Six Levels of Service

אַחֲר י ה' אֱלֹ קיכֶם ת ל כו וְאֹתוֹ תִּירָּ או וְאֶת-מִּצְוֹתָּיו ת ִּש ְ מֹרו ו בְקֹלוֹ תִּש ְמָּעו וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹדו ו בוֹ תִּדְ ב ָּקו ן: דברים פרק יג ,ה

Sifrei:

1. This is the positive Mitzvos.
2. This is the Fear of HaShem should be upon you.
3. This is the negative Mitzvos.
4. Listen to the voice of the Prophets.
5. Serve Hashem in the Mikdash.
6. Separate yourself from a foreign service and cling to HaShem.

Ramban:

1. Follow the counsel of HaShem (and not false prophets).
2. Believe in Him in Whose Hand is to reward and punish the soul of every living being.
3. Refers to the law of Moshe.
4. Do whatever He commands to do through his true prophets.
5. Repeated (from an earlier verse) to stress not have any consideration of a false prophet even if they perform signs or wonders.
6. Warning not to worship HaShem in combination with anything besides Him.

Malbim: Going after Hashem and not Avodah Zarah

1. Follow in the ways of HaShem (be kind, clothe the naked, bury the dead, visit the sick, etc.).
2. Fear only HaShem.
3. From the negative mitzvos do not follow Avodah Zarah.
4. Do not follow false prophets.
5. Service of HaShem should only be done in the Mikdash.
6. One’s soul is a part of HaShem and one should cleave to Him and not to any alternatives.

Or haChaim: Six orders of the Mishnah

1. זרעים Person must eat properly to serve HaShem.
2. מועד alluded by the word ואתו (with Shabbos and Yom Tov) exemplifies the Fear of HaShem.
3. נשים Guard the mitzvos involving family purity.
4. נזיקים Need to incline your ear to judge properly.
5. קדשים Laws of service in the Mikdash.
6. טהרות Through the practice of keeping spiritual cleanliness one approaches G-dliness.

Chassidus: Connection of increasing levels during the morning Tefilah

1. Love of HaShem expressed from beginning of the service through first paragraph of Shema.
2. Awe of HaShem expressed in the second paragraph of Shema.
3. Next level of truth involves the movement of the heart expressed in paragraph אמת ויציב.
4. Next level of self-nullification expressed in verse preceding Amida (אד' שפתי תפתח).
5. Level of full service like a servant expressed in the standing Amida.
6. Final level of service is to engage with the physical world, to cling with HaShem (to not fall).

Chassidus: Connection of increasing level during the time of repentance

1. Month of Elul – Service of Love.
2. Days of Selichos and Rosh HaShana – Days of Awe.
3. Rosh HaShana also includes the mitzvah of Shofar (combining the service of love and awe).
4. 10 days of Teshuvah – special days of service.
5. Service of Yom Kippur.
6. Neilah and the conclusion of Yom Kippur when saying Shema Yisrael – becoming one.