You Matter

A Torah Anytime original series. Ever thought about it? Why do we use the phrase Yiras Shamayim, fear of the sky? [music] What does that even mean? Why don't we say what we mean to say? The person has Yiras Hashem, or Yiras Elokim, or Yiras HaTorah. Why do we say he has Yiras Shamayim? The answer, says [music] Rabbi Pinchas Leibush is that real fear of Hashem isn't just about being afraid of punishment or doing the wrong thing. It's the deep, soul-shaking awareness that your life affects the entire cosmos, the entire sky. Every small action, every word you speak or don't speak matters. Every mitzvah you do, a mitzvah you don't do. Every moment you hold back from anger, every smile you gave when you should have given it, or smile you didn't give when you should have given it. Every drop of ink you learnt or didn't learn. Every single you thing you do rattles the heavens and affects the entire spiritual infrastructure of the universe. That's Yiras Shamayim. It's not fear of the sky, [music] it's the reverence of someone who knows they walk beneath a living, breathing heaven, and that their every step sends shockwaves through it. When we say someone has Yiras Shamayim, we're saying [music] this person lives like everything he does matters, like the heavens themselves are tied to his every [music] choice. That's the fire behind Yiras Shamayim, knowing that when I walk this earth, [music] I'm walking under a sky that's not only alive, but it's watching and listening and reacting to every move I make.