“And you shall love Hashem with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your wealth and possessions.” (Devarim 6:5)
The Ohr HaChaim brings the three types of material love that are listed in Moed Katan, 28a: Love for our children, love for ourselves and our life, and love of money and physical possessions. In the original language, these are Banei, Chayei U’Mezonei.
Now, says the Ohr HaChaim, these three loves are the collective desire and passion that most people in the world share. If even one of these objects of deep desire is missing, a person is as if dead and lost, Heaven forbid. If a person should lack two of them — for example, being poor and childless — this can cause a person much heartache and distress, to the point where he is spiritually crippled and feels as if his heart breaks within him. Even if he may strengthen himself and his heart, this can still fail because his emotions could likely overcome him in his grief. The mesechta continues, informing us that having these things is not dependent on our Avodas Hashem or on our love for Him, meaning that even those who truly love Hashem could lack any of them.
In our pasuk, Hashem commands us to love Him even more than these three things (children, life, and money), even if, Heaven Forbid, they would be taken away from us. This is why the pasuk says to love Hashem “with all your heart” — this refers to our children, whom we love with all our hearts; “with all your soul” — this refers to our life; “and with all your material possessions.” Your love for Hashem must be greater than all these three and surpass them, even if they would be taken away.
The Ohr HaChaim then reverses this idea, explaining that if we are obligated to love Hashem more than our children, more than ourselves, and more than our money and possessions, and if our love for Hashem should so surpass the love for these that even if He were to take them away, we would still love Him, then how much more so should we love Hashem for having gifted us and granted us with any one of these three, and all the more so for those of us blessed with all three!
To help illustrate further just how great our love for Hashem must be, the Ohr HaChaim brings the following parable:
Imagine a childless person, longing for children to love and care for, and to carry on his name and legacy who is simultaneously also a pauper who is starving to death, lacking sustenance and nourishment. Then, imagine that a prophet visits, and reveals, in G-d’s name, that He will heal his sickness, that one day he shall be healthy and his wife shall bear him children, and that they shall also be blessed with unimaginable wealth.
Can you imagine how much this person would love the bearer of these glad tidings, and how much he will love Hashem, the Master Who grants him these gifts and bestows upon him life, health, wealth, and children?!
This is what Hashem commands of us all, obligating us to love Him forever and always, as if He filled your lack, having given children to the barren and childless, so love Him with all your heart! And love Him with all your soul, as if He returned your very soul to you, healed you and saved you from death! And love Him with all your possessions, as if He granted you immense wealth when you were poor. All these descriptions are to help us understand and be able to actualize just how much we should love Hashem.
The Ohr HaChaim then offers another mashal to illustrate how greatly our souls desire Hashem, so much so that it surpasses any love we have ever possibly experienced in this world:
There was once a wealthy merchant who had many possessions, and much land and holdings. One day, he learned that his life was in grave danger where he currently resided, so he decided that he must travel far away, to a distant land, in order to save his life. He feared what may happen to his wealth while on this long journey, so he figured out a way to convert all his possessions to something he could carry. He sold all he owned and purchased a valuable gemstone worth thousands of golden dinars.
He went on his way and eventually arrived at a distant city in a far-away land. There, he had hoped to build his fortune once more; however, by the time he arrived, he had already spent all his money, and having no other assets, he was left penniless and poor. So instead of the wealth he once enjoyed, he came to this new town as a pauper, living frugally like someone of no means.
Although our once wealthy merchant now lives like a vagabond, he can still gladly rejoice that he is out of harm’s way, since his journey had saved his life, and he is now safe, in a safe land and peaceful city. Furthermore, all his great wealth from his home country is, in fact, still with him, in the form of the priceless gemstone.
The merchant's home country is This World, and all the possessions he acquired there are our mitzvos. The danger to his life while living there is the risk we all face during our time on Earth, that we may sin, thereby losing our merits and connection to Hashem, Chalilah. The gemstone, which he acquired by trading in his possessions, represents our dveikus to Hashem, which has the potential to grow stronger and stronger with each mitzvah accomplished here. His new, safe home is, of course, the Next World, and in this section of the mashal, the wealth he lacks represents actual material prosperity, worth nothing in the World to Come.
We now can see that this extends even to our existence in this world: Even if we lack physical wealth, or children, or perhaps any of Hashem's material blessings during our lifetime, when we realize that true, eternal wealth comes in the currency of Mitzvos and dveikus, we will understand that this is the only thing truly worth investing in.
Just as our merchant realized that his inability to rebuild his fortune, though disappointing at first, paled in comparison to the fact that his life was now no longer in danger; so too, we must realize that the precious gemstone of our dveikus and Mitzvos ultimately outshines any other worldly pursuit — by a long shot.
Explains the Ohr HaChaim, when a person attaches to Hashem in dveikus and love, crowning Him King over himself and his life, this is a Heavenly acquisition worth more than all worldly wealth, because who or what can compare to Hashem?!
Though people may suffer and lack in this world, they can still rejoice in having acquired Hashem as their G-d, regardless of their Earthly circumstances. If they are fully invested in Him, then, at journey’s end, when they reach their final destination in the Next World, they will safely have their priceless reward with them forever.
