Love of God is to love creatures, your near ones, and the immigrant.
We prayed: Shema Yisrael, but it is no ordinary prayer – it does not even address G8d. Whom do you hear it addressing. Listen up you Yisrael – G8d wrestlers/ singer. V’ahavta.Love of God is one of the three loves commanded in Torah. But who or what is G8d, and how can we love G8d?
We are not capable of knowing what G8d is. According to Maimonides, born as Moshe be Maimon, known as the Rambam he was born in Cordova Spain in 1135-ish and died in December 1204. A brilliant physician, scientist, philosopher he taught:
to love G8d, one must contemplate God’s pure and holy CREATIONS! -& we must remember, the great principles of the Creator of the world. … miracles are found in the wisdom of nature and geometry.. Anyone who wants to know the miracles based on God’s words should strive to study… until they know the blessed Holy One through G8d’s creations
. Rambam knew from personal tragedy the power of knowledge of nature.. A person should not go on a voyage in dangerous seas, and expect divine providence to save them! So did his younger brother david, against his advice. His beloved brother perished, leaving a widow and child/ Rambam was devastated. Only devotion to his wisdom studies – Torah, science, philosophy could raise him from his sick bed, bring him back to life from heartbreak. How could Rambam love G8d after such tragedy?
Rambam’s words answer: learn about nature and you will learn to love G8d
In his most controversial work, Guide to the perplexed, written purposely as a mysterious letter to a confused young student, he writes that to interpret the Bible literally is, for the thinking person, the biggest obstacle to true love of G8d and is in effect – a form of idolatry!
Who is G8d for you?
For me G8d is the mysterious connecting and creating force in the universe, filling the interstices of the universe. This power emerges when things are in supportive relationships. And it gives rise to everything – from atoms to cells, from creatures to communities – everything. It is evident as the plus factor where and when the totality becomes greater than the sum of its parts. We are much more than a bag of organs. There are several such forces (ask me later) but most importantly for us, love.
A story to illustrate this love from our tradition
It was Friday morning, the eve of Shabbat that a group of hasidim set out to journey to the town of Lublin, in Poland, to spend Shabbos with their teacher, Rabbi Ya’akov Yitzkah, known as the “Seer of Lublin” Among those traveling was Reb Dovid of Lelov, who had a reputation as a great lover of animals. They set out early, and there should have been plenty of time, but there was a bridge out, so they had to take a detour and a boulder to be moved from the pathway, not to mention rush hour traffic jam (only kidding) and the students arrived just as the sun was about to set!
Not wanting to be late, and miss the teacher’s wisdom they quickly tied up their horse and carriage, and ran into the synagogue. All, except Reb Dovid.
Back at the synagogue, the Seer of Lublin noticed that Dovid was missing. He sent the others to look for him. They searched, and where do you think they found him? He was at the stable, feeding and watering the horses. “What are you doing here, Reb Dovid?”
He replied, the horses were tired from the long journey today, and hungry and thirsty as well. I stayed behind to care for them.” And his face shone from the joy of the mitzvah of baal tzarei chayim, preventing the suffering of animals. It was this joy that the Rabbi could see!
In Hasidic Jewish tradition God can be found in each creation and reached through each pure deed. And we must Be Torah, not just learn it
Jewish Renewal considers itself to be a new Hasidism
Torah has two more commands to love – your neighbor, and the immigrant or stranger – This latter is the most often repeated mitzvah – we should remember that we were oppressed immigrants, and remember Not do that oppression, but to reach out in love.
A story told by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen z’l’ from her work with cancer patients at a retreat. One man, Yitzhak, an immigrant from poland was 2 years from diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. Brilliant and hard working, Yitzhak became a physicist, and came to the retreat to engage the power of his mind to help beat the cancer. A very loving man to his family, he was very uncomfortable with the touchy feely culture of the retreat. Vat is all dis “huggy huggy vit strangers” he would say. He let folks hug him anyway, relates Remen, After several days of silence and yoga, Remen says, sometimes folks uncover deep truths. Yitzhak related an experience of a beautiful and tender” pinkish light that felt like he was inside a rose. But then,, he realized this light surrounding him came mysteriously from his chest. He described it as a hemorrhage, It frightened him and made him feel vulnerable. It turns out Yitzhak was a child survivor of a concentration camp. He learned to protect himself from hurt by restricting relationships and love to his family only. This was borne of a fear, which he had become aware of only now. But as the end of the week approached , Yitzhak seemed to relax a bit more. Dr. Remen asked him on the last day how he was doing “Better!” Yitzhak replied. He explained that the day before he had a walk on the beach, in which he had talked to G8d. What did G8d say?, Remen Asked “Ah rachel-le, Yitzhak said, I asked the Holy one of Blessing is it ok to love strangers? And in his heart yitzhak hear this answer “yitzhak, vat is dis “strangers? You make strangers! I don’t make strangers! I don’t know how long Yitzhak survived. But i do know that at any age, the blooming of that inner rose is possible. teshuvah a return to the childhood G8d- spark, the one before the trauma is possible, And for Yitzhak this pathway to joy and inner healing happened after a lifetime
We began by singing Shema Yisrael and asking who is God and how can we love. We explored the The 3 loves commanded in Torah – G8d, which can happen even through tragedy, as Rambam discovered by a love of wisdom of nature. Including as Reb Dovid of Poland by loving creation. Loving family friend & by loving the immigrant. How do we love them – Bchol levavcha.. With all your hearts, soul and all! Will this cure your heartache, your cancer? I don’t know. But I know going through whatever life brings us with a heart filled with love is an amazing way to live and can ultimately redeem those sparks and heal a fractured world. I urge today. Open your hearts a bit past your comfort zone. Choose one way. Tell your loved ones you love them. In the words of the prophet Micah – Just do what’s right, love kindness and walk humbly with your G8d.
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