DEUT237 This verse, which is part of the Shema, is one of the first biblical and liturgical passages learned by each Jewish child. While belief in God is not explicitly commanded by Scripture, love is. Love is a primal emotion binding us to God and God to us. In the order of the Jewish liturgy, God's love for us is affirmed before our love for God. The paragraph before the Shema in the morning liturgy declares, "With an everlasting love you have loved us, Lord our God." The fundamental premise of Jewish theology is the affirmation of a permanent covenantal relationship between God and the people of Israel. An essential feature of that relationship is love. In the evening liturgy, the recitation of the Shema, in which the Jew reaffirms his or her love for God, is preceded by the affirmation of God's Love for the people of Israel: "With an everlasting love You have loved the house of Israel.… Praised are You, Lord, who loves Your people Israel." The popular description of Judaism as a religion of law devoid of love, and of Christianity as their religion of love that one often encounters in Christian polemic literature, is simply an unsubstantiated claim. Love is an essential ingredient of Jewish faith and life.

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DEUT211 Every ethical utterance of the Talmud is alive with human kindness and is motivated by the ideals of holiness and love -- the most powerful incentives to good living. The command: "And thou shalt love the Lord your God" [this verse] is explained by the Rabbis thus: "Act in such a manner that God will be beloved by His creatures." (Yoma 86a; Sifre Deuteronomy xxxii). The ideal Jewish life must be a successive Kiddush Ha'shem, a constant endeavor to avoid perpetrating any action calculated to profane the holiness with which Judaism has been invested. A Rabbi (Sanhedrin 107a) did not hesitate to brand Hillul Ha'shem, the desecration of the name of God, as "the gravest sin", a sin can only be expiated by death (Yoma 86a).

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DEUT223 See [[DEUT135]] Deuteronomy 4:37 loved OXFORD 40-1

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DEUT230 See [[LEV729]] Leviticus 19:18 yourself OXFORD 143

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DEUT222 See [[DEUT1674]] Deuteronomy 32:6 father PATH 131

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DEUT233 The exemplary behavior of a person who studies Torah will encourage the spread of Torah study. The Talmud states in reference to this verse that we must behave in a manner that will cause the Name of Heaven to be beloved. One should study Torah and serve Torah scholars, be honest in his business dealings, and speak pleasantly to others. Then people will say about him, "Fortunate is his father who taught him Torah. Fortunate is his teacher who taught him Torah. Woe to those who have not learned Torah. See how pleasant are the ways and how proper are the actions of this person who has learned Torah." If, however, someone studies Torah and serves Torah scholars, but is not honest in his business dealings and does not speak pleasantly to others, what do people say about him? "Woe to that person who learned Torah. Woe to his father who taught him Torah. Woe to his teacher who taught him Torah. See how corrupt are the actions and how ugly are the ways of this person who has learned Torah." (Yoma 86a) The Sefer Charaidim writes that included in the mitzvah of loving God is the mitzvah of loving a Torah scholar, who studies the word of God. The Talmud states that someone who loves a Torah scholar will be blessed with children who will be Torah scholars. (Shabbos 23b)

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DEUT227 See [[LEV214]] Leviticus 18:5 live ROSNER-BLEICH 379

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DEUT234 The love of husband and wife – – a love at once personal and moral, passionate and responsible--is as close as we come to understanding God's love for us and our ideal love for Him. When Hosea says, "You will know the Lord," he does not mean knowledge in an abstract sense. He means the knowledge of intimacy and relationship, the touch of two selves across the metaphysical abyss that separates one consciousness from another. That is the theme of Song of Songs, that deeply human yet deeply mystical expression of eros, the love between humanity and God. It is also the meaning of one of the definitive sentences in Judaism: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all of your strength" [this verse].

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DEUT215 In general, the Talmud demands high standards of the Torah scholar, so that the Almighty's name not be profaned. "You shall love the Lord your God [this verse]: Let the Name of Heaven become beloved through you. For [a person] should read Scripture and study and serve Torah scholars, and his dealings with people should be pleasant. What will people then say? ' Happy is the father, happy is the rabbi, who taught him Torah. See how becoming are his ways, how refined his behavior.'… But if someone reads Scripture, studies, and serves Torah scholars, and then his dealings with people are not in good faith, his conversation is not pleasant--what will people say of him then? ' Woe to this one who study Torah; woe to his father and rabbi who taught him. Now that he has learned Torah, see how spoiled is his behavior, how reprehensible are his ways…'" (T.B. Yoma 86a) And again the Sages say, "Whichever Torah scholar eats excessively anywhere, thus profanes the Name of Heaven, his teacher's name, and his father's name" (T.B. Pesahim 49a). (Continued at [[NUM82]] Numbers 11:22 enough SINAI2 44).

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DEUT210 Acting Out of Duty Or Out of Inclination. It was pointed out in the previous chapter that since moral deeds are intrinsically good, it is appropriate that they be performed for their own sake. Bearing in mind that God is at once the Good One and the embodiment of the Good, we can appreciate the teaching of Antigonus, "Be as the servants who serve the Master without the expectation of receiving reward" (Avot 1:3). Such rabbinic teachings may be said to be implicit in the biblical command [this verse]. To truly love with all one's heart would not leave room for any other motivation. In terms of the usual distinctions made in ethical theory between a deontological ethic and a teleological ethic, one would expect to categorize Judaism as a deontological system where the emphasis is upon duty for duty's sake, simply determining what is right in every situation and then doing it (see the discussion of this distinction, p.9.) However, as we examine the Torah, we find many expressions wherein actions and policies are urged in terms which appear to be plainly teleological and almost utilitarian in spirit. Certain special conditions of explicitly pleasurable and happy nature are held out as rewards. "In order that it shall be good for you, and you shall lengthen your days." "Because of this God will bless you." "That a man may do them and live by them." (Deuteronomy 22:7, 15:10; Leviticus 18:5). Also, certain states which are plainly negative and unpleasant are threatened as punishment to the individual for violating the commandments, as, for example, "… that soul shall be cut off." (Exodus 12:15). Clearly, then, the morality of Judaism is much too complex to be classified simply as a deontological system.

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