Whereas we are here commanded to return to G‑d with all our heart and soul, we have been commanded previously to love G‑d not only with all our heart and soul, but with “all our might.” What is the reason for this difference?
Loving G‑d “with all our might” means being devoted to Him beyond what we consider “normal,” i.e., beyond what makes sense logically.
Repentance, on the other hand, requires that we forge a stronger relationship with G‑d than our present one. That relationship with G‑d, after all, was too weak to keep us from wrongdoing and therefore from needing to repent. We therefore need to deepen our feelings toward G‑d, in order for Him to mean more to us than the indulgences that we have learned to rationalize.
Thus, whereas the Torah bids us to love G‑d beyond what seems “normal,” it bids us to repent by making what used to be “beyond” us into our new “normal.” The processes associated with repentance and love are directly opposite, the first taking us beyond our innate limitations and the second bringing transcendence into limited consciousness.1
This is mind boggling. I see that it is true. Nevertheless I can’t really grasp it right now. In my mind one can go in only one direction, on the premise that one cannot be going in two directions at the same time. This is interesting… maybe it is the two soul situation that we are in… we are reaching up while G-d is meeting us where we are, usually in a place much lower then we know; and that brings us up, closer to Him. It is always in motion. It isn’t something one can figure out, it all makes me let go and trust, and do what I am told.