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DEUTERONOMY — 6:4 one

DEUT201 It is a positive commandment to know the unity of the blessed God, to believe with complete faith that He is one, without any partner or associate as Scripture states, Hear, O Israel: Hashem our God, Hashem is One [this verse]. This is a main principle of our faith; after the first knowledge that there is a God in existence it is necessary to believe with complete faith that He is simply, utterly one in the utmost degree of unity; He is not a physical being; no concepts about a physical being can apply to Him; nothing that can affect a physical being can affect Him; there is none second [like] to Him; and without Him there is no God. We are duty-bound to bear this belief in mind every occasion and moment ...

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DEUTERONOMY — 6:5 love

DEUT216 It is a positive commandment to love the blessed God with all one's heart, spirit and might as Scripture states, And you shall love Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might [this verse]. This is the way toward love for him: When we will meditate on His activities until we comprehend Him to the extent of our ability, the heart will become inflamed with a love for Him; this is the love that is essential for us. So let a person set his entire thought on affection for the blessed God. A man cannot love the Holy One, Blessed is He, except through knowledge, by comprehending Him. Through this knowledge the affection comes: if it [the knowledge] is a little, then a little [love]; if it is much, then much. Therefore a person needs to set himself solely to understand and grow wise through the fields of wisdom and comprehension that convey the glory of his Maker, to the extent of the ability that a person has to understand and realize. This is among the commandments that a person has a duty to observe at every occasion and every moment. Included in this mitzvah [is the obligation] to bring human beings closer to His service and worship (blessed is He), and to make Him beloved by His human beings, as Abraham our father did (peace abide with him) -- as Scripture states, and the souls that they had formed in Haran (B're'shith 12:5). For this reason the Holy One, Blessed is He, called him His friend, as it says, Abraham My friend (Yesha'yahu 41:8).

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DEUTERONOMY — 6:7 teach

DEUT271 It is a positive commandment to learn Torah and to teach it as Scripture states, and you shall teach them diligently to your children [this verse]. It is a religious duty that the words of the Torah should be sharp and clear in a person's mouth, and that he should not stammer over them. Whether one is poor or rich, or young or old; whether he is a man laden with suffering, a poor person sustained by charity who makes the rounds knocking on doors for alms -- he is duty-bound to set himself a fixed time for Torah study both by day and at night; for Scripture says, but you shall meditate in it day and night (Yehoshu'a 1:8). And he is duty-bound to study till the day of his death, for Scripture states, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life (D'varim 4:9). A religious duty lies on a father to study [Torah] with his son; he [the son] takes precedence over others. He also has an obligation to study with the son of his son, as Scripture says, and you shall make them known to your children and your children's children (ibid.). From the time a small child begins to speak, his father is to teach from Torah, saying (with him) the verse, Moses commanded us Torah (ibid. 33:4); and he has a duty to hire a teacher for him. A woman is free of the obligation of Torah study. Nevertheless, it is fitting for her to strive that her children should not be ignoramuses. The study of Torah is equal in importance to all the mitzvoth, since learning leads to action.

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DEUTERONOMY — 6:9 doorposts

DEUT278 It is a positive commandment to affix a m'zuzah at the entrance of the home as Scripture states, And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates [this verse]. In the m'zuzah [a rolled-up piece of parchment generally enclosed in a case] two sections of Scripture are written: Hear (ibid. 4-9); And it shall be if you hearken (ibid. 11:13-21). A person has a duty to take care about a m'zuzah, so that every time he enters or leaves he will encounter the unity of the God [written in the m'zuzah] and will remember his love for Him, and so he will awaken from his slumber and his errors in the vaping, empty matters of the present; and he will realize that nothing endures forever and ever except a knowledge of the Divine Rock-foundation of the world [God]. So he will return at once to his good sense and walk in the straightforward paths of decency.

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DEUTERONOMY — 6:13 fear

DEUT284 It is a positive commandment to fear Hashem as Scripture states, You shall fear Hashem your God [this verse]. The way toward reverent fear of Him is like the way to love for Him, as outlined [See Deuteronomy 6:5 love CCCBM 15]. When a sin comes to one's hand, he is duty-bound to arouse his spirit [to know] that the holy One, Blessed is He, watches every action of human beings. This is among the commandments that a person is obligated to observe at every occasion, constantly. And reverent fear includes the requirement not to pronounce the name of Heaven [God] in vain, purposelessly.

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DEUTERONOMY — 6:13 serve

DEUT289 It is a positive precept to pray every day to the Blessed God for Scripture says, and Him shall you serve [this verse]; and through the Oral Tradition our Sages of blessed memory learned (Talmud Bavli, Ta'anith 2a) that this service means prayer. For Scripture states, and to serve Him with all your heart (D'varim 11:13). What service is with the heart? -- prayer. The commandment is that a person should relate the praises of the Holy One, Blessed is He; after that he should ask his needs; and after that he has to give praise and thanks to the Blessed God. It is necessary to pray with the focused attention of the heart; one should turn his heart away from every thought, and he should see himself as though standing before the shechinah. He should not produce his prayer like someone who is carrying a burden and throws it down and goes his way. Neither should he pray with a troubled and disturbed mind.

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DEUTERONOMY — 7:2 mercy

DEUT326 It is a negative commandment to have no mercy on idol-worshipers as Scripture says, nor shall you show mercy to them [this verse]. If someone sees an idol-worshiper drowning, he is not to save him. In his illness, he is not to cure him. If he is afraid of him, or there is the consideration of [consequent] enmity, let him cure him for a fee, but not for nothing. It is, however, forbidden to end the man's life with one's own hands or to push him into a pit, and so on, if the other makes no hostile attack against him. One is not to give him any free gift, nor is one to speak his prayers, and all the more certainly not in praise of his actions.

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DEUTERONOMY — 10:20 cling

DEUT477 It is a positive commandment to be attached to Torah scholars and their disciples for Scripture says, and to Him shall you cling [this verse]; and the Sages of blessed memory explained (Talmud Bavli, K'thuboth 111b); Whoever adheres to Torah scholars, it is as though he were attached to the shechinah (Divine Presence). Therefore a person should marry a daughter of a Torah scholar, and he should give his daughter in marriage to a Torah scholar. He should eat with him and have him benefit from his wealth. He should wallow in the dust of the feet of Torah scholars, and drink in their words thirstily.

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