: (דברים ו, ה) ָ ך ֶ ד ֹ א ְ ל מ ָ כ ְ ב ּ ו ָ ך ְ ׁ ש ְ פ ַ ל נ ָ כ ְ ב ּ ו ָ ך ְ ב ָ ב ְ ל ל ָ כ ְ ּ ב ָ יך ֶ ק ֹ ל ֱ ת ה' א ֵ א ָ ּ ת ְ ב ַ ה ָ א ְ ו
You shall love Hashem your G-d will all your heart, with all your soul and with all your resources. (Devarim 6:5)
We are commanded to love Hashem, so let’s talk about love.
It says in Shir Hashirim:
ה ָ ב ֲ ה ַ א ָ ת ה ֶ ת א ֹ ו ּ ב ַ כ ְ ל ּ לו ְ כ ּ א יו ֹ ים ל ִ ּ ב ַ ם ר ִ י ַ מ ֹ יתו ֵ ּ ן ב ֹ ל הו ָ ּ ת כ ֶ א ׁ יש ִ ן א ֵ ּ ת ִ ם י ִ א ָ ה ּ פו ְ ט ְ ׁ ש ִ א י ֹ ל ת ֹ רו ָ ה ְ נ ּ ו ֹ לו ּ זו ּ בו ָ ז י ֹ ו ּ ה ב ָ ב ֲ ה ַ א ָ ּ ב
– Great waters cannot extinguish love, and rivers cannot wash it away. If a man will give all the wealth of his house for love, he will be despised.
The Brisker Rov explained that this verse is speaking of three different matters. The first two are the ways by which the nations of the world seek to ruin the Jewish people. One is by making harsh decrees against the observance of Judaism, by threatening to kill anyone who learns Torah and keeps mitzvos. An example was the oppressive Greek decrees that preceded the Chanukah miracle.
The other way by which non-Jews seek to ruin us is exactly the opposite. They reach out to Jews in friendship and draw them into the non-Jewish way of life. This is the danger of דו ְ מ ְ ל ִ ּ י ַ ם ו ִ י ֹ ו ּ ג ַ ב ּ בו ְ ר ֳ ע ְ ת ִ ּ י ַ ו ם ֶ יה ֵ ׂ ש ֲ ע ַ מ – “They mixed in with the nations and learned their deeds.”
The third matter spoken of in the above verse from Shir Hashirim is a situation in which a Jew must forfeit all his property in order to keep the Torah. Jews need to be ready to give up everything they have, for the sake of Hashem.
Accordingly, “Great waters” symbolize non-Jews who try to cool down the Jewish people’s fervent devotion to Torah and draw them into a non-Jewish way of life. The verse says they will not succeed on this. They “cannot extinguish love.” The love that Jews have for Hashem is inextinguishable.
“Rivers” symbolizes the powerful stream of harsh decrees and persecutions to which the Jewish people is subjected. The verse says that also this “cannot wash it away.” It is incapable of wiping out the Jewish people’s love for Hashem.
“If a man will give all the wealth of his house for love, he will be despised” expresses the idea that all the money in the world will not succeed in turning a Jew away from his love of Hashem. Jews will despise all wealth rather than abandon Hashem.
These three things correspond to the three aspects of loving Hashem mentioned in the Shema. The first is loving Hashem bechol levavecha, with both the good inclination and the evil inclination. This corresponds to the situation of non-Jews reaching out to entice us into the non-Jewish way of life.
The second aspect of loving Hashem mentioned in the Shema is loving Hashem bechol nafshecha, even if Hashem takes our very life. This corresponds to the situation of non-Jews threatening our lives if we keep the Torah.
The third aspect of loving Hashem mentioned in the Shema is loving Hashem bechol me’odecha, with all our property, with all our resources. This corresponds to a situation in which we must sacrifice all our material possessions in order to keep the commands of the Torah.
