The Second Virtue: The Virtue of Love of God, and Included in It the Love of One’s Fellow

My children, come and I will teach you the virtue of love of the Creator. My children, know that the virtue of loving the Creator, blessed be He, is a very great and exalted virtue. Anyone who serves the Creator out of love is called His beloved. Thus we find regarding our forefather Abraham, peace be upon him, that he served the Creator out of love and was called His beloved, as it is said: “The seed of Abraham, My beloved.” And from where do we know that Abraham our father served the Creator out of love? As it is said: “And Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey.” Did Abraham our father not have servants and members of his household who could saddle the donkey for him? From here the Sages said that love disrupts the ordinary order. Because he wished to serve his Creator with love, he himself prepared the donkey and did not command one of his household to prepare it. The virtue of this quality is found among the righteous who are known and famous for piety and abstinence. They serve their Creator out of love, not in order to receive reward or good recompense from Him. Nor do they separate themselves from sin out of fear of punishment or calamity. Rather, everything is done out of love for the Creator and in order to fulfill His commandments, like a servant who accepts the command and decree of his master. As our Sages of blessed memory said: “Do not be like servants who serve the master on condition of receiving reward.” Rather, be like servants who serve the master without expecting reward. For one who serves his master out of love is not like one who serves out of fear. When someone serves out of fear, if his master burdens him he abandons him and leaves. But one who serves out of love does not do so. For you will not find love where there is fear, nor fear where there is love, except with regard to the Holy One, blessed be He. As the Sages said: Serve out of love and serve out of fear. Serve out of love, so that if you come to hate, the lover will not hate. Serve out of fear, so that if you come to rebel, the one who fears will not rebel. Thus Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, warns Israel: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” Anyone who serves out of love does not lose his reward, as it is said: “Showing kindness to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Our Sages said: “You shall love the Lord your God”, with both your inclinations, the good inclination and the evil inclination. “With all your heart”, your heart should not be divided within you about whether to serve the Creator or not. “With all your soul”, even if He takes your life, as it is said: “For Your sake we are killed all day long.” The Sages said: Is it possible for a person to be killed every day? Rather, love Him until the exhaustion of the soul. So we find with Rabbi Akiva, when they combed his flesh with iron combs and weighed his flesh in the market. At that time it was the time of the recitation of the Shema, and he accepted upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven in order to fulfill “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” even if He takes your life. And his soul departed on the word “One.” They also said: “With all your soul”, with every soul that He created within you. For with every breath that a person takes he must praise his Creator, as it is said: “Let every soul praise the Lord.” That is, with every breath. “With all your might”, with all your wealth. Our Sages said: If it had said “with all your soul,” why say “with all your might”? And if it had said “with all your might,” why say “with all your soul”? Because there are people whose body is more precious to them than their wealth, therefore it says “with all your soul.” And there are people whose wealth is more precious to them than their body, therefore it says “with all your might.” A parable: of a beloved servant of a king who honored the king with a gift. As long as he honors him with something dear to him, it is most pleasing to him. But if he honors him with something that is not dear to him, it brings him no satisfaction. Another explanation of “with all your might”: with every measure that He measures for you, whether a good measure or a measure of punishment, you must thank Him and bless Him greatly. As David, peace be upon him, said: “I will lift the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I found trouble and sorrow, and I called upon the name of the Lord.” Likewise it says: “I will sing of kindness and justice.” Meaning: if the Holy One, blessed be He, does kindness with me, I will sing and bless Him; and if He does justice with me, I will also sing and bless Him. Our Sages said: A person must bless for the bad, “Blessed is the True Judge”, just as he blesses for the good, “Blessed is the Good and the Beneficent.” Everything should be accepted from the Creator with love, joy, and a good heart, as it is said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” And it also says: “But You are exalted forever, O Lord.” Forever Your hand is supreme, as it is said: “The Lord gave and the Lord took away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Whether He gives or whether He takes, blessed be the name of the Lord.

My children, be careful regarding the love of the Creator, blessed be He. For anyone who loves God with all his heart, whose soul longs for Him and constantly yearns for His love, is the one who truly knows Him and clings to His ways, as it is said: “You shall love the Lord your God,” and immediately afterward it says: “And these words that I command you today shall be upon your heart.” Meaning that when a person is attached and bound in love of the Creator, His commandments will always be engraved upon his heart. You should know, my children, how a person can come to love his Creator. First, you must reflect upon the many kindnesses that the Creator has bestowed upon you. Through this you will be compelled to attach yourselves to His love and to love Him with a powerful love, especially considering that He is the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. Furthermore, my children, you must reject this world and abandon bodily pleasures for the sake of love of the Creator, and despise everything you might otherwise love, so that no cause should arise that might lead you to break your love for God. Your mouths and your hearts should be united in His love, and all your deeds, in action, in speech, when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, and in all matters of business, your intention in all of them should be to remember His love. In this way you will establish the love of God in your hearts and love Him with a powerful love that will never depart from you. Therefore, my children, you must correct all your faults and straighten all your affairs so that everything you do will be for the love of the Creator, not in order to show people that you are pious or God-fearing, not so that people will honor you, and not so that you will rise to some position in this world. As our Sages of blessed memory said: a person should not say, “I am studying Torah so that I will become wealthy,” or “so that I will be called Rabbi,” or “so that I will receive reward in the World to Come.” Rather, as it says: “To love the Lord.” Everything you do should be done only out of love. They also said: “Happy is the man who fears the Lord; he greatly delights in His commandments”, in the commandments themselves, and not in the reward for the commandments. They also said: Perform deeds for their own sake, and speak words of Torah for their own sake. Do not make them a crown with which to glorify yourselves, nor a tool with which to earn a livelihood.

My children, be careful regarding the love of the Creator, blessed be He. For anyone who loves God with all his heart, whose soul longs for Him and constantly yearns for His love, is the one who truly knows Him and clings to His ways, as it is said, “You shall love the Lord your God,” and immediately following it, “And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart.” That is to say, when a person is attached and bound in the love of the Creator, His commandments will always be engraved upon his heart. You should know, my children, how a person comes to love his Creator. First, you must reflect upon the many kindnesses that the Creator has bestowed upon you. Through this you will be compelled to attach yourselves to His love and to love Him with a powerful love, especially considering that He is the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. Furthermore, my children, you must despise this world and abandon bodily pleasures for the sake of the love of the Creator, and reject everything you might otherwise love so that no cause will arise that might cause you to break your love of God. Your mouths and your hearts should be united in His love, and all your deeds, in action, in speech, in sitting in your home, in walking along the road, and in all matters of business, your intention in all of them should be to remember His love. In this way you will establish the love of God within your hearts and love Him with a strong love that will never depart from you. Therefore, my children, you must correct all your faults and straighten all your affairs so that everything will be done for the love of the Creator, not in order to show people that you are pious and God-fearing, not so that people will honor you, and not so that you will be elevated to any position in this world. As our Sages said, a person should not say, “I am studying Torah so that I will become wealthy,” or “so that I will be called Rabbi,” or “so that I will receive a reward in the World to Come.” Rather, as it is written, “to love the Lord.” Everything you do should be done only out of love. They also said, “Happy is the man who fears the Lord; he greatly delights in His commandments,” meaning in the commandments themselves and not in their reward. They also said, perform deeds for their own sake and speak words of Torah for their own sake, and do not make them a crown to glorify yourselves nor a tool with which to earn your livelihood.

My children, love your wives as your own bodies, just as you wish them to love you, and honor them with clothing and ornaments even more than yourselves, as it is said: “A loving doe, a graceful deer; let her breasts satisfy you at all times, and always be intoxicated with her love.” Love also your children, your brothers, and your relatives, as it is said: “Do not hide yourself from your own flesh.” Love also your friends and your good neighbors, for sometimes they may help you more than your relatives, as it is said: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” And it also says: “A close neighbor is better than a distant brother.”

My children, conduct yourselves with every person according to this teaching, for through it the love of people toward you will increase. As one wise man said, whoever wishes to be loved by people should behave toward them with good character. Just as harm brings a person to hatred, so benefit brings a person to love. Love the Torah and the commandments, as it is said: “How I love Your Torah; it is my meditation all day.” Love also those who are engaged in Torah and commandments, as it is said: “I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me will find Me.” The word is written “those who love her,” which according to the tradition refers to those who love the Torah and the commandments. It was also said that anyone who interacts with people and conducts business with them in faithfulness, honesty, love, and peace plants love in the hearts of others and obtains from them whatever he desires. It is told that a man once asked a friend who loved him greatly, “Why do you love me, since I am neither your relative nor your neighbor?” He answered, “Because I see you interacting with every person and you do not despise those who are lower than you in rank or in years. When I saw you conduct yourself with humility and good character, your love became bound in my heart and I loved you with a complete love.” It was also said that nothing turns an enemy into a friend like humility and good character. Therefore, my children, be careful in the love of the Creator and in the love of all people. Seek to please every person with pleasant and agreeable words and with good deeds so that people will love you and not hate you, as our Sages said, “Your deeds will draw you near and your deeds will distance you.” If people hate you, it is certain that you will come to hate them, and regarding this the Torah warned, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.” One wise man said that whoever sows hatred will reap regret, and another said that there is no evil like the hatred of people, whether the hatred of the honorable or the lowly, for sometimes a great man may be choked by a small fly. If you have enemies and you seek revenge against them, strive instead to add greater virtues to your good qualities, as one wise man answered when asked how a person should take revenge upon his enemy, that he should increase his own virtue. Aristotle also instructed Alexander the king that the most important thing he commands and warns him about is not to hate any person in the world whom God created, for the beginning of wisdom after recognizing the truth of God is the love of all people, both good and bad. May God grant us success in His love so that we may merit to inherit the days of the Messiah and the life of the World to Come, as it is said: “That I may cause those who love Me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasuries.”