A Thought on Parshas Vaeschanan

"V'ahavta es HaShem...b'kol levav'echa u'v'kol nafshecha u'v'kol me'odecha..." "and you will love HaShem will all your heart, soul and possessions..." (6:5) ibn Shu'aib writes that HaShem has commanded us to take five facets from the first parsha of Shema, and to implement them with five acts. One of them is to fulfill the words "as you lie down" and to read the Shema at night, during the time when we might prepare to lie down. That is, even if we have davened earlier, before nightfall, we repeat the Shema in the form of Krias Shema al ha'Mita. This is the "bedtime Shema", so that we remember the parsha as we prepare to sleep. Second, we recite the Shema as we rise, to fulfill the words " as you arise." This is why many people attempt to place the reading of Shema near the time of sunup, which is hinted at in the verse (Tehillim 72:5) "and they shall revereYou when the sun shines". Third, we place the parsha near our heart, which is why we bind tefillin on the left arm nearest the heart, to fulfill "love HaShem with all your heart". Fourth, we place the parsha near our nefesh - the head-tefillin are worn above "the space between our eyes", opposite "the segment of our brain where mental life and clarity is housed", the domain of the soul.This is a fulfillment of "love HaShem with all your soul". Fifth, we place the parsha upon the doorposts of our houses. This is a fulfillment of "write them on your doorposts and gates." But it also serves to commemorate the commandment to "love HaShem with all your possessions and wealth." We keep our money and our valuables at home, and our home is also one of our valuables. By posting the mezuzah on the doorposts of our houses, we remember to fulfill this love of HaShem within and around and regarding our material possessions. Thus, we remember to love HaShem with all of heart with the tefillin bound near the heart. We remember to love HaShem with all of our soul because tefillin rest over the seat of our highest human faculties, which are the tools of the soul. We remember to love HaShem with all of our possessions by placing His words around all of our material possessions. Remember? Good Shabbos. D Fox