Day 5: אֵימָה / Fear
Our world is filled with stories of corrupted relationships born from hierarchies and power.
Fear has been wielded as a weapon meant to harm and subject.
It is important to name early on that our Mishnah emerges from the world of the classic beit midrash,
structured around the explicit hierarchy between teacher and student.
Fear can be be crippling, but it can also be motivating. Can fear play a productive,
healthy role in a relationship, even in a hierarchical one? Or is fear necessarily a misguided tact?
If nothing else, fear keeps us modest and aligned as we enter the sacred encounter with Torah.
Pirkei Avot 3:6 offers that two who learn together have God's presence join them, as proven by the verse,
“Then they that fear the Lord spoke one with another, and the Lord hearkened, and heard” (Malachi 3:16)
Reflection:
Can there be healthy hierarchies? How are they built?
Do you find fear motivating?
Lived practice:
Focus on one relationship in your life. It could be with a parent, a teacher, a partner, or someone else.
Do you find that fear plays any role in the relationship? Can fear bring you into deeper, trusting relationship?
