Sefer Chut Hameshulosh quotes Rav Akiva Eiger zt”l as asking how one can be commanded to love Hashem. Love is a feeling – and how can one be told what to feel?
He says that the answer is found in the concluding words of the tefillah of “Ahavah Rabbah.” We recite: “Who chooses His nation Yisroel with love.” If we recognize that Hashem loves us, it is incumbent upon us to love Him in return. It is stated that “like reflections from water, so is the heart of man.” It is up to us to recognize His love, and once we do so, we will naturally love Him.
Ahavas Yisroel Leads to Ahavas Hashem:
There is also a simple way to come to love Hashem. It is related that a man once came to Rav Avrohom of Stretin zy”a, the student and successor of the Saraf of Sterlisk zy”a, and said, “I have heard that you give people segulos, which provide great benefit to them. Please give me a segulah for yiras shomayim.”
The Rebbe replied, “There is no segulah for yiras shomayim. There only is a segulah for ahavas shomayim.”
The man said, “Ahavas shomayim is even better than yiras shomayim. Please give me that segulah.”
The Rebbe told him, “Ahavas Yisroel is a segulah for ahavas shomayim. If one genuinely loves Jews, he will come to love Hashem.”
One Can Serve Hashem Anywhere:
Rashi explains the words “v’ahavatah es Hashem Elokecha” to mean that “one should not be divided from Hamakom (Hashem).” The Bais Aharon quotes Rav Shlomo of Karlin zy”a as explaining this to mean that one should serve Hashem no matter where he is.
There are people who do not serve Hashem properly in a specific place, and they blame it on the place by saying that if they would be in a better location, they would be able to serve Him better. Rashi is teaching us not to think this way. He is saying that one should not separate himself from “the place”, meaning that one should realize that his location is not the cause of his failures to properly serve Hashem. The proof of this is that Hashem is the One who puts a person in whatever place he finds himself, and if Hashem puts someone in a specific location, it must be that he can serve Him in the place.
