Chasidut su Deuteronomio 6:5
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
E amerai l'Eterno, il tuo DIO, con tutto il tuo cuore, con tutta la tua anima e con tutta la tua forza.
Kedushat Levi
In support of the arguments just quoted, our author sees further proof in Song of Songs 8,1 where Solomon says: מי יתנך כאח לי, יונק שדי אמי, אמצאך בשוק אשקך, ”if only, when I find You in the street you were like a brother to me, someone who had nursed at my mother’s breast; so that I could kiss you in the street” (a public place, without feeling ashamed). In this verse Solomon alludes to two types of “love,” i.e.אהבה מגולה , “love openly displayed,” and אהבה מסותרת, “loves that is concealed.” The love between a man and his wife is considered as “hidden love,” as it is expressed within the privacy of their home. The love between brother and sister, on the other hand, is described as a love that is openly displayed; so much so, that on occasion brothers and sisters are observed kissing in public and no embarrassment attaches to this display of their fondness for one another in spite of that love being displayed openly.
Solomon portrays the כנסת ישראל, the collective soul of the Jewish people, expressing the wish to be able to display its fondness for G’d and G’d’s fondness for the Jewish people openly, publicly; [although, ideally, the relationship of G’d and the Jewish people is portrayed (allegorically) as like that between groom and bride, a brother-sister type relationship also has its advantages as it may be displayed openly before the gentiles. Ed.] This is an allegory of G’d’s proximity being found in the form of the previously mentioned “sparks” of the Shechinah, in the most unlikely places, “on the street,” as opposed to “inside the synagogue or Yeshivah.” This loving relationship is completely devoid of any physical attraction or desires between the parties concerned. Love such as this, has been described as אהבה עזה כמות, a love as powerful as death, in Song of Songs 8,6. It is recognizable when the person concerned is able to accept painful afflictions as willingly and even joyfully, as he would welcome manifestations of G’d’s grace discernible as such to any ordinary human being. Our sages in B’rachot 54 explain the word מאדך in the first paragraph of the keriyat sh’ma as referring to this kind of love, where the Torah asks us “to love the Lord your G’d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your capacity.” (Deut.6,5) The word מאד there is understood as an alternative for the word מדה, i.e. we are to accept with love every attribute of G’d with which He sees fit to relate to us. For a person who is truly convinced that everything that the Creator does is intended for our benefit, even if this is not immediately apparent, it is possible to say, without being hypocritical, גם זו לטובה, “this (unwelcome blow of fate), is also meant for the best.”
When a person has attained this level of spiritual maturity, what had been intended by G’d as a reminder that he must perfect himself further, will be converted into an act of Mercy rather than an act of Justice and reproof. When looked at allegorically, this is the message of Deut. 8,15 that “G’d makes water come out of a rock in the desert that is as hard as granite.” The word מים is usually a symbol of “life-giving” material, whereas the word צור, symbolizes something rock-hard, unyielding. The manner in which a person is able to accept what must at first glance appear as a harsh decree by G’d determines the extent to which it is converted into a benevolent decree, something that will be recognized as such retroactively by the person concerned. Yaakov was able to accept what appeared as harsh in such a spirit, thereby displaying what Solomon described in Song of Songs as אהבה עזה, a powerful love for G’d. This is why he was now able to settle in the land in which both his forefathers had always remained “strangers,” though they sojourned there many years, Yitzchok during all of his life. Our author understands the word מגור in the verse above as derived from ויגר, “he was afraid,” i.e. as opposed to his father who was never at ease.
Solomon portrays the כנסת ישראל, the collective soul of the Jewish people, expressing the wish to be able to display its fondness for G’d and G’d’s fondness for the Jewish people openly, publicly; [although, ideally, the relationship of G’d and the Jewish people is portrayed (allegorically) as like that between groom and bride, a brother-sister type relationship also has its advantages as it may be displayed openly before the gentiles. Ed.] This is an allegory of G’d’s proximity being found in the form of the previously mentioned “sparks” of the Shechinah, in the most unlikely places, “on the street,” as opposed to “inside the synagogue or Yeshivah.” This loving relationship is completely devoid of any physical attraction or desires between the parties concerned. Love such as this, has been described as אהבה עזה כמות, a love as powerful as death, in Song of Songs 8,6. It is recognizable when the person concerned is able to accept painful afflictions as willingly and even joyfully, as he would welcome manifestations of G’d’s grace discernible as such to any ordinary human being. Our sages in B’rachot 54 explain the word מאדך in the first paragraph of the keriyat sh’ma as referring to this kind of love, where the Torah asks us “to love the Lord your G’d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your capacity.” (Deut.6,5) The word מאד there is understood as an alternative for the word מדה, i.e. we are to accept with love every attribute of G’d with which He sees fit to relate to us. For a person who is truly convinced that everything that the Creator does is intended for our benefit, even if this is not immediately apparent, it is possible to say, without being hypocritical, גם זו לטובה, “this (unwelcome blow of fate), is also meant for the best.”
When a person has attained this level of spiritual maturity, what had been intended by G’d as a reminder that he must perfect himself further, will be converted into an act of Mercy rather than an act of Justice and reproof. When looked at allegorically, this is the message of Deut. 8,15 that “G’d makes water come out of a rock in the desert that is as hard as granite.” The word מים is usually a symbol of “life-giving” material, whereas the word צור, symbolizes something rock-hard, unyielding. The manner in which a person is able to accept what must at first glance appear as a harsh decree by G’d determines the extent to which it is converted into a benevolent decree, something that will be recognized as such retroactively by the person concerned. Yaakov was able to accept what appeared as harsh in such a spirit, thereby displaying what Solomon described in Song of Songs as אהבה עזה, a powerful love for G’d. This is why he was now able to settle in the land in which both his forefathers had always remained “strangers,” though they sojourned there many years, Yitzchok during all of his life. Our author understands the word מגור in the verse above as derived from ויגר, “he was afraid,” i.e. as opposed to his father who was never at ease.
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Torah Ohr
The very root of the soul, which is united with G-d, is so lofty that it cannot be contained within one’s physical self, and the same is true of the Great Love that is in the root of the soul. Ahava rabba, Great Love, is present in every single Jew, but it is so basic, so close to the indefinable essence of the person, that it is often imperceptible on a conscious level. That is why it is also called “Hidden Love” – although it can indeed be brought to revelation. It is to this revelation of ahava rabba that the Torah is referring in the verse (Deuteronomy 6:5, recited as part of the Shema), “And you shall love G-d your L-rd … with all your might.”
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Hakhsharat HaAvrekhim
If this is the case we do not have to add to what has already been said, because the real point is translating the advice into action. More words will indeed give them delight, but it is only the delight in hearing and getting excited about fiery mussar, which is not much different than getting excited about downing shot-glasses of 120 proof bourbon, or immersing in a boiling mikveh. Such people delight in the burn on their skin or in their throat. Though they suffer and wake up, they will still not make any great efforts in doing. Take a hard look at the words of the holy Tsaddikim that we have quoted and you will see that the main point of avodas Hashem is the struggle to fulfill the advice in real actions. In the Iggeros HaKodesh of Rav Shneor Zalman of Liadi (Ch. 12) that “the term avodah only applies to divine service that is the product of a tremendous struggle against his nature,103The struggle is dual. It is both the fight against his unrefined behavior as well as the intense effort at deepening his holy avodah. through which his own nature and will are nullified before God’s supernal will, may He be blessed, to the point where his exhausts all the power of his soul in Torah and avodah.”104Shochet (Tanya, p. 455) renders this, “he abnegates his nature and will before the blessed Supreme Will; as for example to exhaust himself in Torah and prayer, ‘to the extent of pressing out of the soul.’ ” Shochet notes “Pressing out of the soul,” (mitsui hanefesh) is an idiom taken from Sifre, Deut. 32 (on Deut. 6:5) Even with the greatest of the Tsaddikim we find that their level of avodah did not come easy, but was rather sorely won through constant and diligent work. Such work is not just the struggle of the great Tsaddikim, but a struggle needed for everyone according to his own level to arrive at any state of kedushah or purity.
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