Love, Love, Love

During Shavuot I was learning with my daughter the "six constant commandments" that a Jew is required to fulfil at all times from Sefer HaChinuch. One of these commandments is "the commandment of loving G-d", Mitzvah number 418 in Sefer HaChinuch. There was a line in the Chinuch that caught my attention:

"And they(the sages in the Sifre) said that this love requires a person to arouse others to love Him and to serve Him, like we found with (our father) Abraham."

I was reminded of my college days. There was a guy who spent a year studying in Israel, where he was truly filled with the love of G-d. When he returned to the campus the following year he spent a lot of time and effort returning other students to the fold, myself included. (This student, Menachem "Kenny" Herman z"l, passed away a couple of years ago, a young man in the prime of his life. May these words be an elevation for his lofty soul.)

Loving G-d is not a simple matter. It requires "with all of your heart and all of your soul, even if He takes your soul." (See what the Gemara Brachot 61B says about this.) This I knew! But what the Chinuch says is something new for me. I thought about the words of the Chinuch and I feel that I have not fulfilled this. What have I done to arouse others to love G-d?

Food for thought!