Saying I Love You and Meaning It by Rabbi Yitzi Oratz Immediately following its opening sentences, the SHEMA contains the following powerful verse: "And you shall love the L-rd, your G-d, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your resources" (Deuteronomy 6:5). This raises an obvious question: Can one be commanded to love? Love is the most sublime of human emotions, originating from the depths of ones heart & soul; is it possible to be commanded to love? An additional question can be asked -- what is the connection between the command to love G-d & the following verses which speak of having words of Torah "on our hearts" & to speak of them constantly, "when we arise & when we retire," "at home & on the road?" Furthermore, would it not be a more correct formulation to say that we should have words of Torah "on our minds?" The great Jewish scholar & philosopher Maimonides (1135-1204) addresses our questions. In his immortal legal code he writes as follows: What is the way to attain love . . . of G-d? When one contemplates His great and wondrous . . . creations, and sees in them His unequaled and infinite wisdom, he immediately loves and praises and exalts Him . . ." (Laws of the Foundations of Torah 2:2, see also Guide 3:28) In other words, according to Maimonides we are commanded to do acts that bring us to love G-d -- such as contemplating the brilliance of the natural world. Surely each & every one us has had a moment, maybe when staring at the stars on clear summer's night, when we feel deep inside that there is something great & beautiful in the world. At such moments our very soul proclaims "How great are your works, G-d, you make them all with wisdom" (Psalms 104). Nevertheless, the question remains. Do we not all know of brilliant scientists who spend their lives analyzing the natural world & come to the very opposite conclusion -- that the world is made up of randomness, the survival of the fittest? For this too Maimonides has a response. In his work "The Book of Comandments"(no. 3) we are told that to fulfill the commandment to love G-d we are to "comprehend His mitzvot" through Torah study. His proof text are the words of the Shema "And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart" which immediately follow "You shall love the L-rd your G-d." So which is it? Do we come to love G-d through contemplating His creations or contemplating His Torah? A parable: A cultured visitor to a famous art museum is shown a series of beautiful paintings but reacts to each with disdain, claiming to see only messy canvases. Finally, a member of his entourage hits upon the idea of cleaning the fellow's eyeglasses. Before one can perceive G-d's grandeur in the astounding magnificence of His creation -- we first need the wisdom of the Torah to guide & teach us. Once we understand that there is a purpose & meaning to the world we live in, a right and a wrong, only then when we approach the study of nature will we see G-d's fingerprints all over. Prior to that our glasses remain foggy. The heavens indeed proclaim the glory of G-d, but only when one has the Torah of G-d that restores the soul, makes the simple wise, and enlightens our eyes (Psalm 19. See Rabbi Avi Shafran, The Jewish Observer, December 2005, p. 40 - 41). What is the proper kind of love? - when one loves G-d with very powerful, great, and overflowing love . . . he finds himself constantly thinking about it as if he were love-sick such that his mind is never distracted . . . whether sitting or standing . . . (Maimonides Laws of Repentance 10:3). So let us say Shema, study Torah, & bring it from our intellect to our hearts so that we can see the beauty of the world and the evidence of G-d all around us. Then we can actually mean it when we say "G-D, I LOVE YOU" -- and thereby merit feeling G-d's everlasting love to us in return.