Serve God with Love and Awe: Timeless Lessons from Pirkei Avot 1:3

Antigonus of Socho received the tradition from Shimon the Righteous. He would say: "Do not be like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward. Rather, be like servants who serve their master not for the sake of receiving a reward. And let the fear of Heaven be upon you." (Pirkei Avot 1:3)

Antigonus of Socho

"Antigonus of Socho received the tradition from Shimon the Righteous."

Antigonus lived in a town called Socho, which is why he was known as "Antigonus of Socho." Shimon the Righteous was his teacher, and after Shimon's passing, Antigonus became the spiritual leader of his generation.

Serving God for the Right Reason

"Do not be like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward. Rather, be like servants who serve their master not for the sake of receiving a reward. And let the fear of Heaven be upon you."

The Aramaic word rav literally means "master" or "ruler." This usage appears in the Aramaic translation of Genesis 40:2, where Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and chief baker are referred to as rav, meaning the chief officials.

The word pras, translated here as "reward," is related to the Hebrew word meaning "a portion" or "something set aside." It refers to something given from one's own possessions to another.

Antigonus teaches that although every mitzvah a person performs in this world will be richly rewarded in the World to Come, that reward should never be the motivation for performing the mitzvah.

Instead, a person should resemble a loyal servant who serves his master purely out of devotion, not because he expects payment.

Normally, a servant or waiter works only because he receives a salary. Without compensation, he would not continue serving others simply for their benefit.

Our relationship with God should be fundamentally different.

When we observe the Torah and its commandments, we should do so because this is the truth. The Creator brought us into existence and commanded us to fulfill His mitzvot. Therefore, we obey His will simply because it is His will.

Of course, we know that God will ultimately reward those who serve Him faithfully. But that reward is not the reason we perform His commandments.

The Purpose of the Commandments

Every mitzvah ultimately benefits the person who performs it.

God Himself lacks nothing. He is perfect in every way and has no need for human beings or for anything we do. Why, then, did He command us to perform mitzvot?

The holy works explain that the purpose of Creation was to bestow goodness.

God created humanity because He desired beings upon whom He could bestow that goodness. Before mankind existed, there was no recipient for that Divine generosity.

Human beings, who were created in the image of God, experience something similar when they long to bring children into the world and shower them with love and kindness. This reflects, in a limited way, God's desire to create and give.

There is, however, one essential difference.

Human desire arises from some form of need or deficiency. God's decision to create does not stem from any lack whatsoever. It is a perfect act of Divine will.

Because God wanted His goodness to be complete, He designed the world so that His gifts would be earned rather than received as unearned charity, which can bring embarrassment to the recipient. For this reason, He placed the soul within a physical body for a limited period of time.

During our lives, we struggle with temptations and challenges. By choosing to live according to the Torah, God's instruction manual for life, we build our own spiritual world with our own hands.

In doing so, we become worthy vessels capable of receiving Divine light.

This enables us to delight in God through closeness to Him, a pleasure that surpasses every other form of enjoyment that exists in either the physical or the spiritual universe.