A Thought on Parshas Vaeschanan

"...b'kol levavcha u'v'kol nafshecha u'v'kol m'od'echa..." "...with all your heart and all your soul and your possessions..." (6:5) We all know the words of Sh'ma Yisroel, which instruct us to love HaShem will all our heart, soul and possessions. There are familiar teachings as to the scope of this commandment, which our sages and commentaries have taught us. The concept of loving G-d is a lofty one, as well as a formal commandment. The emphasis on loving with our hearts, our souls and our possessions seems meaningful and needs clarification. The Bechor Shor writes that loving HaShem with all your heart means that one can have no ambivalence about this love. It is human to have competing thoughts and interests. We can like someone or something yet concurrently entertain our doubts about it or them. We can be "of two minds" about someone. The word "heart" in our verse is not written with one bais (lev). It is written with two (levav) which the Bechor Shor understands as representing the unified mind. Loving HaShem with "all your heart" means to direct your thoughts and feelings towards learning to love Him. Overcome your proclivity to doubt and ambivalence. Meanwhile, the concept of loving Him with the entire soul, says the Bechor Shor, means directing your desire towards that love. A person needs to want to love HaShem, and to enjoy the feeling he or she gets when they get in touch with that love. We are commanded to love Him, and to love loving Him. The third principle, loving Him with all your possessions, is interpreted in a novel manner by the Bechor Shor. How is a person meant to love Him with his or her possessions? It does not mean to love HaShem in a possessive way. It does not mean to be possessed with the idea of loving Him, although that concept seems related to the earlier principle of loving with all your soul, as explained earlier. The Bechor Shor suggests that this facet of the commandment means to"purchase love of HaShem" with our possessions: when we go out, when we acquire things, when we engage in prosperous and productive living, we are meant to utilize our acquisitions and our accomplishments in ways which promote love of HaShem. What this means is that all of our material and worldly pursuits need to include a quest for becoming closer to HaShem. We can fix cars, collect garbage, cook meals, heal bodies, do taxes or teach Torah. Whatever we do, according to the Bechor Shor, should and can bring us closer to love of HaShem if we look for Him in our experiences, if we seek Him in our successes, and yearn for Him when we fail. Loving G-d with all your possessions means to include the pursuit of the Divine in all of our pursuits. Good Shabbos. D Fox