What does our post Shavuos Yiddishkeit look like? I am assuming that experiencing Zman Matan Toraseinu should have an impact beyond the narrow confines of the Tom Tov itself. Many Kehilos would have sung songs depicting the joy that is experienced when learning , or how vital Torah is for the wellbeing of each Yid. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that our Ahavas Hashem would have increased since Shavuos.
The Ohr Hachaim Ha’kadosh asks how a person can be commanded to feel love. Whoever fails to fulfil it has been mevatel a mitzvah. The Slonimer Rebbe explains that the actual mitzva of ahavas Hashem is that of taking a step that will lead a person in the direction of ahavas Hashem. Taking that step is a fulfilment of the mitzva of ahava. Whatever feelings of ahava may arise are to be understood as the result of fulfilling the mitzva, not the mitzvah itself. Even if we never reach the exalted level described by the Rambam, we nevertheless fulfil the mitzva of ahavas Hashem because the steps we take show that we are trying to grow in that direction.
Dovid HaMelech expressed in Tehillim some of the most eloquent and deeply moving feeling about Hashem. “My soul thirsts for Hashem, the living G-d; O when will I come to appear before Hashem! (Tehillim 42) and “I long, I yearn for the courts of the Lord; my body and soul shout for joy to the living Hashem.”(Tehillim 84:3)
The Rambam places great emphasis on the mitzva of loving Hashem. At the end of Sefer Mada he writes:
What is the proper [degree of] love? That one should love Hashem with a very great and exceeding love until his soul is bound up in the love of Hashem. Thus, he will always be obsessed with this love as if he is lovesick. A lovesick person’s thoughts are never diverted ... He is always obsessed .. when he sits down, when he gets up, when he eats and drinks. With an even greater [love], the love for Hashem should be [implanted] in the hearts of those who love Him and are obsessed with Him at all times, as we are commanded, “[You shall love the Lord your Hashem] with all your heart and with all your soul”
According to the Rambam the mitzva of loving Hashem includes the demand that everyone reach the proper degree of love, as described in his impassioned statement above.
In Hilchos Yesodei Ha-Torah the Rambam begins with the mitzvos of knowing Hashem and recognising His oneness. “It is a mitzva to love and fear this glorious and awesome Hashem, as it states: ‘You shall love the Lord your G-d,’ and as it states: ‘Fear the Lord your Hashem’ (Devarim 6:13)”
He then continues by posing the obvious question.
“What is the path to loving and fearing Him? When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know His great name, as David stated: “My soul thirsts for Hashem, the living Hashem” (Tehillim 42:3).”
By opening our eyes and thinking about the world and creation we become cognisant of the wondrous acts of Hashem. Through this contemplation, one will recognise and know the greatness of His wisdom.
In Sefer Ha-Mitzvot, however, Rambam highlights a different path toward loving Hashem namely contemplating the mitzvos. The mitzvos that we do shape our thoughts and deeds, refine our actions and character. In this way, a person can become worthy of existing in the world of the Creator a worthy, upright citizen of Hashem’s world. Contemplation of the Torah and the mitzvos bring one closer to knowing Hashem’s wisdom, and through this to knowing Hashem Himself. And with this knowledge, love will come as well.
The Rambam identifies two distinct levels in knowing and loving Hashem. The first and most basic level involves contemplating the wisdom of Hashem found in His creation: its greatness, its power. The second level involves contemplating the Torah and the mitzvos, as we have seen.
Every Shabbos morning we begin the longer pesukei dezimra with Tehillim 19. Shabbos is an ideal time to work on ahavas Hashem. In this mizmor we find both approaches to loving Hashem.
For the leader. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of Hashem, the sky proclaims His handiwork….His rising-place is at one end of heaven, and his circuit reaches the other; nothing escapes his heat.
The Torah of the L-rd is perfect, renewing life; the decrees of the L-rd are enduring, making the simple wise; the Mitzvos of the L-rd are just, rejoicing the heart; the instruction of the Lord is lucid, making the eyes light up….May the words of my mouth and the prayer of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Tehillim 19)
The first section describes the glory of Hashem that reveals itself in His creation.
In the second section Dovid Hamelech moves on to the Torah and the mitzvos.
Chazal teach that Derech eretz kadma La’torah. In our context I think this could mean that our path to loving Hashem takes the same trajectory. First, man becomes aware of the world, and only later does he recognise the spiritual reality of the world as well – the Torah and the mitzvos. Through this perspective, man can find his place in the world and his role in the cosmos.
A grandson of Rav Shach once recounted that Rav Shach went to visit Harav Chaim Friedlander, who was very sick. Rav Friedlander lamented the fact that because of his illness, he was unable to learn Torah and felt he was not able to accomplish anything.
Rav Shach pointed out to him that Dovid Hamelech states in Tehillim, “I will not die, but rather I will live and relate the deeds of Hashem.”
“Look,” Rav Shach said, “Dovid haMelech was a Sar haTorah, but when he was sick he would relate the deeds of Hashem — that’s called being alive! Look at the heavens and see the work of Hashem’s hands, the birds, the trees, behold the power of the winds… Think about this. And also, you can still make blessings on foods. These are all things that lead to a bit of ahavas Hashem, and this after all is the tachlis of life. It’s worth being alive for this!” said Rav Shach.
Rav Akiva Eiger once told someone: if you want to reach ahavas Hashem you should first feel how much Hashem loves you. Indeed, the bracha that precedes V’ahavta is “habocher b’amo Yisrael b’ahava“— Hashem chose with love his nation of Yisrael. That bracha should serve to internalise for us that Hashem loves us, and that should bring us to love Him.
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