Chasidut על קידושין 60:21

We hope to justify Akavyah’s using the language the ‎‎Mishnah recorded. Akavyah posits that a person in ‎evaluating himself, taking stock of himself, is tempted to look at a ‎list of his achievements first. If that person is a good person, ‎Akavyah reminds him that seeing that he is “descended” from an ‎evil smelling drop of semen he does not really have anything to ‎boast about. If he is a morally weak or inferior person, he is ‎reminded of his superior ancestors as his origin, something which ‎should make him ashamed for not living up to his forefathers’ ‎standards. Akavya was aware that there are two levels of “fear of ‎the Lord.” The lower level is called “fear of punishment,” whereas ‎the higher level is called ‎יראת הרוממות‎ “the awe of the ‎overwhelming superiority of the Creator.” He therefore addresses ‎both categories of individuals, assuming that each category finds ‎it difficult on occasion to resist the evil urge so that he may ‎commit a transgression. True ‎יראת השם‎ is only this latter category ‎of “awe and reverence of the Lord.” This is the level of ‎יראת שמים‎ ‎of the righteous, seeing that the ‎צדיק‎ always focuses on the ‎concept of the ‎אין סוף‎, “G’d as personification of infinity.” In Job ‎‎18,12 we have been taught that ‎חכמה ‏‎, “true wisdom,” is only ‎found in the realm described as ‎מאין‎, same letters as ‎אין‎ in ‎אין סוף‎. ‎The tzaddik always keeps reflecting on the fantastic ‎concept of the infinity of the Creator and how He is in charge of ‎millions of different categories of holy angels and a universe the ‎extent of which boggles the imagination. He thinks of how all ‎these angels are in constant awe of Him so that through his ‎preoccupation with such thoughts he does not fall victim to the ‎urge to taste the physical pleasures offered by the region into ‎which we have been placed by our fate. These physical urges, ‎after all, have become part of him only by genetic transmission ‎from his father and mother, whereas his divine soul, G’d’s ‎contribution to every human being as an integral part of Him, is ‎supplied by Him Who, most certainly is not subject to such urges. ‎It was Moses’ ability to concentrate on that “third” of his ‎ancestry, i.e. the ‎אין סוף‎, that resulted in his being described as ‎איש האלוקים‎, a “godly man.” (Deuteronomy 33,1) He had attained this ‎status by becoming what the Torah called: “the most humble ‎man on earth.” (Numbers 12,3) It follows from the Torah’s ‎definition of his personality that he had concentrated on the ‎closest possible connection with what was concealed from him, ‎‎(as well as from any living human being) i.e. G’d’s essence, so that ‎he considered himself as ‎אין‎, as if non-existent, immaterial.‎