Thoughts on Parashat Va’etchanan.
Love of God is a basic concept of our faith. Although the idea that the Supreme One reciprocates this love, at all times, is theologically problematic, our history indubitably contains records of the immense love He bestowed upon us – His people. To earn the title of God’s beloved (Hebr. ohavi) is to obtain the highest rung in His service (see Isaiah 41,8).
Divine and human love, are among the most profound and esoteric topics ever discussed by mankind. However, here we will focus on the practical, on something we religious Jews do every day. We recite the Shema:
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
(Deut 6:4-5)
These words, along with the rest of the first paragraph of our Shema and Ve’ahavta prayer are in this week’s Torah portion. In fact, all of the verses of this paragraph of Shema – all its content – are actually commandments.
The first thing to consider is the commandment “To love God”… Is that a really a commandment? How can He command loving someone, anyone, even Him? This question has incited rabbinical debate for a very long time. Ibn Ezra – one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages was reflecting on a similar question regarding the first of the Ten Commandments (which is traditionally considered also the first of all 613 commandments1):
I, the LORD, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. (Ex 20:2)
If this is a commandment that is implicitly preceded by You shall believe that I, the LORD, am your God […] then how is it doable? How can you command someone to think or believe something? In this context, Ibn Ezra also reflected on the last of the Ten Commandments: You shall not covet […] also wondering how is it possible to command a person not to covet. In the end he came to the conclusion that: yes, we can command someone to have a certain state of mind or soul because many of the Divine commandments require us to adopt a specific state of mind. One of these commandments are from this week’s parasha: V’ahavta et Adonai Elohecha… You shall love Adonai your God with your entire heart, soul and all your resources. There are also negative commandments that require adopting certain states of mind, like:
31. You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. (Lev. 19:17)
26. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:18)
On this basis Ibn Ezra believed that the ‘state of mind’ commandments should be included in the list of 613 mitzvoth. Of course, there was a debate whether to include the first commandment: To know that God exists (Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6) in this list or even if it should be considered a commandment at all. Maimonides, like Ibn Ezra, believed it to be a true and feasible mitzvah. But another Spanish, medieval philosopher, Hasdai Crescas, claimed that:
The very character of the term mitzvah indicates by definition that it can only apply to matters governed by free will and choice. But faith in the existence of God is one of those things that are not governed by free will and choice. Consequently the term mitzvah (commandment) cannot apply to it.
Another Sephardic 15th century biblical commentator, Abravanel, believed that the first commandment is merely a preface to the subsequent commandments and injunctions. A kind of declaration making known to the Children of Israel Who was addressing them.
Is this debate purely about the list of (religious) obligations? Is there, perhaps a deeper meaning in it? Is loving God exclusively about observing commandments? Is believing in God (or knowing that He exists, as Maimonides puts it) merely about observing commandments as well?
No, it is not. Fulfilling the commandments is an essential part of loving God but, as they say on late night TV advertisement, “that’s not all”. Fulfilling them with kavanah – with sincere intention – is one of the most complete ways of loving Him. If you teach your children Torah, you fulfill the commandment No. 12 (out of 613) To learn Torah and to teach it (Deut. 6:7.) Furthermore, if you teach your children Torah with enthusiasm and love, you fulfill two commandments: (12) To learn Torah and to teach it and (7) To love God. Moreover, you teach them to fulfill both of these commandments in everyday life!
A similar rule applies to the realm of faith – to the commandment to believe in God . If you “love the stranger,” having faith that you are cooperating with God in bringing peace and blessing to the world, you are fulfilling two of 613 commandments: 1: To believe in God and 53: To love the stranger (You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt, Deut. 10:19). This is more than simply “loving the stranger,” this is a commitment to a better world for not only us, but our children and grandchildren.
All that we do ultimately transcends us, including the outcomes of our actions. We often don’t have control over the outcomes of our behavior and in those circumstances we must believe that God will lead the results of our action to the intended or appropriate goal. That’s faith, that we often overlook! In fact, all the commandments can and should be done with love to God and/or in faith in God, as said before, with kavahah – sincere intention.
Is the commandment to believe in God merely a preface? No, I cannot emphasis how essential it is for our actions to have proper kavanah. When we do so we include God – the One who created everything and gave us all our commandments. It is yet another way to truly honor him and love him. Observing all the mitzvoth out of our love to God, from the depth of our pure hearts and with complete faith in Him is the Aleph and Tav of our experience with the Torah, not only it is the fundamental tenet of our religion, it’s the highest ambition of our spiritual development.
Shabbat shalom!
- The numbering of the commandments in this drasha follows the common numbering of the 613 commandments, which can be found here:
