A Few Minutes a Day:
Sefer Likutei Yehuda published a letter written by his grandfather, the Imrei Emes zy”a, to his chasidim in America. The text of the letter is as follows:
“I received the funds that you sent and used half of it to complete our buildings and bais medrash. Boruch Hashem, I did not need the other half for any specific need. However, I am considering using it to create a committee to publish the chiddushim of my father (the Sefas Emes) zt”l, which currently are still in manuscript form. He only printed the Sefer Sefas Emes on the Torah. His main desire was to spend time learning Torah and to make sure to spend at least ten minutes every day to think about yiras Hashem and to fulfill at that time the command to ‘know this day and consider it in your heart that Hashem is G-d.’”
We see from this that a person is obligated to devote time every day to spend at least 10 minutes thinking about Hashem, with no distractions and no cell phone, etc. If one does this, he will come to know his Creator.
וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ כִּי ה' הוּא הָאֱלֹקִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת וגו' (ד, לט)
And you shall know this day and consider it in your heart that Hashem is G-d in heaven above, and upon the earth below... (4:39)
The Torah Is Our Arei Miklat:
Rabenu Bechaya quotes a Medrash (Devarim Rabbah, Parshas Va’eschonon) that says: “’This is the Torah.’ It is an addition to the arei milat. Just like arei miklat save a person from death, so too Torah does the same. Furthermore, Torah protects even more than arei miklat because arei miklat only protects those who kill by accident but Torah protects even those who sin deliberately.
“Klal Yisroel said to Moshe: If the arei miklat cease to exist, where will we run to escape? He told them that they should run to the Torah...”
Torah Only Protects One Who Loves It:
The Chasan Sofer zt”l adds that arei miklat only protect a person if he doesn’t hate the one that he accidentally killed (Devarim 19:4). So too, Torah only protects a person who has sinned if he does not hate Torah. One must love Torah for it to protect him.
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וגו' (ו, ה)
And you shall love Hashem your G-d with your entire heart and your entire life... (6:5)
אָנֹכִי ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וגו', לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ וגו' (ה, ו-ז)
I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt... You should not have to you... (5:6-7)
Every Motion is From Hashem:
Rav Moshe Leib of Sossov zy”a explains the words “Anochi...lo yihiye lecha” to mean: If you accept “Anochi” – if you recognize that Hashem is “the One” who controls the world – then “lo yihiye lecha” – you will not do anything on your own. You will know that every motion you make is from Hashem and you can do nothing on your own.
Loving Hashem Even Without The Heart:
Chazal say (Brachos 54A): “’With your entire life’ – even if it takes your life.”
Sefer Likutei Yehuda quotes his grandfather, the Chiddushei Harim zy”a as adding that one can deduce that “with all of your heart” also means that one must serve Hashem “even if it takes his heart.”
He explains that even if someone doesn’t have the heart to serve Hashem properly, he still must serve Him. He must serve Hashem as well as he can under the circumstances.
