FINE CHINESE DINING 4
"A
T
he book of Devarim
(Deuteronomy) is full of
the harsh language of reward
and punishment. "Observe My mitz-
vot [commandments], and you will
be blessed',' God says to the Israelites
through Moses, again and again;
"Worship other gods, or stray from the
Torah's path, and I will strike you with
curses
The threats are typically
longer and more graphic
than the promises of
reward, and in many ways,
they set the tone for the
book. If we were to ask a
personified Deuteronomy,
"Why should we live Torah-
centered lives?" it would
likely reply, "Because if you
don't, you will be attacked by
enemies, starve while fight-
ing them and be exiled after
they defeat you."
To live by this rationale is
to live in fear. And, indeed, Devarim
frequently mentions yir'ah, fear-tinged
awe, as one of God's primary desires.
In this week's parshah, we read, "And
now, 0 Israel, what does the Lord your
God seek from you? Only to be in fear/
awe of the Lord your God, to walk in
God's ways, to love God, and to serve
God with all your heart and soul"
(Deuteronomy 10:12).
Yes, love is mentioned here, as it
is elsewhere, but it is secondary and
seems to refer more to devoted service
than to emotional attachment. The
primary emotion God demands in our
parshah is yir'ah, reverence, awe mixed
with fear.
It may be possible to build a strong
relationship with God based primarily
on fear — but I cant envision doing so
myself. And while I believe that rever-
ence is necessary when relating to God,
it is, for me, insufficient; I find that a
real element of love is critical to help
me live a life centered on Torah and
mitzvot.
Is my need to love God, and to feel
loved in return, a purely modern con-
ceit? We might indeed imagine that
authentic Judaism requires only the
fear of God, not love.
But if we thought this way, we
would be wrong. Throughout their
commentaries and interpretations on
Devarim — and especially on this
week's parshah — the rabbis invoke
the love-based metaphor of marriage
to illustrate the relationship between us
and God.
Again and again, the rabbis use met-
aphors of a marital relationship — as
well as a parent-child relationship — to
frame our relationship with God. The
Torah does so rarely, and the
prophets more often — but
the rabbis most frequently
of all. What are we to make
of their efforts?
To me, the answer is clear:
The rabbis were trying to
temper Ekev's emphasis on
yir'ah, fear-tinged awe, with
a strong dose of love. Our
prayers speak to God about
"Your miracles that are with
us each day"; in their own
way, the rabbis are urging us
to view the blessings in our
lives as products of God's love.
By appreciating all that we have —
as individuals, as communities and as
a people — we can feel God's love suf-
fusing our lives. And we, in return, can
love God back.
This, I think, is the crucial reason
our reverence must be mixed with
love. Awe and reverence are one-way; I
am unsure how it could be possible to
imagine God being in awe of us. There
can be no mutuality in a relationship
based solely on yir'ah. Love, though,
can be a two-way street; indeed, if love
is to endure, it almost has to be.
May we follow in the rabbis' foot-
steps, forging a multi-dimensional
relationship with God through Torah
and mitzvot. !
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• What is your favorite metaphor
for our relationship with God?
Marriage? Parent-child? Ruler-
subject? Other?
• When might you have felt God's
love?
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August 9 • 2012
27