BS’D
“And you shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart and all your soul and all your resources” (Devarim, 6:15). Masechet Avot teaches there are three levels of love of Hashem: with the heart, soul and resources.
Love of Hashem ideally should be unconditional; however it generally emerges out of condition and in time elevates to absolute love. Intellectually we recognize that all of life’s gifts come from Hashem and that He intimately takes care of all our needs. However the pathway to feeling His unconditional love is by stirring the heart to appreciate all of life’s gifts and acknowledging how much He loves us.
Every good idea, every thought, every feeling, our body, our soul, every small detail… our children, our spouse, our family, our money… everything is a gift.
Think about it. Where did it all come from? We often falsely believe that we earned it all with the help of Hashem. But this is not so… He gave, gives and will continue to bestow life’s gifts to us. We didn’t help at all!
The obligation to ‘love Hashem your G-d’ begins with an intellectual awareness that we are completely dependent on His unconditional loving-kindness. This in turn stirs our heart with a constant desire to draw closer to Him at every given moment.
