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What does Hashem ask of you?

Posted: 22 May 2009 12:14 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Aspaqlaria/~3/Te1lYP8TuOk/what-does-hashem-ask.shtml


 From the Ramchals introduction to Mesilas Yesharim (tr. R Aryeh Kaplan):

This is what Moses our Teacher, may Peace be upon him, teaches us in saying:

יב וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה יְ-הוָ֣ה אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵֽעִמָּ֑ךְ  
כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־יְ-הוָ֨ה אֱ-לֹהֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו֙  
וּלְאַֽהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יְ-הוָ֣ה אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָֽבְךָ֖  
וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ יג לִשְׁמֹ֞ר אֶת־מִצְו֤͏ֹת יְ-הוָה֙ וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָ֔יו

And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you, but that you  	fear  
/ be in awe of Hashem your G-d 	to walk in all His ways, and 	to love Him  
and 	serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. 	To  
observe the mitzvoth of God and His statutes
- Devarim 10:12-13


Herein have been included all of the features of perfection of Divine  
service that are appropriate in relation to the Holy One blessed be He.  
They are:

היראה - fear/awe of G-d,
ההליכה בדרכיו - walking in His ways,
האהבה - love,
שלמות הלב - wholeheartedness, and
שמירת כל המצוות - observance of all of the mitzvoth.


היראה - Fear/awe of G-d denotes fear of the Majesty of the Blessed One,  
fearing / being in awe of Him as one would a great and mighty king, and  
being ashamed at ones every movement in consequence of His greatness,  
especially when speaking before Him in prayer or engaging in the study of  
His Torah.

ההליכה בדרכיו - Walking in His ways embodies the whole area of cultivation  
and correction of character traits. As our Sages of blessed memory have  
explained, אבא] שאול אומר: ואנוהו הוי דומה לו] מה הוא [חנון] ורחום אף אתה  
היה [חנון ו]רחום - [Abba Shaul says: 'And I shall glorify Him - ואנוהו - be  
similar to Him.] Just as He is [giving and] merciful, be also [giving and]  
merciful (Shabbos 133b) The essence of all this is that a person conform  
all of his traits and all the varieties of his actions to what is just and  
ethical. Chazal have thus summarized the idea:

[רבי אומר: איזו היא דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם?] כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה, ותפארת  
לו מן האדם

[Rebbe says: What is the "straight path" that a person should traverse?]  
All that is praiseworthy in its doer and brings praise to him from others
- Avos 1:2


that is, all that leads to the end of true good, namely, strengthening of  
Torah and furthering of brotherliness.

האהבה - Love - that there be implanted in a persons heart a love for the  
Blessed One which will arouse his soul to do what is pleasing before Him,  
just as his heart is aroused to give pleasure to his father and mother. He  
will be grieved if he or others are lacking in this; he will be jealous for  
it and he will rejoice greatly in fulfilling aught of it.

שלמות הלב - Whole-heartedness - that service before the Blessed One be  
characterized by purity of motive, that its end be His service alone and  
nothing else. Included in this is that ones heart be complete in Divine  
service, that his interests not be divided or his observance mechanical,  
but that his whole heart be devoted to it.

שמירת כל המצוות - Observance of all the mitzvos, as the words imply, is  
observance of the whole body of mitzvos with all of their fine points and  
conditions.

The Ramchal clearly denies the idea that observing halakhah is the entirety  
of following the Torah.

If we look at the other four elements, we see the two emotions central to  
our relationship with Hashem, יראה and אהבה. We also see two aspects of  
perfecting ones middos: emulating Hashem, and being whole. The Ramchal  
lists them as two pairs: an emotional element and a behavioral one in each.  
A dialectic.

On the one side  יראה, the fear/awe of G-d, an awareness of His magnitude  
and the consequent walking in His ways. To know that He is Great would  
naturally generate a desire to follow His example and thereby also reach  
for greatness.

One the other side is אהבה, love of G-d and wholehearted service. Not  
walking the path G-d shows us by example, us walking with Him, but walking  
the path to Him. Such is love.

It is only through that יראה and emulation, אהבה and wholehearted  
dedication, that one can truly observe Hashems mitzvos in a manner that is  
what Hashem asks of us. Halakhah then becomes the synthesis of these goals,  
the means to know when to operate

on the plane of awe-imitation or on the plane of love-following, to have  
something greater than either.



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