DEUT217 It is perhaps a sign of God's very lovability and "vulnerability" that He asks us to love Him, and not just fear Him. This command forms part of the Sh'ma prayer and is recited twice daily [this verse]. Because God has given humankind free will, love is the most obvious gift that we can offer God.

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DEUT236 The talmudic sage Abaye deduced from [this verse] "And you shall love the Lord your God," that this commandment requires us to make God lovable to others (just as when we fall in love with our future spouse we want everyone else to find them lovable as well). How does one make God and Judaism lovable to others? The Talmud explains that a Jew, particularly a Jewish scholar, should behave in such a pleasant manner that people will say of him, "Happy is the father who taught him Torah. Woe to those who do not learn Torah. This person who learns Torah, see how pleasant are his ways" (Yoma 86a). When people understand it that you behave in this way because you love God, they may well come to love God also. In short, a Jew must act in such a way that people will assume that being committed to God's teachings makes one a better person. Indeed, does anyone doubt that if people consistently equated religious Jews with exemplary behavior, more non-Jews would become Jews, and more Jews would become religious?

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DEUT218 It was taught: "And you shall love the Lord your God" -- Cause the name of Heaven to become beloved through you. One should study the Law, serve Torah scholars, be honest in his dealings, and speak gently with people. [If he does so,] what do people say if him? This man who studied Torah -- how pleasant are his ways, how becoming are his deeds! (Yoma 86a)

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DEUT207 (Continued from [[DEUT213]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love TZADIK 127-9). It is well-known and apparent that love for the Holy One Blessed be He is not securely bound in a person's heart until he constantly occupies himself with it as is fitting and abandons everything else in the world besides it, as He has commanded, "With all of your heart and with all of your soul…" [this verse]. And one can love the Holy One Blessed be He only by knowing Him. The love will correspond to the knowledge. The less knowledge, the less love; the more knowledge, the more love. Therefore, one must devote himself, to the extent of his capabilities, to comprehend and to perceive, those facets of wisdom and understanding which acquaint him with his Creator. It is a mitzvah to love and to fear the exalted and awesome God, as it is written [this verse]: "And you should love Hashem your God," and (ibid. 13): "Fear Hashem your God. And this is the way to attain love of the Blessed One. When one reflects upon His acts and His great, wonderful creations, and sees through them his infinite, boundless wisdom, immediately he loves the Holy One Blessed be He and praises Him and extols Him and is filled with a great longing to know the great God, as stated by King David (Tehillim 42:3): "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."

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DEUT213 He who serves out of love occupies himself with Torah and mitzvos and walks in the path of wisdom for no worldly reward whatsoever, nor from fear of evil or expectation of good, but he pursues the truth because it is true, the good coming in its wake. This quality is an extremely exalted one, to which not every Sage can attain. It is the quality of Avraham our father, whom the Holy One Blessed be He called "my friend" (Yeshayahu 41:8), for he served only out of love. And it is the quality commanded us by God, through Moshe our teacher, may peace be upon him [this verse]. When one loves the Blessed One as he should, he will immediately perform all mitzvos out of love. And what is the requisite love? It is loving Hashem with such an exceedingly great, intense love that one's soul is completely bound up in it so that he is constantly driven by it as one who is love-sick for a woman and constantly driven by love for her, even when he is sitting, standing, eating, and drinking. Even more than this will love of Hashem fill the hearts of His lovers, who will be consumed by it constantly, as we have been commanded, "With all your heart and with all your soul.…" This is what King Shelomo intended in his analogy (Shir HaShirim 2:5): " For I am sick with love," and the entire Shir HaShirim is an analogy to love of Hashem. (Continued at [[DEUT207]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love TZADIK 129).

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DEUT220 Love includes more acts than any of the other traits, and when one employs his love for good, it is the highest of all the traits, as it is written [this verse]: "And you shall love Hashem your God." And there is no form of Divine service higher than that of serving God out of love. When one employs his love for evil, there is no trait among all the others that can compare to it in evil. And now hear how love tarnishes one's deeds when it gets the upper hand over wisdom. There are many varieties of love, one different from the other: (1) The love of a father for his children. His great love for them may cause him not to reprove them and lead them on the right path. It may cause him to leave them to the evil promptings of their hearts, from which great ruin will result. ... (Continued at [[GEN976]] Genesis 18:19 instruct TZADIK 107); (7) The love of pleasure and of indulgence, as in eating, and drinking, and in the other pleasures, such as illicit intercourse and excursions. This love is worse than all the others. There is no need to elaborate here, for one who loves wine and gets drunk and always eats exotic foods and frequent banquets will forget his Creator, as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:11-12): "And when you will eat and be sated… take heed lest you forget Hashem." And (ibid. 11:15-16): "And when you will eat and be sated ... take heed lest your heart be turned away and you turn and serve other Gods." And (ibid. 32:15): "And Yeshurun became fat and he kicked."

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DEUT235 The Mishnah states, "Welcome every person with a pleasing countenance (Avos 1:15). Rambam comments: "One is obligated to conduct his affairs with others in a gentle and pleasing manner." Rabbeinu Yonah writes in a similar vein: "One should conduct himself in such a way as to cause others to feel satisfaction from the relationship, by bending his will for the sake of others. He who is able to act in such a manner will certainly acquire many devoted friends." Both Rambam's and Rabbeinu Yonah's explanations stress the same point: A person's code of behavior must be deemed acceptable by society. This is the essential obligation of derech eretz. At this point one might wonder, "Why must I concern myself with other people's opinions? Is it not enough if I know my behavior is correct?" The answer to this question is twofold: First, various Mishnaic and Talmudic verses stress the importance of behaving in a manner deemed acceptable by one's society. For example, our Sages state, "One's perspectives must always be in line with those of society" (Kesuvos 17a). This obligation is repeated in Pirkei Avos: "Which is the proper path one should choose? One that is pleasing to the one who performs it and is pleasing to others" (Avos 2:1). Another example is the statement, "One who is well liked by people is regarded favorably by Hashem (Avos 3:10). Second, one who behaves in an exemplary manner sanctifies the name of Hashem. Our Sages explain the verse "And you will love Hashem your God..." [this verse] in the following way: "One must study and teach, as well as speak gently to people and conduct his affairs with them in an honorable manner. When people see such a person, what do they say? Happy is he who studies Torah, happy is his father who taught him Torah, happy is his rebbi who taught him Torah; pitiful are those who do not study Torah. Look at so-and-so who studied Torah. How pleasant and beautiful are his deeds, how perfect his ways. The verse 'Yisrael, through whom I will be praised' refers to such a person" (Yoma 86a).

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DEUT241 Once Jews attain wealth, they must be careful not to flaunt it, especially in front of non-Jews, says the Talmud (Taanit 10b), as this will cause feelings of hate and possible anti-Semitism. This is one possible explanation of why the Jews were suddenly enslaved so soon after Joseph, who was venerated in Egypt, died. The verse [Exodus 1:7] says that the Jews grew exceedingly mighty and that the land was filled with them. But the Hebrew word me'od, exceedingly, can also be related to money, as it says you shall love God with your me'od, exceedingly [this verse]. But the Talmud (Berachot 54a) understands this to mean that you shall love God with all your money. Thus, the verse in Exodus may also be understood that the Jews grew mighty monetarily and that they flaunted this wealth throughout the land. If this indeed occurred, we can easily understand why this incurred the wrath of the Egyptians and caused the desire to enslave these foreign Jews. Thus, wealth should never be flaunted, and especially not in the Diaspora where Jews remain a minority and are always suspect.

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DEUT239 [I]n one of the most famous paragraphs in the entire Torah, the Shema, it says that a Jew should love God with "all his heart, with all his soul, and with all of his Me'od (might)" [this verse]. Rashi explains that the third phrase actually signifies that a Jew should love God with all his money, i.e., God should be more important to him or her than money is. Rashi then answers an unasked question: Why is "money" in "third-place" in the verse, after loving God with all of one's heart and soul? Certainly, if a Jew loves God with all of his or her heart and soul, loving God with money is obvious or redundant? Rashi answers that there are certain people who are so greedy that to them, money and possessions are more important than even their lives. For them, it is harder to love God with all of their money than to love Him with all of their soul. Maharal expands on Rashi's words and says that we already encountered Jews in the Torah who are very greedy--the two-and-a-half tribes that wanted to stay out of Israel proper in order to have grazing land for their multitude of cattle.... Why does this verse, then, have to remind us of this lesson again-that God is more important than worldly goods? He answers that for some greedy people, the idea of acquiring more money actually gives them a sense of life and a reason to live. These people are so greedy that their entire existence is about accumulation of more wealth. Thus, God commands that even these Jews must put God before their money (Rashi and Gur Aryeh (Maharal) commentaries on this verse). Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (1696-1743) gives a similar explanation, but he says the verse is not speaking about actual money, but rather about the desire for money. For greedy people whose entire life hinges on their great and insatiable desire for money, they should learn to love God with that same insatiable desire (Ohr HaChaim commentary on this verse).

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DEUT240 And you shall Love the Lord your God … with all your might – that is, with all your material possessions. Rashi on Deuteronomy 6:5

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