A thought on Parshas Vaeschanan
"...v'ahavta es HaShem...""...and you shall love HaShem..." (6:5)
Many have pondered the pragmatics of being able to feel love for HaShem. Many wonder about the complexity of being commanded to love. It is a difficult human emotion and not one that people can do or feel upon demand. The Torah nonetheless stresses that we are all bound to feel love for Him.
Rabbeinu Bachya offers a perspective: Perhaps this mitzva is not so puzzling. After all, who else are you going to love? He is the only "Force" in the world and He is our only G-d. This alone demands that we develop love for Him. This demands that we follow His ways and put His commandments into use with love.
Now one can argue that this reality would prompt us to fear Him and to follow His ways out of fear. Rabbeinu Bachya observes that serving with fear is an incomplete devotion. What the Torah asks of us is that we think deeply into His ways and teachings so that we develop an appreciative grasp of His greatness. That is the path to loving. Appreciating Him and grasping some sense of what HaShem does and is (within the limits of our mortal scope of understanding) puts us on the path toward feeling the love which the Torah expects of us.
A similar perspective might help us with regard to loving those who matter to us. At times, we lose sight of our feelings. Love is far from our consciousness. Those in our lives who need us are left in the cold. It becomes our task to re-ignite the sparks of loving. If one has lost that loving feeling, one path to discovery would be to focus on all that they do and who they are. This is the road toward appreciation which can lead to loving once again.
This is sent earlier than usual since I leave shortly for Israel. May HaShem watch over His people with love and may we feel that love around us and within us. Good Shabbos. D Fox
Many have pondered the pragmatics of being able to feel love for HaShem. Many wonder about the complexity of being commanded to love. It is a difficult human emotion and not one that people can do or feel upon demand. The Torah nonetheless stresses that we are all bound to feel love for Him.
Rabbeinu Bachya offers a perspective: Perhaps this mitzva is not so puzzling. After all, who else are you going to love? He is the only "Force" in the world and He is our only G-d. This alone demands that we develop love for Him. This demands that we follow His ways and put His commandments into use with love.
Now one can argue that this reality would prompt us to fear Him and to follow His ways out of fear. Rabbeinu Bachya observes that serving with fear is an incomplete devotion. What the Torah asks of us is that we think deeply into His ways and teachings so that we develop an appreciative grasp of His greatness. That is the path to loving. Appreciating Him and grasping some sense of what HaShem does and is (within the limits of our mortal scope of understanding) puts us on the path toward feeling the love which the Torah expects of us.
A similar perspective might help us with regard to loving those who matter to us. At times, we lose sight of our feelings. Love is far from our consciousness. Those in our lives who need us are left in the cold. It becomes our task to re-ignite the sparks of loving. If one has lost that loving feeling, one path to discovery would be to focus on all that they do and who they are. This is the road toward appreciation which can lead to loving once again.
This is sent earlier than usual since I leave shortly for Israel. May HaShem watch over His people with love and may we feel that love around us and within us. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 1:26 AM
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