The sages say the verse, “Blessed is the person who fears always” (Prov. 28:14), means that whenever you want to do something, you should first seriously consider the consequences… If you do not think clearly, you will not fear, and such carelessness invariably leads to sin. The sacred is bound up with care; it sets boundaries between the profane and the holy. The “fear of the LORD” is expressed as vigilance against the lusts of the lower nature (yetzer ha’ra)… We “tremble” before God when we are awake to His holiness and wonder (Phil. 2:12). The Temple was destroyed because of our forefathers did not think about their actions; they first exiled themselves from the Divine Presence and then they “caught up with” the pain of their exile for themselves.
