(יב) וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה יקוק אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־יקוק אֱלֹקֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יקוק אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ (יג) לִשְׁמֹ֞ר אֶת־מִצְוֺ֤ת יקוק וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לְט֖וֹב לָֽךְ׃
(12) And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God demand of you? Only this: to revere the LORD your God, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and soul, (13) keeping the LORD’s commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good.
(יט) וַאֲהַבְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־הַגֵּ֑ר כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(19) You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
What The Angels Taught
The angels teach us
that stillness
and awe
are holy.
The silent question remains:
How does one remain still and in awe?
Moshe implores us to revere Hashem, no easy task. Michael Goldberg taught that yirat shamayim is the sense that one is walking on holy ground. Since there is no place devoid of Hashem's presence, we are always walking on holy ground. Imagine for a moment that you are watching a sunset from the top of a mountain and you are surrounded by strangers. In that moment, the shared awe would connect all in an atmosphere of love. When we are in awe, we cannot help but walk in His paths.
His paths are ones that implore us to love the stranger. As Jews, our mission is to spread the knowledge of G-d to the whole world, to each person! As we know, our mission is undermined whenever a blanket statement is made leading to hatred of any group such as Arabs, Muslims, or LBGTQ people. When there is disagreement, Hashem wants us to disagree out of love, wanting what is best for each other.
May Hashem give us the strength we need to follow the Torah to bring our people and the world close to Him.