endures”: fear of sin is iskafya, subduing oneself, the “desirable land”; through it wisdom, the level of revelation, endures.
שע״י יראת חטאו שהוא בחי׳ אתכפיא בחי׳ ארץ חפץ
Stated differently
Whether fear of sin is the higher awe or the lower awe
וענוה מביאה לידי יראת חטא הוא בחי׳ חכמה שהיא יראה עילאהHumility is Shechinta Ila’ah, Binah; so the fear of sin that humility brings is Chochmah, the higher awe.
הא׳ היא יראה תתאה שע״ז אמרו שצ״ל יראת חטאו קודמת לחכמתוOf the two levels of awe, the lower awe, the keys to the outer gates, is the one of which it is said that fear of sin must precede wisdom.
What fear of sin fears, and what it comes from
פי׳ יראה מחמת החטא והחסרון והפגם שנעשה למעלה כ״כFear because of the lack and blemish the sin makes above; it comes after holiness and humility (Matot 1:22).
שמצד עוצם האהבה מתיירא מן החטא שלא ינתק חבל האהבהAwe included in love: from the strength of love one fears the sin lest the rope of love be cut (so too LT Masei 2:12, within love and Chesed, fear of being separated from His unity; LT Ki Teitzei 5:3, the hidden love, once aroused, brings fear of sin).
ובאמת עיקר פי׳ יראת חטא להתיירא מן החטא שהרע הוא מר ממותThe main meaning: fearing the sin because evil is more bitter than death, slinging the soul far from G‑d; drawn from the throne of judgment (tekheles).
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶20Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶21Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶22Likkutei Torah, Korach 1, ¶29Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶8Likkutei Torah, Masei 2, ¶12Likkutei Torah, Masei 1, ¶2
Where it appears
In 18 paragraphs of 10 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1 ¶2 ¶3 ¶20 ¶21 ¶22 ¶24 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶29 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 5 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 8 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 5 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶31 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 6 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 2 ¶12
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.