Awe of God Toolbox: Introduction

The Foundation Stone honors the great victory won by the Jewish midwives in Egypt by virtue of their awe of God, one of the Six Constant Mitzvot by sharing some practical tools to develop this necessary spiritual clarity and strength.

When I met the Stipler Rav, I waited outside in a long line for hours.  There were scores of people waiting to see him.  People would go in for a blessing, or if someone was very sick.  But I wanted to see the Stipler.  I had met some biggies in my life.  It’s not that he was any more scholarly than anyone I had met.  I just hadn’t met him before.  As the line was moving, I was thinking about what to ask him for.  I walked into his study, and he had that big ear-horn.  You had to yell into the horn for him to hear you.  The minute I saw him, I couldn’t talk.  I wasn’t scared that he was going to beat me up.  I was ten times his size.  But I literally could not get a word out of my mouth.  There was such a feeling of greatness in that room that I was speechless. That’s awe.