ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדת העברית אשר שם האחת שפרה ושם השנית פועה ... (א-טו)
This week we are introduced to two very special ladies: Yocheved and Miriam, otherwise known as Shifra and Puah. They were the Jewish midwives in Mitzrayim, and they risked their lives to keep the Jewish babies alive. They did chessed all day long, and yet the Torah doesn’t say a word about their chessed or about their mesirus nefesh. The Torah writes, “Vatirena Hameyaldos es HaElokim” - the midwives feared Hashem. They had Yiras Shamayim, and it was their fear of heaven that was the foundation of all of their other good middos. The Nesivos Shalom explains that Yiras Shamayim means to see heaven, to be able to see Hashem in the normal, mundane, everyday routine of life. This is what Yiras Shamayim is on a practical level, and this, as we learn from Yocheved and Miriam, is the foundation of all good middos. It is similar to a chain of pearls. Every pearl is a different middah, but the chain itself that is holding all of those middos in place is Yiras Shamayim.
The Rambam writes that the best places to find Yiras Shamayim are in Torah and Tevah (nature). Torah is truly the book of Hashem’s ratzon - His Divine will. They say, “If you want to get to know an author, read his book!” Well, there is probably no better way to get to know Hashem than by delving into His Holy words of Torah, which contain in them the myriad secrets and mysteries of the world. Every word of Torah is saturated with G-dliness, and therefore, Yiras Shamayim can be gained primarily from the holy words of Torah. But Hashem also left His imprint on every creation in the world. The mountains, the valleys, the oceans, and the forests all sing the praises of Hashem. The animals, the birds, the sun, and the moon, are all testimony to Hashem’s awesome handiwork. If we would only see and recognize that all of this beauty and glory is Hashem talking to us, inspiring us to see Him, fear Him, and get close to Him - then we will increase our Yiras Shamayim mightily.
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