Below you have a selection from Devarim, one of the Five Books of Moses. The passage quoted has been central in the Jewish pursuit of the meaning of life, the universe and everything for at least the last two thousand years, and the words were holy to a group of West-Semitic Canaanites (called "Israelites" :) already closer to three thousand years ago. (Remember that humans have only been writing for five thousand years.) Its clear from the contents of this book, that it attempts to capture what is sacred, what is holy, what is the higher good, what human life should be about. What do you feel when you read it?
(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ (ה) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ (ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (ח) וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ (ט) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזֻז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}
(4) Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone. (5) You shall love your God יהוה with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. (7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; (9) inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Let's get more into the text, using our exploration to map out and understand Jewish textual tradition. We'll start with a modern academic perspective as exemplified by the Jewish Study Bible. This lens views Judaism through the lens of the Enlightenment project of seeking "objective" knowledge about the world and humanity (including the texts sacred to religious cultures).
Selections from The Jewish Study Bible
Introduction and Commentary on Devarim (Bernard M. Levinson)
Deuteronomy may well be the first book to pose the problem of modernity. Its authors struggled with issues conventionally viewed as exclusively modern ones, such as the historical distance between past and present, the tension between tradition and the needs of the contemporary generation, and the distinction between divine revelation and human interpretation. Seen from this perspective, ancient Israel’s Deuteronomy becomes a remarkably contemporary text, one that challenges its readers to rethink their assumptions about time, about Scripture, and about religion. Of course, Deuteronomy is also a deeply traditional text that, more than any other book of the Bible, provides the foundation of Judaism. The religious conviction that God made a covenant with Israel at Sinai, and that the Torah embodies the terms of that covenant, is fundamental to Deuteronomy. Many familiar Jewish ritual objects, like the mezuzah, the tefillin, and the tzitzit (fringed garment), are, in part, based on Deuteronomy, as is Judaism’s most important prayer, the Shema (6.4–9). But the Shema is more than a prayer. Judaism understands its recitation to be a binding legal act in which individuals pledge their commitment to God. By reciting the Shema, the congregation in the synagogue brings the plot of Deuteronomy to life in the present, as it enacts and renews that oath of allegiance to God that, it believes, Israel first vowed on the plains of Moab.
The story begins just as the Israelites, encamped on the plains of Moab, stand poised finally to enter the promised land. The entry into Canaan would provide the long-awaited climax of the story that had begun with the promises to the ancestors in Genesis, and whose fulfillment had been delayed by the enslavement in Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness. Now, on the eve both of his death and of the nation’s entry into the land without him, Moses, portrayed as Deuteronomy’s speaker, arrests the narrative action in order to deliver a series of three speeches, grouped together as a long valedictory address. He reviews the nation’s history, expounds upon their laws, and instructs them about the importance of loyalty to God. He also adjures the nation, from the plains of Moab, to uphold this combination of law and theological instruction as a covenant, one that supplements the covenant previously sworn at Horeb (the name for the mountain of revelation, called Sinai elsewhere; 28.69). Only after the conclusion of these discourses and a following appendix (chs 31–34) does the overall narrative line resume with the account of the nation’s entry into Canaan in Joshua and Judges. [...]
Devarim 6 - The Shema. These vv. form the first paragraph of the important Jewish prayer called the Shema, after its first word, Heb for “Hear!” During the late Second Temple period, this prayer rose to special prominence both in the synagogue liturgy and in individual piety, a position that it still maintains. Strikingly, Deut. itself gives no indication that this passage is theologically central or liturgically important. Nor do any of the biblical passages that incorporate liturgical prayer refer to it (see Ezra 3.10–11; Neh. ch 9; 1 Chron. 16.7–36; 2 Chron. 5.11–14; 7.3); its formal recitation is not attested until late in the Second Temple period. The centrality of this text is likely the result of early rabbinic interpretation of the requirement to “recite [these words] … when you lie down and when you get up” (vv. 6–7). This interpretation led to recitation of the Shema twice daily, in the morning and at night. A similar injunction to “recite … these My words” is found at 11.18–19. Because of the double reference to “these words,” the prayer was formally defined as including both paragraphs (6.4–9; 11.13–21). A third paragraph was also added (Num. 15.37–41): the requirement to wear a garment whose fringes (tzitzit) provide a further context for reflection upon Torah and fulfilling its precepts.
Many modern readers regard the Shema as an assertion of monotheism, a view that is anachronistic. In the context of ancient Israelite religion, it served as a public proclamation of exclusive loyalty to Yhvh as the sole Lord of Israel. Subsequently, as the Shema became incorporated into the synagogue liturgy, its recitation was also given legal significance. The prayer was regarded as a legally binding oath to carry out the requirements of the Torah. Through the liturgical recitation of the Shema the worshipper thus reaffirms, twice daily, the original covenant ratification ceremony that, in the narrative of Deut., took place on the plains of Moab.
4–5: The Shema, with its call for complete personal devotion to God, became normative for the various Judaisms of the Second Temple period; in fact, vv. 4–5 were cited by Jesus as the “first” of all commandments (Mark 12.29–30). 4: The Lord … alone: NJPS correctly departs from the more familiar translation, “The Lord [Yhvh] our God, the Lord is one” (see translators’ note b, end). Each of the two interpretations is theoretically possible because, in Heb, it is possible to form a sentence by simply joining a subject and a predicate, without specifying the verb “to be.” The Heb here thus allows either “Yhvh, our God, Yhvh is one” or “Yhvh is our God, Yhvh alone.” The first, older translation, which makes a statement about the unity and the indivisibility of God, does not do full justice to this text (though it makes sense in a later Jewish context as a polemic against Christianity). The v. makes not a quantitative argument (about the number of deities) but a qualitative one, about the nature of the relationship between God and Israel. Almost certainly, the original force of the v., as the medieval Jewish exegetes in translators’ note b recognized, was to demand that Israel show exclusive loyalty to our God, Yhvh—but not thereby to deny the existence of other gods. In this way, it assumes the same perspective as the first commandment of the Decalogue, which, by prohibiting the worship of other gods, presupposes their existence (see 5.7 n.). Once true monotheism became more normative in the Second Temple period, this earlier perspective became unintelligible. Second Temple readers and translators of the Shema were thus forced to read this and similar passages in a way that made them consistent with monotheism (see 32.8 n.; cf. 4.15–31 n.; 5.9 n.). That process of reinterpretation is already evident in the LXX’s translation (3rd c. bce): “the Lord is one.” As the basis for most subsequent translations, that reading is the source for the common understanding of the v. [...]
5: Love, see 5.10 n. The paradox of commanding a feeling (as in Lev. 19.17–18) is resolved with the recognition that covenantal “love” does not refer to internal sentiment or to private emotion, but rather to loyalty of action toward both deity and neighbor (see 5.1–30 n.).
. 7: Recite them: This translation reflects the formal liturgical recitation of the prayer, a ritual that is postbiblical. The Heb is better rendered “speak about them” (see also Ps. 119.13, 46): to be mindful of and discuss the laws of the Torah. When you lie down and when you get up, possibly a merism signifying that one should reflect upon these Deuteronomic teachings at all times. Rabbinic interpretation, however, understands the phrase to refer literally to two distinct times: “in the evening” and “in the morning.” On that basis, the Shema is formally recited twice daily. So important is this obligation that the Mishnah begins with a debate about how to fulfill it properly: “From what time in the evening should one recite the Shema?” (m. Ber. 1.1).
Introduction and Commentary on Devarim (Bernard M. Levinson)
Deuteronomy may well be the first book to pose the problem of modernity. Its authors struggled with issues conventionally viewed as exclusively modern ones, such as the historical distance between past and present, the tension between tradition and the needs of the contemporary generation, and the distinction between divine revelation and human interpretation. Seen from this perspective, ancient Israel’s Deuteronomy becomes a remarkably contemporary text, one that challenges its readers to rethink their assumptions about time, about Scripture, and about religion. Of course, Deuteronomy is also a deeply traditional text that, more than any other book of the Bible, provides the foundation of Judaism. The religious conviction that God made a covenant with Israel at Sinai, and that the Torah embodies the terms of that covenant, is fundamental to Deuteronomy. Many familiar Jewish ritual objects, like the mezuzah, the tefillin, and the tzitzit (fringed garment), are, in part, based on Deuteronomy, as is Judaism’s most important prayer, the Shema (6.4–9). But the Shema is more than a prayer. Judaism understands its recitation to be a binding legal act in which individuals pledge their commitment to God. By reciting the Shema, the congregation in the synagogue brings the plot of Deuteronomy to life in the present, as it enacts and renews that oath of allegiance to God that, it believes, Israel first vowed on the plains of Moab.
The story begins just as the Israelites, encamped on the plains of Moab, stand poised finally to enter the promised land. The entry into Canaan would provide the long-awaited climax of the story that had begun with the promises to the ancestors in Genesis, and whose fulfillment had been delayed by the enslavement in Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness. Now, on the eve both of his death and of the nation’s entry into the land without him, Moses, portrayed as Deuteronomy’s speaker, arrests the narrative action in order to deliver a series of three speeches, grouped together as a long valedictory address. He reviews the nation’s history, expounds upon their laws, and instructs them about the importance of loyalty to God. He also adjures the nation, from the plains of Moab, to uphold this combination of law and theological instruction as a covenant, one that supplements the covenant previously sworn at Horeb (the name for the mountain of revelation, called Sinai elsewhere; 28.69). Only after the conclusion of these discourses and a following appendix (chs 31–34) does the overall narrative line resume with the account of the nation’s entry into Canaan in Joshua and Judges. [...]
Devarim 6 - The Shema. These vv. form the first paragraph of the important Jewish prayer called the Shema, after its first word, Heb for “Hear!” During the late Second Temple period, this prayer rose to special prominence both in the synagogue liturgy and in individual piety, a position that it still maintains. Strikingly, Deut. itself gives no indication that this passage is theologically central or liturgically important. Nor do any of the biblical passages that incorporate liturgical prayer refer to it (see Ezra 3.10–11; Neh. ch 9; 1 Chron. 16.7–36; 2 Chron. 5.11–14; 7.3); its formal recitation is not attested until late in the Second Temple period. The centrality of this text is likely the result of early rabbinic interpretation of the requirement to “recite [these words] … when you lie down and when you get up” (vv. 6–7). This interpretation led to recitation of the Shema twice daily, in the morning and at night. A similar injunction to “recite … these My words” is found at 11.18–19. Because of the double reference to “these words,” the prayer was formally defined as including both paragraphs (6.4–9; 11.13–21). A third paragraph was also added (Num. 15.37–41): the requirement to wear a garment whose fringes (tzitzit) provide a further context for reflection upon Torah and fulfilling its precepts.
Many modern readers regard the Shema as an assertion of monotheism, a view that is anachronistic. In the context of ancient Israelite religion, it served as a public proclamation of exclusive loyalty to Yhvh as the sole Lord of Israel. Subsequently, as the Shema became incorporated into the synagogue liturgy, its recitation was also given legal significance. The prayer was regarded as a legally binding oath to carry out the requirements of the Torah. Through the liturgical recitation of the Shema the worshipper thus reaffirms, twice daily, the original covenant ratification ceremony that, in the narrative of Deut., took place on the plains of Moab.
4–5: The Shema, with its call for complete personal devotion to God, became normative for the various Judaisms of the Second Temple period; in fact, vv. 4–5 were cited by Jesus as the “first” of all commandments (Mark 12.29–30). 4: The Lord … alone: NJPS correctly departs from the more familiar translation, “The Lord [Yhvh] our God, the Lord is one” (see translators’ note b, end). Each of the two interpretations is theoretically possible because, in Heb, it is possible to form a sentence by simply joining a subject and a predicate, without specifying the verb “to be.” The Heb here thus allows either “Yhvh, our God, Yhvh is one” or “Yhvh is our God, Yhvh alone.” The first, older translation, which makes a statement about the unity and the indivisibility of God, does not do full justice to this text (though it makes sense in a later Jewish context as a polemic against Christianity). The v. makes not a quantitative argument (about the number of deities) but a qualitative one, about the nature of the relationship between God and Israel. Almost certainly, the original force of the v., as the medieval Jewish exegetes in translators’ note b recognized, was to demand that Israel show exclusive loyalty to our God, Yhvh—but not thereby to deny the existence of other gods. In this way, it assumes the same perspective as the first commandment of the Decalogue, which, by prohibiting the worship of other gods, presupposes their existence (see 5.7 n.). Once true monotheism became more normative in the Second Temple period, this earlier perspective became unintelligible. Second Temple readers and translators of the Shema were thus forced to read this and similar passages in a way that made them consistent with monotheism (see 32.8 n.; cf. 4.15–31 n.; 5.9 n.). That process of reinterpretation is already evident in the LXX’s translation (3rd c. bce): “the Lord is one.” As the basis for most subsequent translations, that reading is the source for the common understanding of the v. [...]
5: Love, see 5.10 n. The paradox of commanding a feeling (as in Lev. 19.17–18) is resolved with the recognition that covenantal “love” does not refer to internal sentiment or to private emotion, but rather to loyalty of action toward both deity and neighbor (see 5.1–30 n.).
. 7: Recite them: This translation reflects the formal liturgical recitation of the prayer, a ritual that is postbiblical. The Heb is better rendered “speak about them” (see also Ps. 119.13, 46): to be mindful of and discuss the laws of the Torah. When you lie down and when you get up, possibly a merism signifying that one should reflect upon these Deuteronomic teachings at all times. Rabbinic interpretation, however, understands the phrase to refer literally to two distinct times: “in the evening” and “in the morning.” On that basis, the Shema is formally recited twice daily. So important is this obligation that the Mishnah begins with a debate about how to fulfill it properly: “From what time in the evening should one recite the Shema?” (m. Ber. 1.1).
Let's now switch modes. Above, we were in the mode of approaching "Judaism" through an academic lens. Now let's approach "Torah" in light of the inner structure of this spiritual-religious-textual tradition. To get us oriented, we'll jump to the Mishneh Torah, the medieval work that sought to render the Oral Torah in one coherent recitation:
(א) פַּעֲמַיִם בְּכָל יוֹם קוֹרְאִין קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, בָּעֶרֶב וּבַבֹּקֶר. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ו ז) ״וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ״ בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ בְּנֵי אָדָם שׁוֹכְבִין וְזֶה הוּא לַיְלָה. וּבְשָׁעָה שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ בְּנֵי אָדָם עוֹמְדִין וְזֶה הוּא יוֹם:
(1) We [are obligated to] recite the Shema twice daily - in the evening and in the morning - as [Deuteronomy 6:7] states: "...when you lie down and when you rise" - i.e., when people are accustomed to sleep - this being the night - and when people are accustomed to rise, this being daytime.
Now let's get deeper into the way the Oral Torah approaches Written Torah in Jewish tradition. In the text above, the Rambam laid out the normative finished product, but he didn't "open up the hood", that is, let you in on how the Rabbis think. Let's explore some of the rabbinic commentary on the verses we've studied.
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔...בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֥
You shall love your God יהוה with all your heart
Let's focus in on three of the Hebrew words which appear in Devarim 6:5:
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔...
בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ
Optional digital adventure: Below appears a commentary on Devarim. What statum of Jewish literature does this commentary belong to? To figure that out, click on the title of the text to get to the text in the sefaria library, then click on a passage, opening the options on the side. Then click "about text" at the top of the options. With the information from Sefaria, see if you can situate text in the first chart we looked at here:
Bonus question: With the information above, can you situate this text in the Rambam's narrative about the transmission of the Oral Torah?
Bonus question: With the information above, can you situate this text in the Rambam's narrative about the transmission of the Oral Torah?
בכל לבבך. בשני יצריך: ביצר טוב ויצר רע.
דבר אחר: בכל לבבך: בכל לב בך, שלא יהיה לבך חלוק על המקום:
"with all your heart": with both of your inclinations, the good and the evil.
Another interpretation: "with all your heart": With every heart in you, Let your heart not be "divided" regarding God.
הָעוֹבֵד מֵאַהֲבָה עוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה וּבַמִּצְוֹת וְהוֹלֵךְ בִּנְתִיבוֹת הַחָכְמָה לֹא מִפְּנֵי דָּבָר בָּעוֹלָם וְלֹא מִפְּנֵי יִרְאַת הָרָעָה וְלֹא כְּדֵי לִירַשׁ הַטּוֹבָה אֶלָּא עוֹשֶׂה הָאֱמֶת מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא אֱמֶת וְסוֹף הַטּוֹבָה לָבוֹא בִּגְלָלָהּ. וּמַעֲלָה זוֹ הִיא מַעֲלָה גְּדוֹלָה מְאֹד וְאֵין כָּל חָכָם זוֹכֶה לָהּ. וְהִיא מַעֲלַת אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ שֶׁקְּרָאוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אוֹהֲבוֹ לְפִי שֶׁלֹּא עָבַד אֶלָּא מֵאַהֲבָה. וְהִיא הַמַּעֲלָה שֶׁצִּוָּנוּ בָּהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל יְדֵי משֶׁה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ו ה) "וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ". וּבִזְמַן שֶׁיֶּאֱהֹב אָדָם אֶת ה' אַהֲבָה הָרְאוּיָה מִיָּד יַעֲשֶׂה כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת מֵאַהֲבָה:
One who serves [God] out of love occupies himself in the Torah and the mitzvot and walks in the paths of wisdom for no ulterior motive: not because of fear that evil will occur, nor in order to acquire benefit. Rather, he does what is true because it is true, and ultimately, good will come because of it.
This is a very high level which is not merited by every wise man. It is the level of our Patriarch, Abraham, whom God described as, "he who loved Me," for his service was only motivated by love.
God commanded us [to seek] this rung [of service] as conveyed by Moses as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "Love God, your Lord.'' When a man will love God in the proper manner, he will immediately perform all of the mitzvot motivated by love.
This is a very high level which is not merited by every wise man. It is the level of our Patriarch, Abraham, whom God described as, "he who loved Me," for his service was only motivated by love.
God commanded us [to seek] this rung [of service] as conveyed by Moses as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "Love God, your Lord.'' When a man will love God in the proper manner, he will immediately perform all of the mitzvot motivated by love.
וְכֵיצַד הִיא הָאַהֲבָה הָרְאוּיָה. הוּא שֶׁיֹּאהַב אֶת ה' אַהֲבָה גְּדוֹלָה יְתֵרָה עַזָּה מְאֹד עַד שֶׁתְּהֵא נַפְשׁוֹ קְשׁוּרָה בְּאַהֲבַת ה' וְנִמְצָא שׁוֹגֶה בָּהּ תָּמִיד כְּאִלּוּ חוֹלֶה חֳלִי הָאַהֲבָה שֶׁאֵין דַּעְתּוֹ פְּנוּיָה מֵאַהֲבַת אוֹתָהּ אִשָּׁה וְהוּא שׁוֹגֶה בָּהּ תָּמִיד בֵּין בְּשִׁבְתּוֹ בֵּין בְּקוּמוֹ בֵּין בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהוּא אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה. יֶתֶר מִזֶּה תִּהְיֶה אַהֲבַת ה' בְּלֵב אוֹהֲבָיו שׁוֹגִים בָּהּ תָּמִיד כְּמוֹ שֶׁצִּוָּנוּ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ. וְהוּא שֶׁשְּׁלֹמֹה אָמַר דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל (שיר השירים ב ה) "כִּי חוֹלַת אַהֲבָה אָנִי". וְכָל שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים מָשָׁל הוּא לְעִנְיָן זֶה:
What is the proper [degree] of love? That a person should love God with a very great and exceeding love until his soul is bound up in the love of God. Thus, he will always be obsessed with this love as if he is lovesick.
[A lovesick person's] thoughts are never diverted from the love of that woman. He is always obsessed with her; when he sits down, when he gets up, when he eats and drinks. With an even greater [love], the love for God should be [implanted] in the hearts of those who love Him and are obsessed with Him at all times as we are commanded [Deuteronomy 6:5: "Love God...] with all your heart and with all soul."
This concept was implied by Solomon [Song of Songs 2:5] when he stated, as a metaphor: "I am lovesick." [Indeed,] the totality of the Song of Songs is a parable describing [this love].
[A lovesick person's] thoughts are never diverted from the love of that woman. He is always obsessed with her; when he sits down, when he gets up, when he eats and drinks. With an even greater [love], the love for God should be [implanted] in the hearts of those who love Him and are obsessed with Him at all times as we are commanded [Deuteronomy 6:5: "Love God...] with all your heart and with all soul."
This concept was implied by Solomon [Song of Songs 2:5] when he stated, as a metaphor: "I am lovesick." [Indeed,] the totality of the Song of Songs is a parable describing [this love].
תָּנֵינָן, וְאָהַבְתָּ מַאן דְּרָחִים לֵיהּ לְמַלְכָּא, עָבִיד יַתִּיר טִיבוּ חֶסֶד עִם כֹּלָּא. וְחֶסֶד יַתִּירָא, הַהוּא דְּאִקְרֵי חֶסֶד דֶּאֱמֶת, דְּלָא בָּעֵי אֲגָר עָלֵיהּ, אֶלָּא בְּגִין רְחִימוּתָא דְּמַלְכָּא, דְּרָחִים לֵיהּ יַתִּיר, וּבִרְחִימוּתָא דְּמַלְכָּא תַּלְיָא חֶסֶד. וְעַל דָּא אִקְרֵי (ישעיה מא) אַבְרָהָם אוֹהֲבִי. וּבְגִין דְּרָחִים לֵיהּ יַתִּיר, אַסְגֵּי חֶסֶד בְּעָלְמָא. וְעַל דָּא, הָכָא וְאָהַבְתָּ. וּבִרְחִימוּתָא תַּלְיָא חֶסֶד, וְדָא הִיא בֵּיתָא תְּלִיתָאָה.
Trans. by Daniel Matt:
“We have learned: You shall love—because one loves the King greatly, he acts kindly toward all. The most precious חסד (ḥesed), kindness, is called ‘kindness of truth,’ for which one seeks no reward, but rather out of love for the King, whom he loves intensely. Ḥesed, kindness, depends on love for the King. So, Abraham, My lover (Isaiah 41:8)—because he loved Him so greatly, he spread kindness through the world. Thus, You shall love—kindness depends on love. This is the third compartment. 67
Commentary by Daniel Matt:
67. because one loves the King greatly… A person who truly loves God manifests love toward all creatures. Abraham embodied selfless חסד (ḥesed), “kindness,” so he attained that sefirotic rung. The third compartment of the tefillah (phylactery) of the head—which contains the verse You shall love YHVH your God, etc.—fittingly corresponds to Ḥesed.
כׇּל־אִמְרַ֣ת אֱל֣וֹהַּ צְרוּפָ֑ה מָגֵ֥ן ה֝֗וּא לַחֹסִ֥ים בּֽוֹ׃
Every word of God is pure,
A shield to those who take refuge in Him.
A shield to those who take refuge in Him.