T87 PNC - Immediately Dinim Arise (Yirah Types/Emet-Chesed, 2 segs)

Opening: 'Give truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham' (Micah 7:20). When a person sincerely desires to walk in the upright path, he immediately notices that judgments (dinim) are aroused against him — which seems paradoxical. The answer requires understanding two types of yirah (awe/fear): yirat ha'onesh (fear of punishment), and yirat haromemut (awe of exaltedness). Yirat ha'onesh is called tzedek (strict righteousness), while yirat haromemut is called emunah (faith). Because when a person believes with complete faith that the Blessed Name is great and sovereign — the root and essence of all worlds — this is the awe of exaltedness.

The matter is clear now: when a person desires to walk in the upright path, dinim are aroused — but this is not punishment, it is the awakening of yirat haromemut (awe of exaltedness), which is emunah. The more deeply one believes in Hashem's greatness, the more one experiences the dinim of that greatness pressing upon him. This is 'Give truth to Jacob' — the quality of emet (truth/intensity) that belongs to Jacob, which is the sharpness of genuine awe. And 'kindness to Abraham' is the softening and expansion that comes when the awe is properly channeled. Both are needed: the intensity of emunah-awe (Jacob) and the expansive kindness (Abraham).