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Chapter Five: ON LOVE

The quality of love involves more deeds than all the other qualities. And when a man uses the quality of love for evil there is not a single quality so evil. But when a man uses the quality of his love for good, then that quality is higher than all others, as it is written : "And you shall love the Lord your God" (Deut. 6:5). And there is no greater virtue in the Service of the Creator than he who serves Him out of love.

And now listen how love can spoil good deeds when his love is stronger than his wisdom. For there are all sorts of different kinds of love. One love is the love of a man for his children, and because of his great love, he may not correct them and guide them to the good path, and he permits them to go in the obstinacy of their evil hearts, and out of this can come great harm.

The second love is the love for money, and because of his great desire for money, his business dealings may not be honest and he covets, plunders, and robs, in order to amass wealth. And because of his great longing for wealth he closes his hand from giving alms and is miserly.

The third love is the love of men for their wives. And if a man has a bad wife — conceited and self-centered — she may remove from his heart the desire to fulfill the commandments and draw him after her. And because of his great love for her he is not firm with her and listens to her counsel, and she can bring him to evil acts. And it can also happen that a man, because of his great love of women, will gaze at them constantly and speak disgraceful things and come to immoral conduct.

The fourth love is the love of a man for his relatives — his father and his mother, his brothers and his sisters and the rest of his kind, friends and companions, and because of his love for them he helps them in their quarrels, and does not feel, nor does he ascertain whether or not his relatives did wrong against the other party of the quarrel, but always helps, protects and shelters them. And even if they have broken forth into wild and boisterous conduct, he protects them. And he may even listen to their advice, and even if the advice is not good he will not turn away from their words. He may even want to raise them to positions for which they are not fitted — for example, to make them rulers and leaders of their generations, to dominate and govern the people. And even if they are wicked, he does not sense it, for love blinds his eyes and makes deaf his ears, and there is, in this nepotism, great damage, for they will cause others to go astray in this same folly.

The fifth love is the love for long life, and because he loves mere existence so much he will not stand up in a trial that involves danger.

The sixth love is the love of honor, and he who loves honor will not do his good deeds for the sake of God, but in all the commandments, or good deeds he does — whether it be philanthropy or studying or supporting Torah, or the value of the commandments, his thoughts and intentions will be fixed on receiving praise and honor and he will want people to give him a crown and greatness, and this is a great flaw in the Service of God. Even he who has great knowledge of the Torah and many good deeds — the pursuit of honor removes him from the world. How much uglier is the pursuit of honor by one who is devoid of Torah and good deeds.

And there is a seventh love — which is the worst of all loves — and that is the love of pleasure and amusement — like eating, drinking, and other pleasures of the senses like immoral conduct and pleasure excursions. And it is not necessary to dwell on this matter because he who loves wine to the point of drunkenness and eats only the daintiest of foods and goes constantly to parties and feasts will undoubtedly forget his Creator, as it is written: "And (when) you shall eat and drink … guard yourself lest you forget the Lord" (Deut. 6:11-12). "And (when) you shall eat and be satisfied … guard yourself lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods" (Ibid. 11:15-16). And it is written: "But where Jeshurun grew fat he kicked" (Ibid., 32:15).

He who wishes to escape from the fowler's net of all these loves will need great wisdom and much courage, lest he be caught in their pit for all of these various loves surround the heart of a person, and if he succeeds in thrusting away one or two of these loves from within him, then will the remaining loves still thrust him from the light to the darkness. Therefore it is necessary to teach you that you should be careful and alert as to how to deal with all of these loves and always be mindful in combatting them of the ways of the Lord, Blessed is He, according to the tenor of what is said: "In all your paths know Him (Prov. 3:6).

A real love for one's children must be in this path — that he thinks always to guide his children in the paths of Justice, and teach them the manner of serving God. Blessed is He, according to what is said: "The father shall make known to the children Thy truth" (Is. 38:19). And it is written: "And you shall make known (the lessons of Sinai) to your children and your children's children" (Deut. 4:9). And, as it is said concerning Abraham, "For I know him to the end that he should command his children and his household after him" (Gen. 18:19).

And love of money should be in this manner: — that he should love his own money in order not to covet the money of others, and not find it necessary to steal, rob, or be compelled to receive alms, but shall able to provide for others out of his own, and clothe the poor and feed them, and strengthen with his money those who study the Torah and revere the Lord. And, also, because of his money, he can free himself from many involvements in this material world and set definite times for Torah and the fulfillment of God's commands, inasmuch as he has sufficient for his material needs. But he should not find security in his great wealth and vaunt himself with it but should purchase with his transitory wealth the eternal life of the world to come.

And the love of a wife should be in this manner — that he should have it in mind that his wife saves him from sin and separates him far from immoral conduct, and, through his wife he fulfills the command of "Be fruitful and multiply," and it is his wife that raises his children and she works for him all her days, and prepares his food and all the other needs of the household, and because of her devotion and work he has time to study Torah and concern himself with God's commands, and thus she aids him to serve the Creator, may His Name be Blessed.

And love for father and mother should be in this manner — that he should be ever mindful that they reared him and exerted themselves to teach him the ways of the Lord, may He be Blessed, and instructed him and educated him as to Torah and Commandments, and it is through them that he can fulfill the command of the Creator, may He be Blessed, as it is written: "Honor your father and your mother" (Exod. 20:12).

And his brothers, sisters and other relatives he should love in this manner — that he should assume and have it in mind that they are attempting to bring him to virtues that are dedicated to the service of the Creator, may He be Blessed, and that he should similarly interest himself in them to teach them and correct them and not show them many special privileges or partiality in a matter involving others. For this there is great reward for him, since this fair conduct is a great virtue, as it is written: "And he has not done a shameful thing to favor his relative" (Ps. 15:3).

And there is much advantage to a man in his relatives, as we found in the case of Lot whom Abraham, his uncle, saved from the warring kings, and fought for his sake, and also from the destruction of Sodom, Lot was saved because of the merit of Abraham.

A man should love his friends and all those near to him as well as the rest of Israel with a complete love to fulfill what is said: "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). And this is a great general rule in the Torah: "That which is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor" (Shabbath 31a). And even more pertinent is the verse: "For in the image of God made He man" (Gen. 9:6). (This is commented upon in T.P. Nedarim 9:4.)

And there is a great benefit to one who conducts himself with love and friendship with people.

One gain is in this world — if he conducts himself with love for everyone, everyone will help him. If he should fall, many are they who will help him and support him, and if a man rises against him to quarrel with him, then many will silence those who speak evil against him and abuse him. And if trouble comes upon him, all will feel his pain and will extend a hand to him. And if he should come to distress and poverty, many will be compassionate with him and show it by their gifts.

As for his gain in the world to come — because he is beloved by all, his words are listened to and he has the power to rebuke people that they should improve their deeds. And also because of his love for all he will be at peace and secure and free to study and to do good deeds. And also from the depths of their love people will help him and he will do his work more easily and they will protect him, and he will find more leisure to serve the Creator, may He be Blessed, with complete service. And because of this love for all others, he finds favor in the eyes of all who observe him, and his good deeds will be welcomed by all and everyone will long to do as he does.

And how can a man reach that stage of loving all men ? I will make you grasp it and enlighten you!

The way to do this is that he should help all others with his life and with his money according to his ability.

"With his life" means that he should minister to everyone whether he be poor or rich and should trouble himself for their sakes.

"Help with his money" means that he should loan to the rich when the rich need funds, and similarly, he should loan to the poor in the time of their distress, and remember the poor with a gift in accordance with his ability to give, and in extreme cases he should send portions and gifts also to the rich. And he should be liberal and open-handed out of his substance. If he has dealings with people every transaction must be in complete faith and honesty, and he should not be strict with his companion in small matters. He should always desire that his companion should receive some joy or gain from him and let him not try to gain profit out of his companion. And let his words be gentle with all people. If a man has shamed him, let him not shame his abuser. If a man has deceived him, let him not deceive his deceiver. Let him bear upon his neck the yoke of the world, and let him not cause trouble to others. Let him avoid argument with others and let him welcome everyone with joy and with a smiling countenance, for his welcome reception strengthens love. And he must deal with another for the other's good. He must comfort and try to help every man out of his grief and worry. If someone has revealed a secret to him he must not reveal it to others even if the man who told him the secret enrages him. He must never speak evil of a person nor listen when others speak evil of anyone, and he should always try to find something good and pure in a person wherever this is possible, and in this connection he must be most earnest and careful. Then he will surely be loved by all. He must honor every man by his deeds and his words, and let him not vaunt himself over any person at all, but let him be humble before every man. And all of these things he must do with the intent to serve God. And he must be careful to avoid the companionship of people that are not respectable, so that he will not learn from their deeds, and he must always separate himself from cynics and scoffers.

And the wise man said to his son, "If it should occur to you to make friends or companions, then make friends with a wise person as it is written: 'He that walks with the wise shall be wise' (Prov. 13:20). And it is said: 'Give knowledge to a wise man and he will be yet wiser' (Prov. 9:9). And so if you wish to grow in wisdom be a companion to the wise, for if you do act wisely your wise friend will praise you and not question your wisdom, and then you will know that you can rely on your wisdom. If they honor him, he will honor you; if they praise him, he will praise you. If you need his help, he will help you, and in the things you say he will declare you to be in the right. If you grow angry he will have patience with you, and you will learn from his good deeds. And be a companion to every person from whom you can learn things that will bring you to the Service of God, Blessed may He be!" And the Sages said, "If you wish to become a friend of a man get him angry with you and if he will still admit and confess the truth of what you say even in his wrath then become his companion and friend. If not, leave him. But, when you choose a friend, choose one who knows his own worth, for if he does not know himself his wisdom is of no good. Acquire a friend who will rebuke you when you do something that is not proper and who will teach you to do the good, and who will help you with his might and money — and such a friend will be faithful. But a friend who flatters you and smooths over your mistakes and errors and comforts you when you have done evil things — separate yourself from such a one.

And similarly a friend who will take from you whatever he needs and cause you much harm for the little benefit he will gain from the transaction — quickly turn away from such a friend. And do not make friends with those who "go along with the crowd" and who always agree that there is an injustice, as it is said, "Do not say 'Conspiracy!' just because this people says 'Conspiracy!' " (Is. 8:12).

And it is forbidden to associate with a wicked man in business or social or community affairs, as it is said: "Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah the Lord has made a breach in your works!" (II Chron. 20:37).

And even in fulfilling a commandment it is forbidden to join with the wicked, as it is said: "Do not envy the man of violence and do not choose any of his ways" (Prov. 3:31). And the sages said: "Do not join with the wicked even in fulfilling a command" (Aboth de R. Nathan, chap. a), and many are the ways that lead to death when one is in the companionship of the wicked.

And if a man is careful in guarding himself from these things and if his words are gentle with all people and he is pleasant and sociable with them, is abused by them but does not abuse them, honors them — even those who make light of him — and deals with every person honestly and does not spend too much time in the gatherings of the ignorant and their parties, and is not seen flitting about, but occupies himself with Torah, wrapped in his fringed Tallit and crowned with his Tefillin, and does more than is required of him by the letter of the law, but at the same time, does not separate himself utterly from the community and make himself a hermit, and if as a result of his behavior every one will praise him and love him and long to emulate his deeds — such a person sanctifies the Name of God and about him Scripture says! "And he said to me 'You are my servant Israel through whom I will be glorified' " (Is. 49:3).

And the love of long life should be in this manner — that he should love the days of his life not for eating and drinking and the frivolous pleasures of life, but he should think, "The work of following the Torah and its commandments is exceedingly great, and if the length of my life were doubled and redoubled many times over I would not be able to complete the requirements of the Torah and reach the heights and goals set by the Torah through which a true servant of God pleases his Master." And in this manner he will truly love the days of his life for with them he acquires the means of serving the Creator, Blessed be He, with purest reverence, and love, and he thus acquires provisions in this fleeting world which he can convey to the world to come, and he can acquire in the transitory world and its vanishing days a world that will endure and a joy that will never, never cease. And he will always fear death for this reason only — that perhaps he has not attained the limits of the perfection that lie in his power to attain. And every day he will increase love and reverence for God.

But a life that has no reverence of God in it cannot be called life. And a person should be disgusted with and reject a life that is against the will of the Creator, may He be Blessed, as is said of Rebecca: "And Rebecca said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these daughters of the land, then of what good is my life to me?' " (Gen. 27:46). Therefore, in a place where there is desecration of God's Name he should not worry about his life and always let his heart be ready to surrender himself for the Sanctification of God's Name in all of the commandments, be they light or of great importance.

Love of honor is very bad, therefore a man should separate himself far from the love of honor with all his might. And if a man should separate himself from two things — the love of honor and receiving of pleasure by the adultation and gifts of others, then he will be near to all the good virtues, for the love of honor spoils all good deeds, for in the things he does he has in mind to be honored, and even if he does not care about honor but seeks to receive gain from others by his good deeds, then all of his deeds are spoiled because his heart always inclines him to make profit out of everything. Therefore he must put it in his heart to distance himself from honor and also from getting benefits from others through his good deeds.

But, there are times when it is a good deed to pursue honor, as when he is a righteous and wise man and people hold him cheaply and make fun of him because of his good deeds and because of this his words are disdained and not listened to. Then if it is in his power to compel men to do him honor and listen to his rebukes, it is commendable to pursue honor in order to correct and rebuke the people. Similarly, if people have shamed him publicly he should not forgive them until they have entreated and appeased him. But in most cases he must go away from honor and flee from it. Did not the Sages say: "Jealousy, lust and the pursuit of honor take a man out of this world" (Aboth 4:28). And a man ought not to learn or to do any good thing in order to be honored, but should do the good deed for the sake of the Creator, may He be Blessed, and in the end the honor will come.

As for the love of pleasure, such as eating, drinking and sleeping, know that man must direct his heart and all his deeds only to know the Lord, Blessed is He. So a man's sitting, arising and his speech should all be centered on this. How? When he does business or works at a job for pay, let there not be in his heart the thought of gathering money for its own sake; but to do so in order that he may secure the things his body needs — food, drink, a dwelling place, and marriage. And when he does eat, drink and enjoy connubial pleasures, he should not put it in his heart to do these things solely for his pleasure until he is not able to eat and drink anything except the foods that are sweet to his palate, and he marries only for pleasure. But he must put it into his heart that he must eat for the health of his body and limbs. Therefore, he should not eat everything the palate longs for as does a dog or a donkey, but should eat those foods which are good for the body, whether they be bitter or sweet. And he should not eat things which are bad for the body even if they are sweet to the taste. He must accustom himself to this habit and determine in his heart that his body shall be completely well and strong, in order that his soul may be upright and firm to know the Lord, may He be Blessed. For it is impossible for him to understand and grow wise in the Torah and commandments if he is hungry or sick or one of his limbs pains him. Therefore it is not good to fast always, lest his strength grow weak and his intelligence grow less. Therefore he should arrange and direct all his matters to the service of the Creator, may He be Blessed. If he fills his stomach then he may grow heavy in body, and if he eats too little he will be weak, so it would be good for you to have less of the trimmings at a meal and depend on one dish if you can, and let that suffice for you in modest quantity. Intend that this food shall reach your stomach for the sake of nourishing you and not merely to delight your taste, and accustom your appetite on a few occasions to do without delicacies, so as to discipline your nature so that it will be easy for you when you cannot obtain these foods. If possible, abandon those foods or dishes which take much time and trouble to prepare and let your meals during the day be lighter than your evening meal, and accustom yourself to eating twice a day so that the functioning of your limbs may be light and easy and in this way your studies of the Torah will come easier. And accustom yourself to drink water unless your intention is to drink wine for your health's sake, or to drive away worry, and be very careful not to drink too much wine for it saturates and washes away Torah.

This is the general rule that should always remain with you: A man should not satisfy all of his desires in eating and drinking, but he should eat and drink enough to keep his body in a healthy state and should refrain from reaching for a surplus of food. A man should not love this world for the sake of eating, drinking and having pleasure. For example, the wise man says: "I will eat in order to live." And the statement of the fool is "I will live in order to eat." On this subject it is said: "The righteous eat to the point of satisfying their desire, but the stomach of the wicked is always wanting no matter how much they eat" (Prov. 13:25).

And so with a man who marries. Let him be mindful that this is in obedience to Divine command, that he should fulfill the command of "Be fruitful and multiply" and that he should have children who will serve the Lord, may He be Blessed, and revere God. Or he should be mindful that he satisfies his desires and quiets his passion with his wife and is therefore not tempted by other women, or to be considerate of his wife when he senses that she longs for his embrace so that she be not tempted by other men, or he may have regard to the health of his body which requires normal sex habits for its health. But he who indulges too frequently will suffer many ills.

He who walks in the path described above serves the Lord, may He Be Blessed, always, even when he is engaged in doing business, even when he lives with his wife, for his intention is to fulfill his bodily needs so that he can serve God, Blessed be He. And even when he sleeps, if he sleeps, so that his mind will be refreshed and his body rested, so that he does not become ill and therefore not be able to serve the Lord, Blessed is He, because of his illness — that sleep with this intent is considered service to God, Blessed be He. And on this subject our Sages commanded and said: "Let all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven (God)" (Aboth 2:17). And this is what Solomon said in his wisdom: "In all thy ways, know Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).

Let a man abandon all other loves and cleave to love of the Creator, Blessed be He. For the Love of God, Blessed be He, is the goal of all good qualities, and the final purpose of all worthy traits in the ladder of ascent of all men who serve God and of those with generous souls among men of kindness and mercy and of the Prophets and the Pharisees — yes, this is the ultimate goal and there is no goal that is higher than this.

Many times the Torah sets fear of God before love of Him, as it is said: "And now O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to revere and to love Him" (Deut. 10:12). And since the love of fellow men is the goal of all who separate themselves in order to lead holy lives and this love is the closest rung to the rung of the love of God, in the ladder of our upward climb, love of God must be more than the love of a man for mankind. And a man can reach that highest rung only through fear and reverence of God. That is why reverence or fear in the verse referred to precedes love of God.

And what is this love? It is the yearning of the soul and its own upward inclination towards the Creator, may He be exalted, in order that it may cleave to His highest illumination and light. This soul is the source of knowledge and is clean and pure and the Creator binds her in the body for His desire is great to try her and see if she will go in the ways of the Lord. And because man is clothed in a body which was created with the nature of animals there is not sufficient power in the soul created by God to have in constant mind her Creator, for she is mingled with all fleshly desire of the body. And all the days of man's petty strivings he seeks nothing and asks nothing but the gratification of his lusts, and his hunger for pleasures of this world which is a world of vanity and falsehood, and because of his desire to gather much wealth, there is no strength in the soul to keep in mind the Creator, may He be Blessed, for the soul is clothed in frivolous nothings. But after the soul senses that it can aspire to something nobler by itself without the participation of the body, then she longs to seek rest from the ills of the body as the sick person earnestly seeks a doctor. And when the soul is healed from its illnesses then she possesses light in her very self and strength in her spirit, and the soul is then truly filled with love and this love is bound up with joy. And this joy causes the pleasures of the body, and delight in mere physical life to flee from his heart, and that joy is strong and is in control of his heart, and all the pleasures of the world are as nothing compared with the mighty joy in the Lord, Blessed is He. And all his love and delight at the playing of his children are as though they had never been when compared with the mighty joy in the Lord, Blessed is He.

And with all his thoughts he should meditate how to do the will of the Creator, and purify the many others to do likewise, and to sanctify the Name of God and to surrender himself completely in the love of God, Blessed be He. And this is the love of God, Blessed is He, that is written in the Torah, as in the case of Phineas who risked his life for the sake of the Creator, may He be Blessed (Num. 25), and as in the case of Abraham, our father, who said: "I have lifted my hand to the Lord, the most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread or a shoestring nor will I take anything of yours" (Gen. 14:22-23). And, as in the case of Elisha who did not wish to take anything from Naaman (II Kings 5:16).

And a man ought not to waste his time away from Torah because he loves to sport and play with his children, or enjoys much visiting and conversation. And he also ought to avoid promenading about. But let him sing sweet hymns so that he fill his heart with the joy of the love of God, Blessed is He.

He who serves God out of love occupies himself with the Torah and the Commandments, and walks in the paths of wisdom. Have you seen how he will carry out all the mitzvoth out of love and how he will love God, Blessed be He with a great love, for no worldly reason — not out of fear of evil befalling him, and not out of expectation of good resulting from his conduct, but doing the true deed because it is true, and the good will come in the end. This virtue is very great indeed and not every man can attain it. And this was the virtue of Abraham our father, whom the Holy One, Blessed is He, called "My loving friend" (Is. 41:8) for he served God only out of love. This is the quality that the Holy One, Blessed be He, commanded us to attain through Moses our Teacher, upon him is peace, as is said: "And you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). And when a man loves the Lord, Blessed is He, with the proper love, he will, at once, do all the commandments out of love.

And what is "the proper love"? It is that he must love the Lord with a great, mighty and supreme love until his very soul is bound up in the love of the Lord, may He be Blessed, and he is in the ecstasy of that love always, as though he were love sick and his mind cannot for a moment be free, as when a man is infatuated with a woman, and he thinks of her with constant ecstasy, where sitting, rising, eating or drinking. Even more than this must the love of the Lord, Blessed be He, be in the heart of those who love him, ecstatic with longing for Him, as He commanded: "with all your heart and with all your soul" (Ibid.). And this is what Solomon said by way of a parable in the song of Songs: "For I am love sick" (2:5) and the entire Song of Songs is a parable of this love of God.

It is clear and well known that the love for the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not securely bound in the heart of a man until he feels its ecstasy constantly as indeed he should, and he forsakes all else in the world outside of it as He commanded and said "With all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 6:5). And he loves the Holy One, Blessed be He, through knowing His ways and according to his knowledge of God is his love whether it be little or great. Therefore, a man must concentrate on understanding and grasping mentally those wisdoms and insights which make him know his Creator as much as it lies within the power of man to understand and attain.

God glorious and awesome — it is a command to love and revere Him, as it is said: "And you shall love the Lord your God" (Ibid.), and it is further said: "The Lord your God you shall revere" (Ibid: 13). And this is the way to attain to love of the Lord, Blessed is He : When a person contemplates the great and wondrous works and creations and sees from them how God's wisdom is unparalleled, and infinite, he, at once, loves God, Blessed be He, and praises and extols Him and is filled with a great longing to know His Great Name, as David said "My soul thirsts for God — for the living God" (Ps. 42:3). And when he considers these things profoundly he immediately trembles and is startled, he is fearful and terrified, and he realizes that he is a small, lowly, obscure creature, standing with his little, finite mind before the Perfect in All Knowledge, as David said: "When I behold Thy Heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast established, what is man that Thou art mindful of him?" (Ibid. 8:4-5).

And when a man contemplates these great and marvelous things and comes to recognize all God's creatures from angel to planets sweeping through their orbs [and man] and he perceives something of the wisdom of the Holy One Blessed be He in all formed and created things and beings, he increases his love for God, Blessed be He, and his soul will thirst and his flesh yearn to love the Omnipresent, Blessed be He, and he is awed and fearful at his own low, poor and slight status when he compares himself with any one of the holy bodies which the Lord, Blessed is He, has created.

And in another place in Scripture it is said: "One that feared God" (Job 1:1), and the Sages explained this, to mean that he feared the punishment of Heaven, of Gehenna, and the punishments of this world as well (Sotah 27b and 31a). And this quality is very far from true love for God. For a man should fear the Lord, may He be Blessed, like a man who loves his wife and she loves him and he fears to do anything against her lest he forfeit her love. So is this — and such is the meaning of the word Reshăfihă it's (love's) flames — the flames of the fire of love for the Creator may He be Exalted. Let a person fear to transgress God's commands lest he lose the love of the Creator, may He be Blessed.

And this is what is meant: "Serve the Lord with fear" (Ps. 2:11) — the fear of losing His love" and rejoice with trembling out of this great fear of losing the love of the Creator, rejoice that you have the opportunity to do His will.

Thus, this "fear" is really "love" and it is of this that Isaiah says: "And the fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Is. 33:6).

And such a love cannot endure except in one who resolves to perform all the commandments according to their proper requirements, for one who does not know the commandments which the Creator of All commanded him to observe, cannot be called a true lover of God. Therefore, should a man love everything which brings him closer to love for the Creator, Blessed be He, and Blessed be His Name. And he who does so — it is well for him in this world and in the world to come.