מָֽה־אָהַ֥בְתִּי תוֹרָתֶ֑ךָ כָּל־הַ֝יּ֗וֹם הִ֣יא שִׂיחָתִֽי׃
Combien j’aime ta Loi! Tout le temps elle est l’objet de mes méditations.
Reshimot Shiurim
The Rambam organizes the laws of Kriyat Shema here, in the Sefer Ahavah, and at the beginning of Sefer Ahavah, the Rambam writes the verse: "How I love Your Torah! It is my conversation all day long" (and in each book of the fourteen books of the Mishna Torah, the Rambam brings a verse at the beginning of the book, and that verse expresses the idea of the book). It appears that the foundation of the fence of love is consistency, and when the verse (Psalms 119:97) says "How I love Your Torah! It is my conversation all day long" - That one converses all of the day in matters of Torah, this is the expression of loving Torah. Based off this explanation, it appears that [according to] the opinion of the Rambam, there is a single mitzvah of saying Kriyat Shema twice during the day, and by saying Kriyat Shema twice a day, it is considered as if one said Kriyat Shema for the entire day, and this is the fulfillment of "How I love Your Torah! It is my conversation all day long," and because of this, the Rambam organized the halachot of Kriyat Shema in Sefer Ahavah.
Rabbeinu Bahya
An approach based strictly on the literal meaning of the text: The words זכור את יום השבת “to remember the Sabbath day,” with the word זכור as an infinitive as distinct from an imperative, mean that we should remember this thought that G’d created the world out of previously non-existent materials all Sabbath long. Not only must we not exchange Him for any other force claiming divinity status on the Sabbath, the day we spiritualise more than any other, but we must not act on the weekdays as if there were some other divinity, some other ideal that we devote ourselves to. The best way not to deviate from our basic faith is by not forgetting G’d during the week either.
When we think of Him constantly, we will also remember the whole process of creation; once we do this we will remember that He supervises His handiwork and rewards those who are loyal to Him and punishes those who are disloyal.
When G’d says לקדשו, “to sanctify it,” this means that we should remember to sanctify it. We should realise that our resting on the Sabbath is an expression of the holiness of that day and we should turn away from secular concerns such as preoccupation with our bodies and devote ourselves on that day to matters of concern to G’d, by studying His ways and methods of doing things.
On that day we are under an obligation to visit prophets or sages and scholars in order to receive instructions in the ways of the Lord. It recalls Kings II 4,23 when the husband of the Shunamite woman asks her: “why are you on the way to the prophet today? It is neither Sabbath nor New Moon?” This question shows that it was customary to visit the prophet on the Sabbath to receive spiritual uplift from him (compare Rosh Hashanah 16).
David is on record in Psalms 119,97 where he said כל היום היא שיחתי, “it is my meditation all day long.” We would have expected him to say: “I have meditated every day.” Clearly, David refers to a special day devoted to meditations, i.e. the Sabbath. Isaiah 58,13 calls the Sabbath עונג, “a delight,” meaning it is a delight for the soul. The reason is that intelligent people and G’d-fearing people use that day to derive spiritual delight from it. Man’s soul thirsts for G’d on that day, a thought expressed poetically in Psalms 42,3: “my soul thirsts for the living G’d.”
When we think of Him constantly, we will also remember the whole process of creation; once we do this we will remember that He supervises His handiwork and rewards those who are loyal to Him and punishes those who are disloyal.
When G’d says לקדשו, “to sanctify it,” this means that we should remember to sanctify it. We should realise that our resting on the Sabbath is an expression of the holiness of that day and we should turn away from secular concerns such as preoccupation with our bodies and devote ourselves on that day to matters of concern to G’d, by studying His ways and methods of doing things.
On that day we are under an obligation to visit prophets or sages and scholars in order to receive instructions in the ways of the Lord. It recalls Kings II 4,23 when the husband of the Shunamite woman asks her: “why are you on the way to the prophet today? It is neither Sabbath nor New Moon?” This question shows that it was customary to visit the prophet on the Sabbath to receive spiritual uplift from him (compare Rosh Hashanah 16).
David is on record in Psalms 119,97 where he said כל היום היא שיחתי, “it is my meditation all day long.” We would have expected him to say: “I have meditated every day.” Clearly, David refers to a special day devoted to meditations, i.e. the Sabbath. Isaiah 58,13 calls the Sabbath עונג, “a delight,” meaning it is a delight for the soul. The reason is that intelligent people and G’d-fearing people use that day to derive spiritual delight from it. Man’s soul thirsts for G’d on that day, a thought expressed poetically in Psalms 42,3: “my soul thirsts for the living G’d.”