Torah As Unquenchable Love

בפ' ואהבת את ה"א וכו' והיו הדברים האלה

In the parsha that says, "And you shall love Hashem your God etc." (Devarim 6:5), it continues, "And these words shall be..." (Devarim 6:6).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verses of "And you shall love Hashem" followed immediately by "And these words shall be upon your heart," linking the love to the Torah words.

פי' בספרי וברש"י

This is explained in the Sifri and in Rashi.

He points us to the classic sources, the Sifri and Rashi, who address what this love actually is.

מהו האהבה והיו הדברים שמתוך כך אתה מכיר כו'

What is this love? "And these words shall be..." — for through this you come to recognize Him etc.

He frames the question: what is this love? The answer is that the following words of Torah are themselves the path through which one comes to recognize Hashem.

פי' שאהבה זו היא התורה והקב"ה נתן בכל נפש מישראל הדברים האלה כדכתי' א"ה האלה דיבר ה' א"כ קהלכם ק"ג ולא יסף פי' חז"ל ולא פסק שלעולם יכול כל איש ישראל למצוא בלבו דברי תורה כמ"ש יגעתי ומצאתי תאמין

The explanation is that this love is the Torah. The Holy One, Blessed is He, implanted within every neshamah of Bnei Yisrael "these words," as it is written, "These words Hashem spoke," then, "to your entire assembly," "with a great voice, and it did not cease" (Devarim 5:19). Chazal explained "and it did not cease" to mean that it never stopped — that every Jew can forever find within his heart words of Torah, as it is said, "If a person says, 'I toiled and I found,' believe him" (Megillah 6b).

He explains that the love is the Torah itself, which Hashem planted in every Jewish neshamah. Because the giving of the Torah "did not cease," every Jew can always find Torah within his own heart if he toils for it.

והוא אש האהבה דכתי' עלי' מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות א"ה

And this is the fire of love, about which it is written, "Many waters cannot extinguish the love" (Shir HaShirim 8:7).

This implanted Torah is a fire of love that no flood of waters can ever put out.

כדאיתא עבירה מכבה מצוה ואינה מכבה תורה [וכן דרשו חז"ל בפסוק הבן יקיר כו' מדי דברי בו די דיבורי שנתתי בו כו'] וכתי' כה דברי כאש נאום ה'

As it is brought down: a sin extinguishes a mitzvah, but it does not extinguish Torah (Sotah 21a). [And so too Chazal expounded on the verse, "Is Ephraim a precious son to Me etc." — "As often as I speak of him" (Yirmiyahu 31:19), meaning, it is enough that My speech which I placed within him etc.] And it is written, "Behold, My word is like fire, says Hashem" (Yirmiyahu 23:29).

He cites that while sin can extinguish a single mitzvah, it can never extinguish Torah, because Hashem's word within a person is like an unquenchable fire.

וזהו העדות ע"י התורה שנתן לנו הקב"ה שאוהב אותנו כמ"ש ע"ז הבוחר בע"י באהבה

This is the testimony through the Torah, which the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave us — that He loves us, as we say upon it, "Who chooses His people Yisrael with love."

The Torah Hashem gave us is itself testimony of His love for us, which is why we bless Him as the One who chooses Yisrael with love.

ובכח זה יכולין למצוא האהבה בלב להש"י

And through this power we are able to find the love for Hashem within the heart.

Drawing on that implanted Torah, a Jew has the power to discover within his own heart his love for Hashem.

כי אהבה זו אינה תלוי' בדבר כמ"ש לא מרובכם כו' חשק ה' כו' כי מאהבת ה' אתכם כו'

For this love does not depend upon anything, as it is written, "Not because you are more numerous... did Hashem desire you... but because of Hashem's love for you..." (Devarim 7:7-8).

This love is unconditional; the Torah itself states that Hashem's love was not earned by numbers or merit.

פי' שהיא אהבה שאינה תלוי' בדבר רק כי חלק ה' עמו

The explanation is that it is a love that does not depend upon any particular thing, but only because "the portion of Hashem is His people" (Devarim 32:9).

It is a love that hinges on nothing external, resting solely on the fact that Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's own portion.

ומצינו בשעת החטא כתי' נתנה עלי בקולה ע"כ שנאתי'

And we find that at the time of sin it is written, "She raised her voice against Me; therefore I hated her" (Yirmiyahu 12:8).

By contrast, at the time of sin the navi speaks of Hashem "hating" Yisrael, but only as a response to wrongdoing.

שהשנאה הוא רק ע"י סיבה

For the hatred comes only through a cause.

Such hatred exists only because of an external cause, namely the sin.

ובטל דבר בטל שנאה

And when the thing ceases, the hatred ceases.

Once the sin is removed, that hatred dissolves along with it.

אבל האהבה היא בעצם

But the love is intrinsic, by its very essence.

The love, however, is essential and built into the relationship, not dependent on any cause.

וכ"כ אוהבם נדבה

And so it is written, "I will love them freely" (Hoshea 14:5).

This is confirmed by the verse that Hashem loves Bnei Yisrael freely, as a gift, with no precondition.

ובהפטרה דנחמו נחמו

And in the Haftarah of "Nachamu nachamu" ("Comfort, comfort") (Yeshayahu 40:1).

He connects this to the Haftarah of comfort, "Nachamu nachamu."

מה אקרא כ"ה חציר כו'

"A voice says, 'Call out!' And he said, 'What shall I call?' All flesh is grass..." (Yeshayahu 40:6).

He cites the verse where the voice is told to call out, and the response is that all flesh is mere grass.

ודרשו חז"ל בשעה שאין ישראל עוסקין בתורה זבוב קורא כן

And Chazal expounded that at the time when Bnei Yisrael are not engaged in Torah, even a fly cries out this way (Yalkut Shimoni, Yeshayahu 40).

Chazal teach that when Bnei Yisrael neglect Torah, they are reduced to something as fleeting as a fly's cry.

והתשובה נבל ציץ ודבר א' יקום לעולם

And the answer is, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Yeshayahu 40:8).

Yet the verse answers that though grass withers and flowers fade, the word of Hashem endures forever.

כי אין עבירה מכבה תורה וע"י החטאים נסתר האהבה לפי שעה

For no sin extinguishes Torah; rather, through the sins the love is concealed for a time.

Because sin never extinguishes the Torah within, the love is only hidden temporarily by our sins, not destroyed.

אבל לבסוף יבש חציר כו' וד"א יקום כנ"ל:

But in the end, "The grass withers etc., yet the word of our God shall stand," as explained above.

In the end the temporary, withering elements fall away and the eternal word of Hashem, the underlying love, remains standing.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that the mitzvah "And you shall love Hashem" is fulfilled through the Torah, which Hashem implanted in every Jewish neshamah and which, like the voice at Sinai that "never ceased," can always be found within the heart by one who toils for it. This Torah is a fire of love that many waters cannot extinguish: while a sin can quench a single mitzvah, it can never quench the Torah itself. The Torah is thus Hashem's testimony of His love for Bnei Yisrael, an unconditional love that depends on nothing, since Yisrael are His very portion. Any "hatred" mentioned at the time of sin is only a response to an external cause and vanishes once the sin is removed, whereas the love is intrinsic and eternal. This is the message of "Nachamu": though we, like grass, may wither through neglect of Torah, the word of Hashem, the underlying love, stands forever, so our sins conceal that love only for a time.