How Can We Be Commanded to Love God? A Chassidic Insight into the Shema

In this week's Torah portion, we read one of Judaism's most familiar and frequently recited passages: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). 

These words are repeated several times each day in the Shema, yet they raise a profound question that has occupied Torah commentators for generations: How can anyone be commanded to love?

A Simple Groom's Profound Question

The Slonimer Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel of Slonim, shared a remarkable story that sheds new light on this question. In the town of Slonim, a humble water carrier married off his daughter to a simple young man who had spent his entire life doing agricultural work and had never learned to read or write. After the wedding, his devoted father-in-law decided that, at the very least, the young man should learn the Hebrew alphabet so he could pray from a siddur. Slowly, he taught him the letters until he was able to read complete sentences.

Eventually they reached the words of the Shema. The father-in-law carefully explained their meaning: God is the One who was, is, and always will be; the Master of heaven and earth, the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists. They then continued to the verse, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." The father-in-law explained that God commands every Jew to love Him wholeheartedly and with complete devotion.

"Does God Really Need My Love?"

At that point, the groom stopped him. "How can it be," he asked, "that the infinite Creator, who rules all worlds, who sustains billions of people and every living creature every moment of every day, would ask a tiny, insignificant person like me to love Him? Does He really need my love?"

The father-in-law tried to explain that this is indeed God's commandment, but the groom remained unconvinced. "I simply cannot understand how the Almighty could possibly need my love." Unable to resolve the question, the two traveled together to ask the Slonimer Rebbe.

After listening carefully, the Rebbe ruled that the father-in-law was correct. "Yes," he said. "God truly commands us to love Him."

The Moment Everything Changed

The groom paused, deeply moved. Then his face lit up with emotion.

"If that's true," he said, "then it must mean that God asks for my love because He loves me so very much. He wants me to return His love."

Unable to contain himself any longer, he cried out, "If the Almighty loves me that much, then I truly love Him too! What an incredible and uplifting feeling!"

When the Slonimer Rebbe heard these heartfelt words, he smiled and said, "That is the true level of love of God."

Why 'Ahavah Rabbah' Comes Before the Shema

Chassidic teachings explain that this idea is reflected in the structure of the morning prayers. Immediately before reciting the Shema, we say the blessing Ahavah Rabbah (or Ahavat Olam, according to some traditions). Throughout this blessing, we describe God's immeasurable love and compassion for the Jewish people, concluding with the words that He "chooses His people Israel with love."

Only afterward do we recite the Shema and continue with the commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God." This sequence is intentional. Only after we internalize how deeply God loves us can our own love for Him naturally awaken. Recognizing His boundless love enables us to sincerely accept His kingship and fulfill the commandment to love Him.

Two Levels of Loving God

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, in his classic work Kedushat Levi, describes two levels of love for God. The first is loving God because of everything He gives us. When we reflect on the countless blessings in our lives, including life itself, health, family, a home, livelihood, and every daily kindness, our hearts naturally fill with gratitude and love. Even those who feel they lack many things will discover that they have already received far more than they often realize. Every breath we take is itself an extraordinary miracle. As the Midrash teaches on the verse, "Let every soul praise God," the Sages explain: "For every single breath, praise God."

Beyond all physical blessings, God chose the Jewish people as His treasured nation, gave us the Torah, and granted us the opportunity to earn eternal reward through mitzvot. Reflecting on His endless generosity naturally inspires love.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak describes an even higher level. A person reaches a deeper love when he loves God not merely because of what He gives, but because he realizes how deeply God loves him. It is the awareness of being loved that awakens the strongest response of love in return. This is precisely the realization that transformed the simple groom in the Slonimer Rebbe's story.

Every Jew Can Attain This Love

We should never imagine that loving God is a spiritual achievement reserved only for great saints or exceptionally righteous individuals. The Sefat Emet teaches that every Jew possesses an inner spark of love for God. It already exists within the soul. Our task is simply to uncover and nurture it through reflection on God's countless acts of kindness and, even more importantly, on His immense love for us. As that awareness deepens, the hidden spark grows into a blazing flame, and a profound love for the Creator, the Master of all souls and the Sovereign of all creation.

Every Jew has the capacity to develop a genuine love for God. When we contemplate the immense love that God has for us, together with the countless blessings He continually bestows upon us, our hearts naturally awaken with a deep and lasting love in return.