This week’s portion, “Ekev” – literally, “after which,” as in God telling the People of Israel: “In the days after which you will obey my laws …” – is a direct continuation of last week’s portion, which introduced us to the first section of the “Sh’ma” (not “Shema,” as all English translations insist upon; there is no “e” there). Today’s portion introduces us to the second part of the Sh’ma, and allows us to focus entirely on this magnificent prayer. And while I’d be happy to receive credit for the ideas listed below, they are not mine: I am merely delivering the ideas of Prof. Yeshayahu Leibovitz (see his On the Reading of Sh’ma, in Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State 39 (Harvard, 1992); this is a wonderful article, which begins with the ever-so Leibovitzian statement: “I know of no ways to faith other than faith itself”). Leibovitz, in turn, claims also to be adding nothing new – he relies on the Rambam (Maimonides). And so on and so forth. Obviously, in the short space I have here I will provide only a glimpse, a taste of the many things that can be said on this very unique text. In fact, today I will only dwell on one word, and one word only, which appears at the beginning of the text. But let us begin with what is really important – the text of the Sh’ma.
The Sh’ma is Judaism’s most important text. It is also its most sacred. In fact, it is nothing short of Judaism’s defining text. The Mishna opens with it. (“From what time may one recites Sh’ma?” (Tractat Be’rachot A (a), Z’raim)) Throughout history, many a Jew had recited it – of their free will – as their last words, under the most horrific of circumstances. Every practicing Jew still states the text twice a day, every single day of their adult life.
And yet, to many – most? – Jews worldwide, this fundamental text is not well known at all. This incredible document of Jewish heritage is no longer a part of every Jew’s vocabulary. Let us, then, introduce it back to the readers; and then comment on only one word in it.
The Text of Sh’ma Israel
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. (Sh’ma Israel, Adonai Elo’hei’cha, Adonai Echad).
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.
And if you shall hear and adhere to My commandments which I enjoin upon you this day, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I will give rain for your land at the proper time, the early rain and the late rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be sated. Take care lest your heart be lured away, and you turn astray and worship alien gods and bow down to them. For then the Lord's wrath will flare up against you, and He will close the heavens so that there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce, and you will swiftly perish from the good land which the Lord gives you. Therefore, place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul, and bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, to speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates - so that your days and the days of your children may be prolonged on the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them for as long as the heavens are above the earth.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to attach a thread of blue on the fringe of each corner. They shall be to you as tzizit, and you shall look upon them and remember all the commandments of the Lord and fulfill them, and you will not follow after your heart and after your eyes by which you go astray - so that you may remember and fulfill all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I, the Lord, am your God. True.
The “Love” of Sh’ma
How does the Sh'ma open? After the ceremonial introductory sentence – constituting the notion of one God, which is our God, and calling upon Him to listen to us (and not the other way around; not a trivial idea, which sparked many a discussion) – the Sh’ma begins with an order, a decree; and that decree is to love. And the decree is not to love your neighbor (as yourself), or your spouse, or even your children. No, the most basic decree of the Jewish Faith is to love God. In fact, to be more accurate, this is no ordinary love one is ordered to feel; the love at issue here is nothing short of the ultimate love: “with all your heart, and all your sole, and all your might.” Indeed, as Rabbi Akiva is famous for saying: “With all thy sole, meaning even when they have taken away your sole you would still love Him.” Unfortunately, this wonderful statement has turned into horrific fact too many times throughout our history, beginning with Rabbi Akiva himself (who was executed by the Romans with iron flesh-combs).
Of the many enormous questions raised by this particular word-choice – to love your God – I will (very superficially) look at two: Why was love chosen over all other possible relations with God; and what does love mean in this particular context.
Why “Love”?
One would expect – after reading almost the entire Five Books of Moses – to find a completely different title to describe the desired relationships between every Jewish person and their God: “fear” (“And you shall fear the Lord your God”), “obey” (“And you shall obey the Lord your God”), “abide by,” “acknowledge the greatness of,” or, perhaps most obviously – “believe in” (“And you shall believe in the Lord your God.”). Of all the stories we have read, the demand from the Israelite was never to love their God but to follow Him (while abandoning all other Gods, to be sure). So why the need for “love” all of a sudden? Where did this requirement come from?
The answer is at once surprising and very obvious: When the Torah text came to describe the desired relations between a Jewish person and their God, it was obviously bound by the limits of words – there is no way to describe such relations without words. And within those boundaries – within words – what is the strongest feeling a person could ever feel? What is the word that would signify, more than any other, the desired relationship between a person and their God? The answer is clear: It must be love. While this is no “ordinary” love (more on that in a minute), this is the strongest, most experimental, most tantalizing feeling every person is capable of experiencing. And that’s the type of feelings they must – ordered to! – feel in relation to their God. “Take your biggest emotional commitment” the Torah tells us “and apply it to your relationship with God.” That is why love – and not any other feeling or condition – was selected to describe the desired relationship with God.
What does it mean ”to love” your God?
We all love. Most people love themselves (and politicians, some believe, love themselves more than any other person). Almost everyone love their children, if they are blessed with having any; most people love (at least some portion) of their families. But we also love money, and whatever it is it may buy for us – clothes, expensive gadgets, “shopping sprees,” and the like. We also love vacations; we love “doing nothing”; we even love to fall in love with other people… In short, we love many things and, more importantly, we love in many ways, shapes, and forms. Which of these feelings, if any, best describes the “love” we are ordered to feel towards God? Should we love Him the way we love ourselves? The way we love our new home? The way we love being on vacation?
Leibovitz – following the Rambam – has a very clear answer here: No. The word “love,” recall, is only used here as a gap filler – “The Torah speaks in the language of humans”; the word is merely used here as there was no other word that could better describe the elated condition one should experience in their relationship with God. But its concrete meaning here, argues Leibovitz, is actually explained to us in great detail: “The unintelligible verse “and you shall love the Lord your God” is elucidated through its sequel: “And these words which I command you this day should be in your heart.” The acceptance of the yoke of Torah and Mitzvoth is [in and of itself] the love of God, and it is [also] this that constitutes faith in God.” (id., at 44) So, according to Leibovitz, the act of believing in God, wholeheartedly, the condition of having faith in Him, is – ipso facto – the condition of “loving” Him.
But here is also where Leibovitz and I part ways: While his interpretation is completely plausible – and probably more “correct” in terms of Halachic thinking – I would like to adopt a more romantic, independent, and somewhat anarchistic notion of the content of “love” for God as it appears in the Sh’ma. In my mind, while we all love many things – as we have noted before – we also all love in different ways from each other. For example, while every reader of this post has uttered (and hopefully heard) the words “I love you” to someone else, each person felt, and meant, different things by saying these exact same words.
Thus, I completely agree with Leibovitz that the Torah chose the term “love,” indeed, to denote the highest level of feelings each of us may reach – and that is the level, and power, of feelings we should be aiming at God. But as to the content of those feelings – in my mind – the Torah gave us complete freedom; everyone may love God in the way they see fit, as long as they truly love (nothing short of that) their God. And just like you know that you love someone else – you feel it, it is burning within you – so you will know you truly love your God. This is an internal process; you don’t need to demonstrate or report it in any way to anyone else; this is a dialogue carried out only between you and your God. True, the performing of the Mitzvoth would be a great way to show that love and demonstrate it to the outside world. In other words, the performing of the Mitzvot would be a great way to notify everyone that you do love your God; but just like with marriage – which is an announcement to the whole world on love – it is very desirable notion, but not a necessary precondition for the feeling of love. Thus, to quote the Beatles, all you need is love; choose any way to experience it, and you will be performing the Sh’ma as directed.
Shabbat Shalom,
Doron
Shabbat Shalom,
Doron
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