신명기 6:5의 주석

That is that He commanded us about loving Him, may He be exalted. And that is that we think about and contemplate His commandments, His statements and His actions until we comprehend Him and derive the greatest pleasure from that comprehension. And that is the love that is obligated. And the language of the Sifrei (Sifrei Devarim 33:1) is, "Since it is stated, 'And you shall love,' I would not know how a man is to love the Omnipresent. [Hence] we learn to say, 'And these things that I command you today shall be upon your heart' (Deuteronomy 6:6) - that through this, you will recognize the One that spoke and the world [came into being]." Behold we have explained to you that comprehension will come to you through contemplation and you will [then] come to pleasure, and perforce the love will come. And we have already clarified that this commandment also includes that we call all people to His service, may He be exalted, and to believe in Him. And that is since when you love a person, you will recount his praises and magnify him, and call on other people to love him. And this is, by way of analogy, the same with true love of Him, may He be exalted: When comprehension of His truth comes to you, you without a doubt call out to the fools and silly ones to know the true knowledge that you know. And the language of the Sifrei (Sifrei Devarim 32:2) is, "'And you shall love the Lord, your God' - cause Him to be loved by the creatures, like your father Avraham (did); as it is stated (Genesis 12:5), 'and the souls that they had made in Charan.'" And it means to say: Like Avraham who loved [God] - as Scripture testifies, "Avraham, who loves me" (Isaiah 41:8), and this was from his great comprehension - to the point that he called people to Him. (See Parashat Vaetchanan; Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 2.)

ואהבת AND THOU SHALT LOVE [THE LORD] — Fulfil His commands out of love, for one who acts out of love is not like him (is on a higher plane than one) who acts out of fear. He who serves his master out of fear, if he (the master) troubles him overmuch, leaves him and goes away (Sifrei Devarim 32:1).

WITH ALL THY HEART. In the opinion of the Midrash²²⁵Sifre, Va’ethchanan 32; Berachoth 54 a: “With all thy heart — with both your impulses, the good impulse and the evil impulse.” the heart mentioned here is the power of desire, similar to the expressions: Thou hast given him his heart’s desire;²²⁶Psalms 21:3. lust not after her beauty in thy heart.²²⁷Proverbs 6:25. If so, with all thy soul denotes the intellectual [capacity rather than the sensual capacity of the] soul. Similarly, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life²²⁸I Samuel 25:29. [refers to the rational soul which is immortal]. And according to our Rabbis, who in the Talmud²²⁹Berachoth 54 a: “And with all thy soul — even if He take away thy soul,” i.e., even at the sacrifice of your life. derived from this [phrase] that one must submit to death and not violate [the Law, the expanded expression] “with all thy soul” is supplementary,²³⁰For, since thy soul by itself indicates that you must suffer martyrdom rather than deny the Law, the question arises, what is signified by the additional word all [‘all’ thy soul], since you cannot speak of half a life? Ramban will offer two answers. for since he said with ‘all’ thy heart … and with ‘all’ thy might [where the intent is to exclude the serving of G-d with only part of the heart’s capacity, or with only part of one’s might or belongings], he also said with ‘all’ thy soul [meaning “your very life,” despite the obvious fact that the command to give “all” rather than “part” of his life is incongruous]. The meaning thereof is that you love Him as your very life, giving up your life with love [for His sake whenever the Law requires you to do so].²³¹See Vol. II, pp. 301-302. Or [another explanation of the word all may be] that suffering or [the loss of body] organs are referred to as “part of the soul,” while martyrdom [death] is termed with ‘all’ thy soul. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “thy soul means the desire, like: enough ‘k’nafshecha’ (at thine own) pleasure;²³²Further, 23:25. the full soul loatheth a honey-comb;²³³Proverbs 27:7. deliver me not over ‘b’nefesh’ (unto the desire of) mine adversaries.²³⁴Psalms 27:12. With all thy heart refers to knowledge, this being a surname for the rational spirit since [the heart] is its first resting place, and similarly it is stated, The wise in heart will receive commandments. ”²³⁵Proverbs 10:8. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the expression with all thy heart appears likely from that which he stated, And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart.²³⁶Verse 6. This shows that with all thy ‘heart’ refers to the rational soul, for in that case it is possible to say that these words shall be upon your “heart” meaning your rational soul. But if we are to interpret with all thy ‘heart’ as referring to the desires, as explained earlier, then how can it be said that these words shall be upon your “heart” or your desires?

ואהבת, you will then enjoy doing things which are pleasing to Him when you understand that there is nothing in this world which is more worth doing. [the word ואהבת is not perceived a commandment by the author; in fact it is questionable if loving someone could be the subject of a commandment altogether. Ed.]

ואהבת את ה׳ אלוקיך, "And you shall love the Lord your G'd, etc." The conjunctive letter ו means that not only is there a commandment to accept the authority of the Kingdom of G'd but there is an additional commandment to love G'd. The sequence of the verses also teaches that we must not make the mistake of believing that love of G'd is possible without an initial dose of fear of the Lord. The Zohar volume three page 56 spells this out. The letter ו then means that after we have achieved a degree of fear of the Lord we will be able to develop love for Him. The reason the Torah uses the word את which implies joining something, is to teach us that the means to develop דבקות ה׳, an affinity for G'd, is by loving G'd in addition to fearing Him.

ובכל נפשך, according to the plain meaning of the text “even if it will cost your life.” It must mean this: seeing that the Torah had already covered all the other bases when it wrote בכל ללבך, “with all your heart,” the meaning is that while alive you are to love G’d with all your heart, if your faith and love for G’d is put to the test of your having to choose it over your very survival, you must choose the former.

בכל לבבך, “with all your heart.” Nachmanides, in the footsteps of the Midrash, understands the word “heart” here as representing the source of all our desires, as for instance, in Psalms 21,3 תאות לבו נתת לו, “You have granted him the desire of his heart.”

ואהבת את ה' אלו-היך, “You shall love the Lord your G’d.” Seeing that we have no other G’d than Hashem we are bound to love Him. The point of “loving G’d” is to perform His commandments out of a sense of love for Him. If someone serves the Lord out of fear, his service is not of the best variety. The way this love for G’d expresses itself is by our studying the laws of the Torah and by obtaining a better understanding of what G’d expects from us through such study. As a result of such study we will enjoy having gained deeper insights of what the Lord wants from us. To tell us that this is the purpose of loving G’d, the Torah immediately continues with —
והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך, “these matters which I have commanded you this day will be upon your heart.” The verse is the practical manifestation of the result of your loving the Lord. The Sifri Vaetchanan 33 explains the subject of man loving G’d in a similar manner when the author writes that the key to this is found in the verse והיו הדברים האלה. The words ואהבת את ה' אלו-היך are an instruction to display love vis-a-vis G’d as one would vis-a-vis G’d’s creatures. This is what Avraham did and why G’d referred to him as אברהם אוהבי “Avraham who loves Me” in Isaiah 40, 8.
Our sages, in elaborating on this theme, defined someone as loving G’d if by his conduct he brings people closer to G’d and thereby helps them secure their claim to the hereafter. This is the reason why the sages cited Avraham as their model for such love.
Do not argue that seeing that the emotion described as חשק is perceived to be a stronger emotion than that of אהבה, love, why did the Torah not instruct us to וחשקת את ה' אלו-היך, “to display fondness of the Lord your G’d?” The answer to this question is that אהבה, “love”, is something that comes and goes, an emotion which manifests itself on occasion but does not manifest itself on other occasions. If someone loves a certain kind of food, he will experience this emotion when such food is placed before him and he eats it. He does not however, go around all day long “loving” that dish. When someone is in the grip of the emotion we call חשק an inordinate desire, [such as that of Shechem for Yaakov’s daughter Dinah, Ed.] this emotion is ever-present in his mind even if the object of his desire is out of sight and earshot. He will dream about the object he is so fond of.
Seeing that we have been commanded to love the Lord with both our hearts לבבך, i.e. both the urges within us, (Berachot 62) as well as with all our soul and all our material assets, i.e. we must involve emotions which we cannot suppress in this love of G’d in order to fulfill the commandment properly. The Torah’s point in using this term ואהבת is to make clear that our love for G’d must always win out in a conflict with our other emotions. The other urges cannot be ignored as one cannot live without them. For instance, unless one has an urge to stay alive one will likely become the victim of death in its many forms in short order. Similarly, unless one has an active urge to acquire some material goods one will starve to death not having the wherewithal to pay for one’s food, clothing and shelter. The very relativity of the emotion אהבה then is what enables us to fulfill this commandment. Had the Torah commanded us to relate to G’d with the emotion חשק, this would involve our abandoning all other emotions in order to devote ourselves exclusively to the emotion of being fond of the Lord. We would have had to totally suppress even the emotions without which life on terrestrial earth is impossible. The end-result of relating to G’d in such a manner would effectively have made it impossible to fulfill any of the other commandments in the Torah as they all presuppose the activation of a whole range of human emotions.
The definition of the emotion חשק implies דבקות, an inseparable attachment to the object of one’s חשק such as described in Psalms 91,14 כי בי חשק ואפלטהו. The point made in that psalm is that if only the Jewish people will display sufficient חשק, affinity to G’d, He will personally deliver them instead of only by means of an angel (compare Alshich). When one attains that level of affinity to G‘d one qualifies for what is commonly known as מיתת נשיקה, a death by kiss from G’d, i.e. a demonstration by G’d of His affinity to the person leaving earth.
We find that even in His relationship to the entire Jewish people G’d speaks of such חשק, such an intense feeling of fondness for the Jewish people, when He says in Deut. 7,7 לא מרבכם מכל העמים חשק ה' בכם, “not because you are the most numerous of all the nations did the Lord entertain such a strong fondness for you.“ This verse clearly spelled out that G’d’s closeness, affinity to us, surpasses His affinity to any other nation. Our sages derived from there also that wherever the Jewish people are exiled, G’d, in the form of part of the Shechinah, is also present (Megillah 29).

You are to obey His words because of your love [for Him], etc. [Re”m says:] I do not understand. For here Rashi explains, “You are to love — You are to obey His words (commands) because of your love [for Him], etc.” This apparently refers to all the mitzvos. And afterwards Rashi explains, “With all your soul — even if He were to take your soul.” This implies to give up one’s life rather than transgress [any mitzvah]. Yet in [Maseches] Sanhedrin (74a) it says that “With all your soul” means, “even if He were to take your soul.” And Rashi explains there: The verse, “You are to love Adonoy, your God,” means that you should not exchange Him for idolatry. Therefore it says “with all your soul,” meaning that your love for Him should be more dear to you than anything else. This implies that the verse is referring only to idolatry, but regarding other mitzvos one should rather transgress rather than give up his life! Re”m leaves this question unresolved. (See also the Kitzur Mizrachi and Gur Aryeh).

V. 5. ואהבת ist die unmittelbare Konsequenz aus ד׳ אחד: die Einheit des Lebens aus der Einheit Gottes. אהב: wie bereits wiederholt bemerkt, bedeuten die פ׳׳א-Wurzeln den Begriff der beiden letzten Buchstaben individualisiert, entweder reflexiv wie אמר: sich austauschen, oder als Terminativ wie אכל: vernichten zur Selbstergänzung. In אהב kommen beide Bedeutungen zusammen. הב: geben, bringen; אהב: sich hingeben und: zu sich bringen. Es ist die Gesinnung, die durch gänzliche Selbsthingebung die innigste Annäherung des andern erstrebt, d. i. Liebe, die innigste Vereinigung zweier Wesen, die sich hingibt und den andern ans Herz drückt. יאהבת את ד׳ אלהיך בכל לבכך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך heißt somit: Suche die Gottesnähe mir Dahingebung deines ganzen Herzens, deiner ganzen Seele und deines ganzen Vermögens. Alles, was du denkst und sinnst, alles, was du strebst und willst, und alles, was du hast, sei dir nur Mittel, habe nur Wert für dich, um damit die Gottesnähe zu gewinnen, um damit Gott dir nahe zu bringen, nicht umgekehrt; suche nicht Gott, um, was du denkst und willst und hast oder haben möchtest, zu gewinnen und zu erhalten. Die Nähe Gottes sei dir das höchste Gut, das Gut an sich. Wie David die Gottesliebe ausdrückt: ואני קרבת אלהים לי טוב (Ps.73, 28); מי לי בשמים ועמך לא חפצתי, בארץ כלה שארי ולבבי צור לבבי וחלקי אלחים לעולם (daselbst 25, 26).

בכל לבבך, “with all your heart;” according to Rashi, the reason that the word is written with two successive letters ב is that G-d wishes to be loved even by our “evil urge,” not only by our urge to do good. After all, we each only have one heart so it should have been spelled .לבך

בכל לבבך [THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD] WITH ALL THY HEART — The form of the noun with two ב instead of the usual form לבך suggests: Love Him with thy two inclinations (the יצר הטוב and the יצר הרע) (Sifrei Devarim 32:3; Berakhot 54a). Another explanation of בכל לבבך, with all thy heart, is that thy heart should not be at variance (i.e. divided, not whole) with the Omnipresent God (Sifrei Devarim 32:4).

בכל נפשך, “with all your soul.” This refers to the source of man’s intelligence, his brain, the analytical part of man, as opposed to the emotional part whose source is in the heart. As to our sages, who interpret the word more as the physical life force of man, when they understand Moses as exhorting the people to even sacrifice their physical life in the service of Hashem when the occasion demands it. (Rashi based on Sifri) They derive this from the wordבכל “with the whole, etc.” which is meant to add an additional dimension to the maximal imperative demanded by Moses in our relationship to Hashem. It is clear that the word בכל cannot mean that we should not only love Hashem with “half” our soul. The word must be intended to add an additional dimension to our love. Possibly, the word is inserted for stylistic reasons, seeing that it is used in connection with לבבך as well as with מאדך. Or, in order to make this more acceptable from a linguistic aspect, enduring pains, or losing limbs, is considered something less than losing one’s whole life, so that loving G’d with one’s whole soul must mean that one is prepared to give up one’s whole life for Him.

בכל לבבך, “with your entire heart.” The heart is perceived as the seat of the soul and man’s wisdom, seeing it is the first organ of man to be created and the last one to cease functioning when man dies. The meaning of the words: “love the Lord your G’d with all your heart,” may therefore be equivalent to “love the Lord your G’d until your dying breath.”

With your two inclinations. Rashi is answering the question: Why is the letter beis written twice in the word לבבך (your heart)? Rashi explains: With your two inclinations.

Moreover, once we love G'd we can achieve the level of closeness to G'd which enables Him to be מיחד שמו עלינו, to freely associate His name with us, such as when G'd described Himself to Jacob in Genesis 28,13 as "the G'd of Abraham and the G'd of Isaac". Or, you find that the prophet Isaiah 41,9 quotes G'd as describing Israel as "the seed of Abraham who loved Me." Our verse hints that anyone who is beloved of G'd will experience that He associates His name with such a person. The word י־ה־ו־ה in our verse therefore is to be read both as referring to what precedes it as well as to what follows it.

AND WITH ALL ‘M’ODECHA.’ The meaning thereof is “very exceedingly,”²³⁷Literally: “very very much,” from the word m’od — muchness, abundance. the purport being “love Him mightily.” And in the opinion of our Rabbis²³⁸Berachoth 54 a. it means “with all your wealth,” for the property of a person is called m’od (muchness, abundance) because it is described in terms of great quantity, just as it is called hamon (abundance, multitude): Better is a little that the righteous hath than the ‘hamon’ (abundance) of many wicked;²³⁹Psalms 37:16. behold, they are as all ‘hamon’ (multitude of) Israel.²⁴⁰II Kings 7:13. It is also called chayil (wealth): They carry upon the shoulders of young asses ‘cheileihem’ (their riches);²⁴¹Isaiah 30:6. I will give ‘cheilcha’ (thy substance) and all thy treasures for a spoil;²⁴²Jeremiah 17:3. ‘eth hachayil hazeh’ (this wealth).²⁴³Further, 8:17. The verse here is thus stating, “[Love Him] with all the abundance of your wealth.” Similarly, it is stated, And like unto him [King Josiah] was there no king before him, that turned to the Eternal with all his heart, and with all his soul and with all ‘m’odo’ (his wealth),²⁴⁴II Kings 23:25. because they volunteered in the removal of the idols and the observance of the Passover-offering.
The purport of “the love [of G-d]” has been explained by our Rabbis, the most explicit of their statements is what they said in the Sifre:²⁴⁵Sifre, Eikev 41. “Perhaps you will say ‘I will study Torah in order that I be called wise, in order that I lead an academy, in order that I live long, or in order that I merit the World to Come.’²⁴⁶See Vol. II, p. 227, Note 346. Therefore, Scripture says, to love the Eternal your G-d etc.”²⁴⁷Further, 11:13. “But whatever you do, do it out of love for G-d,” (Sifre) and ultimately the honor will certainly come (Rashi ibid.). Now the reason why Moses constantly says to them: that it may be well with thee,²⁴⁸Further, Verse 1° and that thou mayest prolong thy days,²⁴⁹Above, 4:40. that ye may live, and go in and possess the Land²⁵⁰Ibid., Verse 1. [when in the light of the exhortation that we are to do the right thing only for the sake of the love of G-d], is that he admonishes them through reproofs to fear G-d, saying that if they will sin they will not possess the Land, or they will not prolong their days upon it. Or [another explanation] may be that the pious person must both love and fear G-d, and the Rabbis have said:²⁵¹Yerushalmi, Berachoth IX, 8. “Observe [His law] out of love, and observe it out of fear. Observe it out of love, for a lover does not despise, and observe it out of fear for if you come to reject [His authority], you will not do it.” This has already been explained in the words of the Sages.²⁵²See in Rambam’s commentary to Mishnayoth, Aboth 1:3.

In שמע ישראל heißt ׳אלהינו :ה, es ist Gott, wie er sich unserer Gesamtheit als Gott bekundet. ואהבת wendet sich an jeden einzelnen und zeigt ihm Gott als "seinen" Gott, ה׳ אלהיך, wie Er speziell ihn in allen seinen Lebensläufen trägt und in allen seinen Lebenstaten leiten will. Jeder Mensch ist ein besonderes Augenmerk der göttlichen Liebe und Leitung, und eben als "deinen" Gott hast du Gott zu denken, alles, was er "dir" war und ist und sein will, wenn dich die Liebe zu ihm wahrhaft fassen soll.

ובכל מאדך. The word מאד always describes an intensity, extremity. Moses asks us to love G-d with the utmost intensity we are capable of.

ובכל נפשך AND WITH ALL THY SOUL — even though He take thy soul (even though you have to suffer martyrdom to show your love of God) (Sifrei Devarim 32:5; Berakhot 54a, Berakhot 61b).

בכל מאדך, “with all your resources.” Nachmanides explains the word as if the Torah had written מאד מאד, “very very much,” i.e. “love Him exceedingly much.” According to our sages the dimension of love for G’d mentioned here is the one that is expressed in terms of one expending money or its equivalent to demonstrate that love. The reason why ממון, money or tangible assets are referred to as מאד, is because it is viewed in terms of something one amasses, i.e. המון, “a great quantity of something,” is closely related to the word ממון. Compare the proverb, Psalms 37,16 טוב מעט לצדיק מהמון רשעים רבים, “better the little that belongs to a righteous person than the great abundance of the wicked.” Moses demands that we love the Lord with the great abundance at our disposal. As to the very nature of “loving” the invisible and incorporeal G’d, our sages define it negatively i.e. what is not love of G’d. You are not to study Torah in order to make a name for yourself as a great scholar, or in order to qualify for long life both in this world and in the world to come; but you should do so because of who the author of the Torah is, i.e. לשמה, in admiration of His great name. (Nedarim 62) This, of course, raises the question of why Moses said למען ייטב לך ולמען תאריך ימים על הארץ, “in order that you will be well off and in order that you will enjoy many years on earth. etc., etc.” These words are not to be understood as an encouragement to perform the Torah for the sake of reward, but to inspire a degree of fear, seeing that such reward implies that if one does not qualify for it one qualifies for being deprived of what we nowadays would term “quality of life.” Alternately, the message in Moses’ words is that the pious must be oriented in two directions when performing the commandments; 1) love, 2) fear, awe. He must be conscious of love for him by His Creator, and requite that love, and at the same time he must be in trepidation not to anger his Creator by treating His commandments with disdain by neglecting them.

ובכל נפשך, “and with all your soul,” i.e. with the soul which demonstrates all the various desires of man.
ובכל מאדך, “and with all your material assets.” The word מאדך is derived from מאד, i.e. ‘love him as much as it is physically possible.” In short, “do not love your material assets better than the commandments of the Torah.” One should not begrudge spending money liberally for the performance of the commandments. Cost should not be the factor governing if one buys an etrog and lulav or not. We have the example of Rabbi Gamliel who once spent 1000 zuz (certain coins) in order to acquire the four species (Sukkah 41).
Our sages stipulated as a rule of thumb that one is allowed to spend up to one third of one’s (liquid) assets in order to perform the commandment in the most impressive fashion. The Talmud in Baba Kama 9 discusses the wording of the above rule of thumb wanting to know if one has to sell one’s house in order to live up to this requirement. The sages point out that if that were so a person might be called upon to perform 3 commandments each one requiring him to pay as much as one third of his total assets. As a result of listening to the sages such a person might become dependent on public charity. The sages therefore agreed that the meaning of paying up to one third of one’s assets for the performance of a commandment in this fashion was not meant literally, but meant that a person should be prepared to overpay up to one third of the going price in order to have a chance to perform the commandment in question. If an average etrog costs 15 dollars, a person should be prepared to pay up to 20 dollars to acquire a specimen of a superior degree of perfection. The sages base all this on the verse זה א-לי ואנוהו, “this is my G’d and I will beautify Him” (Exodus 15,2). They explain that the way to fulfill this promise is by having a nice talit, a beautifully written Torah-scroll, a perfect specimen of lulav, etc. The rule of not overpaying more than one third of the price for a regular lulav is accepted by the sages.
The Talmud Berachot 54 states that the way to serve the Lord with “all your heart” is to do so by employing both the evil urge as well as the good urge in G’d’s service. The way to serve the Lord “with all your soul” is that on occasion one may have to serve the Lord by laying down one’s life or Him. The way to fulfill the third part of the commandment, i.e. to serve the Lord with all one’s fortune is applicable only if one does have a fortune. [I understand this to mean that one need not go into debt to fulfill certain commandments. Ed.].
Rashi explains that the reason that the instruction to love G’d with all our material wealth is placed last is that there are people who find it harder to part with their money than to part with their lives, i.e. they consider life as a pauper not worth living. When people of such a disposition sacrifice their wealth for the love of G’d they have loved Him even better than if they had laid down their lives for Him.
An alternative way of understanding the words בכל מאדך, is that the Torah refers to the מדות, attributes, by means of which G’d measures us, tests us. We are to display our love for G’d by the way in which we react to the attributes of His He saw fit to apply to us. This is also what David had in mind when he said (Psalms 101,1) חסד ומשפט אשירה, “I will sing kindness or justice;” he meant if G’d measures me with the yardstick of kindness, חסד, I will acknowledge it by song; if He measures me by the yardstick of justice, משפט, I will still acknowledge it by song.” In a similar vein David wrote כוס ישועות אשא ובשם ה’ אקרא, “I will raise the cup of salvations and call out the name of the Lord;” at the same time צרה ויגון אמצא ובשם ה’ אקרא, “if I should find trouble and sorrow I will still proclaim the name of the Lord.” Some commentators see in these three levels of love for G’d the Torah’s way of reflecting the different levels of love for G’d displayed by the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Avraham displayed love for G’d with all his heart attracting many people to the service of the Lord, i.e. serving the Lord with heir hearts. Yitzchak displayed the second dimension of love for G’d, i.e. בכל נפשך, seeing he offered his own life on the altar of G’d. Yaakov is an example of the third dimension of loving G’d seeing he vowed to give 2 tithes to G’d of all he would acquire, i.e. he loved G’d with all his possessions.

Another interpretation “with all your heart” — your heart should not be fragmented, etc. The first interpretation is problematic, for is the heart actually a person’s inclination that the verse could say [about the heart], “with your two inclinations”? Therefore Rashi says, “Another interpretation, etc.” Yet the second interpretation is problematic, for why does it say לבבך (with the letter beis written twice)? It should say instead לבך. Therefore, the first interpretation is also needed.

This verse is also designed to encourage the heart of the Israelite to love G'd, similar to what we have been taught by Yalkut Shimoni at the end of Parshat Noach where the author explains the verse ישב תהלות ישראל (Psalms 22,4) that the only one of all the praises offered to Him, He chose only the ones offered by Israel. Only after Israel had offered this form of praise did G'd assume His seat on His throne in the celestial regions. This is alluded to by the words ואהבת את ה׳ אלוקיך, as long as G'd has not become "your G'd," He is not prepared to reign as G'd at all. When a Jew is conscious of this he is bound to develop feelings of love for G'd.

לבב בכל לבבך: das ganze innere Sinnen (siehe Bereschit S. 292) נפש die lebende und strebende Individualität (daselbst S. 22). מאד: die ganze Summe von Mitteln und Kräften, das "Vermögen" (daselbst S. 35). Der jüdischen Wahrheit ist es nicht wahr, dass Gott nur mit dem Geiste und der Gesinnung verehrt sein will. בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך lautet unsere Anforderung. Unsere Verehrung im Geiste und der Gesinnung, unsere Liebe, haben wir durch Einsetzung unseres ganzen auch leiblichen Seins und Wollens und unseres Vermögens zu betätigen. Eine Liebe, die nicht einmal das kleinste physische Verlangen zum Opfer zu bringen vermag, ist eitel Schaum und Traum. Ja, der rechten Liebe ist es Bedürfnis, sich im Opfer teuerster Verlangen zu betätigen. Der Nachdruck unseres Satzes liegt aber auf dem כל. Ist ד׳ אלהינו ד׳ אחד, stammt alles, was wir sind und wollen und haben, unser Geist, unser Leib und unser Vermögen von der einen gebenden und nehmenden Liebe des einzig Einen, und nur von Ihm, so sind wir ja mit jeder Seite unseres Wesens und jeder Fuge einer jeden Seite sein, sein בכל לבב ובכל נפש ובכל מאד, sein mit allem, was wir sinnen und wollen und haben; jeder Gedanke, jede Empfindung, jede Kraft und jedes Gut ist ein Band, das uns mit ihm verknüpft, das wir als Pfand seiner Liebe besitzen und als Opfer unserer Liebe ihm weihen — das Bewusstsein der Gotteinheit eint auch unser ganzes Wesen mit aller Mannigfaltigkeit der scheinbaren Gegensätzlichkeit in Geist und Leib und Geschickesbeziehungen zu einer einzigen Einheit des Seins und Wollens; wir sind immer und mit allem dieselben, haben immer und mit allem dasselbe Ziel, dieselbe Aufgabe, dasselbe einzige Verlangen: in der ganzen Mannigfaltigkeit unseres Lebens unsern Gott zu "lieben", nicht unsere, sondern Seine Wünsche zu erfüllen, Seiner Nähe würdig zu bleiben, Seiner Nähe uns immer würdiger zu machen. Gott, dem einzig Einen, gibt der Mensch sich einheitlich hin, und diese Hingebung an den einzig Einen macht ihn selbst harmonisch Eins. —

ובכל מאדך AND WITH ALL THY MIGHT, i.e. with all thy property. You have people whose property is dearer to them than their bodies (life), and it is on this account that there is added, “and with all thy property" (Sifrei Devarim 32:6). — Another explanation of ובכל מאדך is: — Thou shalt love Him whatever measure (מדה) it may be that He metes out to thee, whether it be the measure of good or the measure of calamity. Thus also did David say, (Psalms 116:13 and 3) "If I lift up the cup of salvation, [I will call upon the name of the Lord]; If I find trouble and sorrow, [I will call upon the name of the Lord]”.

There are men whose wealth, etc. Otherwise, Scripture should write only one of them [either heart or soul], and we would derive the other from it. Why are both needed? Rather, there are men, etc. Both are stated so as not to leave room for the evil inclination. Likewise it is explained in Maseches Yuma 82a, and in Maseches Sanhedrin 74a (Maharan).

Perhaps our verse intends to arouse in us three distinct kinds of love for G'd which G'd's creatures are familiar with. They are: 1) Loving Him for His goodness (spiritually speaking); 2) Loving Him for the pleasant sensation this affords us; 3) Loving Him because He is so useful to us. The words ואהבת את השם speak of love for what is good, G'd Himself being described as "good" in Psalms 145,9 טוב ה׳ לכל. The mystical dimension of loving G'd for the pleasant sensations He affords us is referred to in Psalms 34,9: "taste and see how good the Lord is;" The Psalmist means that amongst all the pleasant sensations a creature may experience none is comparable to contemplation of the goodness of G'd and of His name. The proof for this is Song of Songs 5,6 נפשי יצאה בדברו, "my soul departed when He spoke." When the pious die a death which is totally painless, such as the death by a kiss of G'd experienced by Moses and Aaron, this is the most pleasant sensation imaginable. So far we have heard that the word י־ה־ו־ה alludes to both spiritual goodness and the most sublime sensation a creature is capable of experiencing at the hand of G'd. The love of the useful which G'd represents is alluded to in the word אלוקיך, as we have defined this already in connection with Psalms 22,4. We have learned in Shabbat 30 that the last words in Kohelet 12 כי זה כל האדם "for this is what man is all about" refer to the whole world being created only for the sake of man observing G'd's commandments on earth. Loving G'd and fulfilling His commandments then is love of a most useful kind.

Daher das Wort der Weisen (Berachot 57 a): חייב אדם לברך על הרעה כשם שמברך על הטובה שנאמר ואהבת את ה׳ אלהיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאודך בכל לבכך בשני יצריך ביצר טוב וביצר רע בכל נפשך אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך ובכל מאודך בכל ממונד דבר אחר בכל מדה ומדה שהוא מודד לך הוי מודה לו, d.h. es hat der Mensch über das Leidvolle ebenso Gott in ברכה Huldigung zu geloben, wie er über das Freudvolle ebenso Gott in ברכה Huldigung gelobt; denn es heißt: liebe Gott, deinen Gott, mit deinem ganzen Herzen, und mit deiner ganzen Seele, und deinem ganzen Vermögen. Mit deinem ganzen Herzen: mit deinen beiden Neigungen, mit der Neigung zum Guten und mit der Neigung zum Bösen. Mit deiner ganzen Seele: selbst wenn er dir deine Seele nimmt. Mit deinem ganzen Vermögen: mit all deinem Eigentum. Oder: mit jedem Maß, das Er dir zumisst, danke Ihm.

Another interpretation ... with what ever measure, etc. The first interpretation is problematic, for it should have said ממונך (your wealth). Therefore Rashi explains, “Another interpretation, etc.” Yet the second interpretation is problematic, for it should have said מדך (your measure). Therefore the first interpretation is also needed.

בכל לבבך, ובכל נפשך, ובכל מאדך, "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your material resources." Our sages in the Sifri offer their explanations on this verse and you are advised to read what they wrote. I believe that G'd wrote this verse in order to remove unworthy thoughts from the hearts of those who love G'd. We are taught in Moed Katan 28 that the following three phenomena (blessings) are not granted on the basis of merit: 1) children; 2) life itself (its length, or good health); 3) the quality of one's livelihood. All these three are subject to מזל, natural causes rather than to individual merit. [including genetical as well as horoscopic and environmental factors. Ed.] It is a fact that these are the very three phenomena (blessings) man is most concerned with in this life. If a person lacks even a single one of these three blessings he is considered as good as dead. Seeing that we are told that not one of these three blessings is attainable through one's piety and service of the Lord, this is apt to estrange a person from G'd rather than to make him love G'd. Such a feeling is likely to be reinforced if a person who serves the Lord sincerely finds himself deprived of two of these blessings, i.e. he has no children and no dependable livelihood. No matter how much he may wish to love G'd, his own heart will prevent him from doing so.

Gott lieben בכל לבבך, d. i. ביצר טוב וביצר רע, ist die bedeutsamste und folgenreichste Konsequenz aus dem Gotteinheitbewusstsein. Der Reiz, den das Schlechte, Gemeine, Unedle, Sinnliche für uns hat, woraus der יצר הרע entspringt, ist uns von demselben Gott, dem einzig Einen, wie der Reiz, den das Gute, Edle, sittlich Geistige für uns hat, der den יצר הטוב erzeugt; es ist eine und dieselbe Liebe des einzig Einen, die uns jenen wie diesen in unsere Anlage gewebt, und es ist nicht eben die liebesärmere Äußerung seiner Liebe, die uns auch mit Empfänglichkeit für die Reize des Schlechten ausgestattet, ja der höchste Kuss seiner Liebe liegt in diesem Reiz des Bösen für uns; unser ganzer Adel, die ganze Hoheit unserer sittlichen Würde liegt in diesem Reiz. Ohne diesen Reiz wären wir nicht: Mensch, gäbe es keine Sittlichkeit, keine Tugend, wäre alles an uns nur tiergleich physisches Wollen und Vollbringen. Denn was wir Instinkt beim Tiere nennen, ist nichts als die Einseitigkeit des Tierwesens. Für das Tier hat nur dasjenige Reiz, was seiner Bestimmung gemäß ist, alles andere lässt es kalt oder widersteht ihm. Daraus die Mächtigkeit, und die Unveränderlichkeit der tierischen Lebensäußerungen. Hätte das sinnlich Gemeine und Schlechte keinen Reiz für uns, ließe es uns kalt oder widerstünde uns mit unsere Natur abstoßender Gegensätzlichkeit, und reizte das Gute uns mit unwiderstehlich verlockender Gewalt; wäre mit dem Guten nicht auch Entsagung und Selbstüberwindung verknüpft: freilich übten wir nichts Böses, aber auch Gutes nicht; das Gute, das wir übten, wäre nicht unser Werk, wäre überhaupt nicht sittlich freie Menschentat, wir folgten überall nur einer physischen Nötigung unserer Natur, die widerstandslos von dem auf sie wirkenden Reize bestimmt würde, und mit dem Wegfall des יצר הרע wäre unsere ganze sittliche Würde begraben (siehe Bereschit S. 62. 85. 109 u. 136). Ja, in Wahrheit ist ja keine unserer Anlagen an sich gut oder bös. Alle, die sinnlichste unter den sinnlichen, wie die geistigste unter den geistigen, werden gut oder schlecht, je nachdem wir sie innerhalb der von Gott, dem einzig Einen, für jede gezogenen Schranken und für jede gewiesenen Ziele verwenden, oder, die Schranken überschreitend, die Ziele vernachlässigend oder mit anderen von Gott nicht gestellten Zielen vertauschend, missbrauchen. Gott mit unserem ganzen Herzen, mit יצר טוב und יצר רע lieben, heißt also: unser ganzes Sinnen mit allen Neigungen und Richtungen, mit allen Anlagen und Strebungen ausnahmslos der Erfüllung des göttlichen Willens geweiht halten und ein jedes also im Dienste Gottes des einzig Einen verwenden, dass dessen Beherrschung und Verwendung uns in Gewinnung Seiner Nähe weiter führt.

The Torah (our verse) therefore had to command such a person of the need to love G'd with his heart even if G'd, i.e. nature, deprived him of the three most cherished aspirations of every normal human being. The words בכל לבבך urge you to love G'd even though you have not been granted children. We find love and children mentioned in the same breath when G'd said to Abraham to offer "your son whom you love" in Genesis 22,2. This is the kind of love which permeates a person's heart and is the apex of all his desires. The words ובכל נפשך are intended to exhort you to love G'd even though you may lack good health. The words ובכל מאדך are a reference to your livelihood. You are commanded to love G'd even though you have to struggle economically. If G'd, i.e. nature, has not seen fit to provide you with even one of these three blessings which most of us consider essential to make life worth living and you still love G'd, you i.e. Israel, have demonstrated that you feel that your relationship to G'd is more important to you than having even ten children, etc., and that you consider G'd's "table" as superior to your table in this world as we have been taught in Avot 6,5 [slightly different version. The text there is: "for your table is higher than their table, i.e. the "table" of earthly rulers, Ed]. Similarly, the "life" which G'd grants you is superior to mere physical life or good health on this earth. Moreover, the righteous are called alive after they have experienced the death of their bodies. We have this on the authority of Berachot 18 quoting Samuel II 23,20 ובניהו בן איש חי, that Benayahu was the son of a "living" man, that the "dead" are called alive after their physical death.

Sofort ist in diesem: Gott mit unserem ganzen Herzen lieben, auch die Voraussetzung gegeben, in jedem Augenblick freudig bereit zu sein, die teuersten Neigungen und Wünsche unseres Herzens um der Liebe Gottes willen aufzugeben, sobald sie mit dem Willen Gottes nicht in Einklang sind, sowie die Versagung unserer teuersten Wünsche und liebgewordenen Neigungen mit heiterem Sinne zu ertragen, in dem tiefen Bewusstsein, dass dieselbe Liebe des einzig Einen sich in der Versagung uns bekundet, die wir in der Gewährung zu verehren gehabt hätten.

We may also approach this verse from the following angle. The Torah is at pains to describe the extent to which a Jew has to love G'd. Love is measured by the way a person relates to achieving the three blessings we have mentioned. Supposing a person was about to die prematurely, was poor and had no children and a prophet were to come and to promise him that he would become perfectly healthy, that his wife was pregnant and would have a healthy child and that he was about to come into a great fortune. Such a person would suddenly be overcome with a tremendous amount of love for his Creator. His heart would overflow with feelings of love and gratitude for the G'd who has thus blessed him. G'd commands every Jew to love Him constantly as if he had just received the good news we have described in our parable. The words: "you shall love the Lord your G'd with all your heart" mean as if He had suddenly provided you with everything you had lacked in life so far. The Torah deliberately used the word בכל to correspond to our parable, i.e. that He granted you children, the most important of your aspirations. The words ובכל נפשך describe the degree of love you would have for G'd if He just announced that whereas you had expected to die you had been granted good health. The words ובכל מאדך describe your feelings of love for G'd if He had just announced that you had become wealthy after having been a pauper all your life.

אפילו נוטל את נפשך :בכל נפשך. Gott mit unserem ganzen lebendigen Wesen, allen geistigen und leiblichen Seiten unserer Persönlichkeit, mit jedem Momente unseres Daseins lieben, heißt ja wiederum nichts anderes, als mit unserem ganzen Sein nur die in Erfüllung Seines Willens zu gewinnende Gottesnähe anstreben, unser ganzes Dasein nur in dem Nahesein Gottes schätzen, und dieses Gott Nahebleiben nicht zu teuer durch Dahingebung unseres ganzen hieniedigen Seins erkauft glauben. Der Gott בכל נפשו Liebende verlebt jeden Atemzug im Liebesdienste seines Gottes und lässt lieber vom Leben, als dass er die Treue bricht, אפילו נוטל את נפשך. Es ist Rabbi Akiba, der die Erläuterung des בכל נפשך durch אפילו נוטל את נפשך (Berachot 61 b) gelehrt. Und was er sein Lebelang gelehrt, das mit dem letzten Atemzuge zu besiegeln, ward er von seinem Gotte gewürdigt. Es hatte die Fremdherrschaft das Studium und die Verbreitung der jüdischen Gesetzeslehre bei Todesstrafe verboten; gleichwohl ließ sich R. Akiba in seinem Lehramt nicht stören. In öffentlichen Versammlungen lehrte er das Gesetz. Ihn fand Papus also und richtete an ihn die Frage: Akiba, fürchtest du denn die Regierung nicht? Will dir ein Gleichnis erzählen, war R. Akibas Erwiderung: Ein Fuchs spazierte am Flusse und sah die Fische von Stelle zu Stelle sich flüchten. Vor wem flieht ihr denn? "Vor den Netzen der Menschen." Kommt doch aufs Land. Dann wohnen wir, ich und ihr, beisammen wie unsere Väter einst zusammengelebt. "Bist du der, den man den Klügsten unter den Tieren nennt? Klug bist du nicht. Hier in unserem Lebenselemente haben wir uns zu fürchten, wie viel mehr erst außer unserem Lebenselement." So auch wir, Papus. Jetzt, wo wir uns mit der Gotteslehre beschäftigen, von der es heißt: sie ist dein Leben und die Dauer deiner Tage, ergeht es uns so, wie erst, wenn wir von ihr ließen! Es dauerte nicht lange, ward Akiba ergriffen und gefangen gesetzt. Aber auch Papus, trotz seiner Konnivenz, hatte die Gunst der Regierung verscherzt und befand sich bei ihm im Kerker. Heil dir, Akiba, seufzte Papus, der du um die Gotteslehre im Kerker bist. Wehe dem Papus, der um nichtige Dinge ergriffen worden! Die Zeit zum קריאת שמע war es, als R. Akiba zum Richtplatz geführt wurde. Mit eisernen Werkzeugen ward er gemartert. Er aber sprach ruhig die Gotteshuldigung des שמע. "Selbst jetzt noch?" fragten ihn die Jünger. "So lange ich lebte, sehnte ich mich nach Erfüllung des Satzes: בכל נפשך אפילו נוטל את נפשך und jetzt, wo mir die Gelegenheit wird, sollte ich ihn nicht erfüllenr war R. Akibas Entgegnung. Er sprach das אחד so lange, bis er die Seele aushauchte — (daselbst).

When you consider man's love for G'd from an intellectual point of view, you will realise that it does not require all that much effort to want to cleave to one's Creator. In order to view the matter in its proper perspective let me illustrate the matter as follows: We will use a great man who is also blessed with great wealth as our example. This man decides to travel to a place far from home as he is aware of potential dangers which lurk in his home town and endanger both his wealth and his entire existence. This man decided to first convert all his belongings into a valuable gemstone worth millions. He sets out on his journey confident that in the place he selected as his destination both he and his assets will be perfectly safe. However, before he reaches this destination he runs out of food, is left penniless (seeing his wealth is tied up in a single jewel, useless at this point) and he is reduced to being a pauper. In spite of this, he does not lose hope as he is certain that in due course he will reach his destination with his wealth intact. The strategy for man suggested by our verse is similar to what we described in our parable. A man who has developed an affinity and love for his G'd has concentrated all his wealth in this relationship, despising all material benefits this world has to offer in favour of his relationship with G'd. The man in question has based his strategy on an awareness of potential dangers lurking in his hometown, i.e. the עולם הזה, life on this earth. He is so certain of arriving at his destination, i.e. עולם הבא with his spiritual wealth intact, that he does not mind at all that he has to experience some deprivations during his journey (through life on earth). He will find that his love for G'd is amply rewarded when he does arrive at his destination in the hereafter. He will find that the assets he accumulated in this world are worth more than children, good physical health and material wealth combined.

Für diese Hinopferung des Lebens, um Gottes Gesetz nicht zu übertreten, hat aber das Gesetz selbst durch seinen anderweitigen Ausspruch וחי בהם. (Wajikra 18, 5; — siehe daselbst) bestimmte Normen gegeben. Nur solchen, die Vernichtung des Gesetzes anstrebenden Gewalten gegenüber darf das Leben selbst nicht mit der leisesten Gesetzübertretung erkauft werden. Selbst wegen ערקתא דמסאנא, wegen unjüdischer Änderung eines Schuhriemens, lautet für solche Zeiten der Kanon: יהרג ואל יעבור. In normalen Zeiten sind es zunächst nur die Gesetze über עבודה זרה גלוי עריות ושפיכות דמים, vor deren Übertretung selbst die Erhaltung des Lebens zurücktreten muss. Anderen Gesetzen gegenüber erteilt das וחי בהם der Erhaltung des Lebens für eine treue hieniedige Pflichterfüllung einen solchen Wert, dass das bedrohte Leben selbst durch Übertretung einer Gesetzesvorschrift zu retten ist: יעבור ואל יהרג (siehe Wajikra daselbst.) — In Krankheitsfällen ist zu unterscheiden, ob es חולה שיש בו סכנה oder אין בו סכנה, ob es ein lebensbedrohlicher Zustand ist oder nicht, ferner ob der als Heilmittel zu gebrauchende Stoff דאוריתא oder דרבנן verboten ist, ob er כדרך הנאתו oder שלא בדרך הנאתו, ob er in seiner gewöhnlichen Genuss gewährenden Weise zur Anwendung kommt oder nicht (siehe J. D. 155, 3).

בכל ממונך :ובכל מאודך. Die Gottesliebe mit allem Vermögen hat sich wiederum sowohl in Verwendung alles Vermögens im Dienste Gottes, als in Verzichtleistung auf jeden Erwerb und jeden Besitz, der nur durch Übertretung des göttlichen Gesetzes erlangt und erhalten werden könnte, zu zeigen, und zwar steht Geldopfern gegenüber das Gesetz ausnahmslos in unverletzlicher Geltung. Selbst das ganze Vermögen ist hinzugeben, wenn es nur durch Übertretung auch nur eines göttlichen Verbotes erhalten bleiben könnte. Erfüllungen von Geboten sind nicht mit so großen Opfern zu erkaufen (siehe J. D. 157 und O. Ch. 656).

Die Erläuterung בכל מאודך durch: בכל מדה ומדה שהוא מודד לך הוי מודה לו dürfte, im Anklang an die Lautähnlichkeiten von מדר und מודה mit אמד, sich gleichwohl nicht sehr aus dem eigentlichen Bedeutungskreise des Wortes entfernen. Man hat nur die in כל liegende Totalität von dem Umfang auf die Zustände zu übertragen und בכל מאודך: mit jedem Vermögen zu verstehen, so ist ja damit die Anforderung ausgesprochen, Gott in jeder Vermögenslage, welche er uns auch zumessen möge, liebend zu huldigen. Ist ja מאור auch eigentlich nicht nur das Geldvermögen, sondern überhaupt der Kompler aller Mittel zu jeglichem Vollbringen, und umfasst somit alles, was die Waltung der göttlichen Liebe uns zumisst. Die Erläuterung von מאד durch מדד ist aber eine um so mehr berechtigte, da die Umwandlung eines Radikals der ע׳׳ע in א nicht ohne Beispiel ist. So ימאסו (Ps. 58, 8) für בזאו ,ימססו Jesaias 18, 2 für בזזו. Ja, es ist nicht unmöglich, dass מאוד überhaupt: Maß bedeutet, und בכל מאדך: mit dem ganzen Maß heißt, oder mit jedem Maß, das dir ist, woher dann מאוד als Partikel der Größe eine Oualität oder Quantität im höchsten Maße bedeutet. Ähnlich wie אנשי מרות (Bamidbar 13, 32), בית מדות (Jirmija 22, 14) sehr große Leute, sehr großes Haus bedeutet, auch איש מדה (Chron. I. 11. 23 u. 20. 6) ein übergroßer Mann.