Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
ואהבת. עֲשֵׂה דְּבָרָיו מֵאַהֲבָה, אֵינוֹ דוֹמֶה הָעוֹשֶׂה מֵאַהֲבָה לָעוֹשֶׂה מִיִּרְאָה, הָעוֹשֶׂה אֵצֶל רַבּוֹ מִיִּרְאָה, כְּשֶׁהוּא מַטְרִיחַ עָלָיו מַנִּיחוֹ וְהוֹלֵךְ לוֹ (שם):
Fulfil His commands out of love, for one who acts out of love is not like him (is on a higher plane than one) who acts out of fear. He who serves his master out of fear, if he (the master) troubles him overmuch, leaves him and goes away
ואהבת תשמח לעשות דבר שייטב בעיניו כאשר תבין שאין תכלית נכבד כזה:
ואהבת, you will then enjoy doing things which are pleasing to Him when you understand that there is nothing in this world which is more worth doing.
(1) The emotion experienced in the presence or threat of danger
(3) profound reverence and awe especially toward God
לֹא־תְקַלֵּ֣ל חֵרֵ֔שׁ וְלִפְנֵ֣י עִוֵּ֔ר לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן מִכְשֹׁ֑ל וְיָרֵ֥אתָ מֵּאֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
אִם־לֹ֨א תִשְׁמֹ֜ר לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵי֙ הַתּוֹרָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את הַכְּתוּבִ֖ים בַּסֵּ֣פֶר הַזֶּ֑ה לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־הַשֵּׁ֞ם הַנִּכְבָּ֤ד וְהַנּוֹרָא֙ הַזֶּ֔ה אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
If you fail to observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching that are written in this book, to reverence this honored and awesome Name, the LORD your God,
אטו יראת שמים מילתא זוטרתא היא והאמר רבי חנינא משום רבי שמעון בן יוחי אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בבית גנזיו אלא אוצר של יראת שמים שנאמר יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו
Is fear of Heaven a minor matter? Didn’t Rabbi Ḥanina say in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: The Holy One, Blessed be He, has nothing in his treasury other than a treasure of fear of Heaven, as it is stated: “Fear of the Lord is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). The Lord values and treasures fear of Heaven over all else.
הכלל כי בתחלה בא לאדם היראה ואחר היראה בא התענוג והתענוג הוא גנוז בהיראה, כי אם היה בא התענוג בתחלה לא היה העבדות נחשב כלל, כי לא היה עבדות כלל מצד בחירה רק מחמת התענוג ולכן צריך להיות התענוג טמיר וגנוז, רק צריך האדם ליגע עצמו ביראת ה' כל הימים, ואחר כך משיג התענוג.
we also have a rule that although man’s spiritual journey in this world commences with a dose of reverence and awe for Hashem, this is followed by a feeling of pleasure which proves to have been “hidden” within the folds of the garment called יראה, awe. The reason why this is so is that had service of the Lord commenced with feelings of pleasure, its ethical value would have been null and void, as “serving” the Lord would have been turned into an entirely pleasurable act, not something that is the result of choosing this option in the knowledge that the alternative appeared to offer more immediate rewards. This is the reason why the pleasurable aspects of practicing reverence and awe for the Lord need to be hidden during life on this earth. When man “tires himself out” during a lifetime of service to his Creator, then G’d will open His treasure chamber in the heavens so that he will enjoy pleasure.
וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃
(יג) לִשְׁמֹ֞ר אֶת־מִצְוֺ֤ת יְהוָה֙ וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לְט֖וֹב לָֽךְ׃
And now, O Israel, what does the L-rd your G-d ask of you but to fear the L-rd your G-d, to walk in all of His ways, to love Him, and to serve the L-rd your G-d with all of your heart and with all of your soul, (13) keeping the LORD’s commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good.
ואהבת. אמר בתוספת וא''ו, לומר מלבד מצות שמע ישראל שהוא קבלת עול מלכות שמים היא מצות אהבת ה'. עוד ירצה להעיר להקודם לאהבה על דרך אומרם ז''ל (זוהר ח''ג נ''ו) אין אדם משיג גדר האהבה עד שתקדים בו היראה, והוא אומרו ואהבת מלבד גדר היראה, ואומרו את ה' פירוש על ידי האהבה אדם מתדבק בה' והוא אומרו את ה':
The conjunctive letter ו means that not only is there a commandment to accept the authority of the Kingdom of G'd but there is an additional commandment to love G'd. The sequence of the verses also teaches that we must not make the mistake of believing that love of G'd is possible without an initial dose of fear of the Lord. The Zohar volume three page 56 spells this out. The letter ו then means that after we have achieved a degree of fear of the Lord we will be able to develop love for Him. The reason the Torah uses the word את which implies joining something is to teach us that the means to develop דבקות ה׳, an affinity for G'd, is by loving G'd in addition to fearing Him.
