Daily Mitzvah

The 3rd mitzva is that we are commanded to love G‑d (exalted be He), i.e. to meditate upon and closely examine His mitzvos, His commandments, and His works, in order to understand Him; and through this understanding to achieve a feeling of ecstasy. This is the goal of the commandment to love G‑d.

[We can see that meditation is the way to create this feeling of love1 from] the Sifri: "From the statement, 'You shall love G‑d your Lord'2, can I know how to love G‑d? The Torah therefore says, 'and these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart'3; i.e. that through this [meditation about His commandments] you will understand the nature of 'the One Who spoke, and thereby brought the world into being.' "

From this it is clear that meditation will lead to understanding, and then a feeling of enjoyment and love will follow automatically [since the second verse explains the way to reach the goal of the previous verse.]

Our Sages also said that this mitzvah includes calling out to all mankind to serve G‑d (exalted be He) and to believe in Him. This is because when you love a person, for example, you praise him and call out to others to draw close to him. So too, if you truly love G‑d — through your understanding and realization of His true existence — you will certainly spread this true knowledge that you know to the ignorant and the foolish.

[We see that this mitzvah includes spreading love for G‑d to others from] the Sifri: " 'You shall love G‑d,' i.e. make Him beloved among the creatures as your father Avraham did, as it is written, 'The souls that he made in Charan.'4"

The meaning of this Sifri: Avraham, as a result of his deep understanding of G‑d, acquired love for G‑d, as the verse testifies, "Avraham, who loved Me"5. This powerful love therefore caused him to call out to all mankind to believe in G‑d. So too, you shall love Him to the extent that you draw others to Him.

The 4th mitzvah is that we are commanded to establish in our minds fear and dread of G‑d (exalted be He); that we not be calm and nonchalant, but be constantly concerned of imminent punishment1 [for misdeeds.]

The biblical source of this commandment is G‑d's statement2 (exalted be He), "You shall fear G‑d your Lord."

At3 the end of tractate Sanhedrin4, there is a discussion of G‑d's statement5 (exalted be He), "Anyone who is nokev (curses) G‑d's Name shall be put to death." [The Talmud asks:] "Perhaps the word nokev means, 'utters,' as in the verse6, 'Who were mentioned (nikvu) by name'; the prohibition7 being the verse, 'You shall fear G‑d your Lord.' "

The meaning of this question: "Perhaps the verse, 'nokev G‑d's Name' means merely uttering G‑d's Name even without a curse. And if one wonders 'What prohibition can there be in this?', it is [the prohibition not] to erase one's fear of G‑d; because included in fear of G‑d is not mentioning His Name in vain."8

The Talmud answers this question and rejects this approach as follows: "First of all, [in order to be punishable by death,] the person must have used 'one Name against another,' i.e. cursed one of G‑d's Names with another of G‑d's Names, as in the saying, 'Let Yosi strike Yosi,'9 and [if he merely mentioned G‑d's Name in vain,] he did not fulfill this condition."

[The Talmud continues:] "Furthermore, this prohibition is stated as a positive commandment, and cannot technically serve as a prohibition."

This means that the suggestion, "the prohibition is from the verse, 'You shall fear G‑d,' " is incorrect, because this verse is a positive commandment, and a punishment can never be based on a positive commandment.

This passage clearly indicates that "You shall fear G‑d," is a positive commandment.

The 9th mitzvah is that we are commanded to sanctify G‑d's Name.

The biblical source of this commandment is G‑d's statement1, "Sanctify Me amidst the Jewish people."

This mitzvah requires us to publicize the true religion to the masses. This must be done without fear of retribution, to the extent that even if a powerful tyrant tries to force us to deny G‑d (exalted be He), we may not obey him. We must rather unquestioningly submit to death, not even allowing him to think that we have denied G‑d (exalted be He) [by outwardly denying Him], even if we still maintain belief in Him in our hearts.

This is the mitzvah of "Santifying G‑d's Name," in which all Jews are obligated. This means that allow ourselves to be killed by a tyrant for love of G‑d (exalted be He) and belief in His Oneness. [This is] similar to the actions of Chanaya, Mishael, and Azaryah in the days of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, who forced people to bow down to a statue, and everyone — including Jews — bowed down. There was nobody there to sanctify G‑d's Name, and this was a tremendous shame to the Jewish people. Everyone did not fulfill this mitzvah, and there was nobody to fulfill it; everyone was afraid.

This commandment is obligatory only in such an awesome setting, when all inhabitants of the world were terrified, and it was then necessary to spread and announce His Unity.2

But G‑d had already promised through His prophet Isaiah that the Jewish people would not be completely disgraced on that difficult occasion; and that a few young men3 would be present who would not be afraid of death, and would give up their lives and publicize faith in G‑d, sanctifying G‑d's Name in public as we have been commanded through Moses. This promise is in the verse4, "Now, Jacob will not be afraid, nor will his face turn white; for he will see in his midst his children, the work of My hands. They will sanctify My Name, the Holy One of Jacob, and strengthen the G‑d of Israel."

[We see that this action is obligatory, and therefore counts as a mitzvah from] the Sifra: "Upon this condition I took them out of Egypt; on condition5 that they publicly sanctify My Name."

In the end of tractate Sanhedrin, they ask, "Is a non-Jew commanded to sanctify G‑d's Name or not? Here is a statement which proves it: 'The seven commandments of the non-Jews.' If you include this one [i.e. to sanctify G‑d's Name], there would be eight!" From this we see that, for Jews, [sanctification of G‑d's Name] counts as a mitzvah.

They bring proof that this is counted among the mitzvos from the verse, "Sanctify Me amidst the Jewish people."

The details of this commandment have been explained in the 7th chapter of the tractate Sanhedrin.