Alternate Roads

            The parasha presents the Shem’a, the basic expression of faith of a Jew (so much so that, traditionally, if a Jew knows he is about to die, he recites Shem’a Yisrael as his final words). The second and third verses of Shem’a are:

And you shall love God, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all of your fortune. And these words which I command you this day shall be on your heart.                Deuteronomy 6:5 - 6

            Rashi, quoting the Midrash Sifrei, comments:

“What is the love (referred to in verse 5)? ‘these words which I command you ... shall be on your heart’, through this you will recognize  the Holy One blessed be He and cling to His ways. “ 

Thus, verse 6 complements and explains verse 5.

            Re’em (Rabbi Eliyahu Mizraḥi, 1450 - 1525) in his commentary on Rashi, quotes Maimonides, who writes:

What is the way to love God? When man ponders God’s acts and His great and wonderful creations, and sees in them His wisdom, which is unbounded, he will immediately love, praise and glorify Him and have a great desire to know the Great Name.

         Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah, 2:2

            Re’em understood the comments of Rashi and Maimonides to conflict with one another.

            My father explained that the approaches of Rashi and of Maimonides are not contradictory. Rather, these two giants of Torah present alternate roads to achieving love of God.

            One can recognize the greatness of the Creator through following His commands and clinging to His ways, as Rashi teaches.  The second road is presented by Maimonides: perceiving the beauty and order of God’s creation will bring one to realize that there is a Creator and to love Him.