One of my fifth-grade students innocently asked me this past year what happens to you if you do not say Shema on time, as we were learning the proper time for saying Shema every day. My instinct was to beat around the bush a little – I perhaps mentioned that positive commandments do not really come with punishments, but even if that were not true, I do not necessarily want to teach my students that Judaism is about avoiding punishment, as I will elaborate on. But she kept pressing me – she was expecting me to say that there must be some sort of consequence! So, I gave the following personal example: I generally get flowers for my wife every erev Shabbos (although that has become more difficult during COVID-19; this interaction took place earlier in the year). Why do I do it? Because it makes her genuinely happy every time that I appear with them. What happens if I do not? There is no concept of punishment in marriage, but she would be disappointed. So too, I said, Hashem expects us to perform mitzvot. What happens if we do not? Perhaps Hashem is disappointed in us, but we do mitzvot out of our love for Hashem.

It is in Parashat Vaetchanan that we encounter the source for the mitzvah to say Shema, and included in the recitation of Shema is the verse ואהבת את ה' אלקיך, you should love Hashem your Lord (Devarim 6:5). Shortly after Shema, we encounter the verse את ה' אלקיך תירא – you should fear Hashem your Lord (6:13). These two directives may seemingly be contradictory and difficult to balance, but our tradition is clear about which is the higher ideal: love. Rashi explains the directive of ואהבת as “fulfill Hashem’s words out of love.” Seforno further adds: “it should make you happy to do the things that are good in Hashem’s eyes, when you come to understand that there is no purpose more honorable than that.” Finally, Rambam writes at the end of Hilkhot Teshuva that while there is a mitzvah to fear Hashem, serving Him in that manner is not the type of sophisticated approach to which to aspire. Instead, the greatest service of Hashem comes from a place of love, citing ואהבת את ה' אלקיך as a prooftext. He further elaborates to explain what love of Hashem is – it is such that you are always thinking about Hashem, in everything you do, that your soul is completely intertwined in this love to the point where you are lovesick (see Shir Ha-Shirim 2:5)! While the Torah may establish punishments for transgressing certain mitzvot and we could discuss what happens to someone who does not fulfill positive commandments, Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching us that most desirable is to fulfill mitzvot when it comes from a place of love.

An interesting area where there may be important implications from here is the area of chumra, taking on stringencies. There may be two types of chumrot: Some are communal or built into the halachic system to the point that they are normative and generally required, even though they may go beyond what is required by the Torah itself or even the Talmud. Rav Hershel Schachter (Rav Schachter on the Parasha, p. 236) writes that observing mitzvot derbbanan demonstrates our communal love of Hashem because we commit to practices not that Hashem directly commanded, but that we take on in order to demonstrate our love. But others are more personal in nature and it is up to the individual to take them on as personal practice. There is a balance to strike: on the one hand, chumra can serve as an expression of our love for Hashem. We are so engaged and inspired in our performance of mitzvot that we are willing to go the extra mile. On the other hand, chumra can feel stifling, burdensome, interfering with our ability to live life. When it comes to the chumrot that are either “built in” to the system, or perhaps a mitzvah itself, we do not have the option of whether to do it or not – serving Hashem means we have to do our job, and this is admittedly true whether of not one wants to do so. But other chumrot, particularly those that are personal in nature, have to depend on what the individual can handle. If incorporating a chumra leads to a leniency in loving Hashem, is it worthwhile? Is it perhaps better to do what is required of us and do that with enthusiasm and excitement, if taking on more creates greater resentment? On the other hand, if a particular chumra is appropriate for a particular individual and one does so to earnestly reach higher in serving Hashem, perhaps that is a beautiful thing.[i]

We always read Parashat Vaetchanan and encounter the mitzvah to love Hashem shortly after the observance of Tisha B’av. After Tisha B’av, it may be hard to swallow the idea of “love.” We spent the day reminding ourselves of the times in history during which we have been estranged from Hashem. However, even Tisha B’av paradoxically has to do with our love or lack thereof of Hashem. In the tochekha found in Parashat Ki Tavo, we are told that the curses comeתחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב ומרב כל – as a result of your not worshipping Hashem with joy and goodness of heart when everything was abundant. Is it not a bit paradoxical that we should be punished for not having served Hashem out of love? Perhaps, though, the curses are not a punishment as much as they are a natural consequence. What kind of relationship is it when there is no joy and no love? Such a relationship can be temporarily sustained, but it is inevitable that it will fall apart. Ramban says that the curses in Devarim pertain to the destruction of the second Beit Ha-Mikdash.

What we may take away from this is that in order to have, to restore our relationship with Hashem, it will only come when there is love and joy in our observance of mitzvot. We need not worry so much about fear and punishment – but if we can bring ourselves to an attitude of אהבת ה', love of God, our relationship will be naturally restored and redemption may come our way. Precisely as we emerge from Tisha B’av, we are reminded to not serve Hashem out of despair but because doing mitzvot genuinely inspires love within us.

Perhaps we can reflect over Shabbat: what is a mitzvah that I connect to? How can I enhance the actual performance of that mitzvah or the feeling while performing it in a manner to show my love for that mitzvah and for Hashem? What is one action that I can take on that I do not already within that mitzvah that can help me reach that goal?

[i] The subject of chumra requires greater elaboration, and personal decisions perhaps should be made in consultation with a halachic authority; my purpose in raising them is just to raise a possible consideration in how one chooses to take on chumrot.