A greater and more intense love than this (i.e., than the love which results from realizing that G-d is one’s true soul and life), a love which is likewise concealed in every soul of Israel as an inheritance from our ancestors, is that which is defined in Raaya Mehemna in description of Moses’ divine service: “Like a son who strives for the sake of his father and mother, whom he loves even more than his own body, soul, and spirit…sacrificing his life for his father and mother in order to redeem them from captivity.”9
וְאַהֲבָה רַבָּה וּגְדוֹלָה מִזּוֹ, וְהִיא מְסוּתֶּרֶת גַּם כֵּן בְּכָל נֶפֶשׁ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל בִּירוּשָּׁה מֵאֲבוֹתֵינוּ, הִיא, מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בְּרַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא: "כִּבְרָא דְּאִשְׁתַּדֵּל בָּתַר אֲבוֹי וְאִימֵּיהּ, דְּרָחִים לוֹן יַתִּיר מִגַּרְמֵיהּ וְנַפְשֵׁיהּ וְרוּחֵיהּ כוּ'",
for “have we not all one Father?”10
כִּי הֲלֹא אָב אֶחָד לְכוּלָּנוּ.
Just as Moses possessed this love because G-d is his Father, so, too, every Jew can possess this love, for G-d is equally our Father.
This level of love is more selfless than that described by the phrase, “My soul, I desire You.” For love which results from realizing that G-d is one’s true life will only be as intense as a person’s desire for life itself. It will not demand total self-sacrifice, which is the opposite of life. The love of a child for his parent, however, is not limited to his love for life; his parents’ lives take precedence over his own, and he is ready to give his very life in order to save theirs.
And although one may ask, who is the man and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to approach and attain even a thousandth part of the degree of love felt by Moses, “The Faithful Shepherd,”
וְאַף כִּי מִי הוּא זֶה וְאֵיזֶהוּ אֲשֶׁר עָרַב לִבּוֹ לָגֶשֶׁת לְהַשִּׂיג אֲפִילוּ חֵלֶק אֶחָד מִנִּי אֶלֶף מִמַּדְרֵגַת אַהֲבַת "רַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא"?
How, then, do we say that every Jew can feel the same love of G-d that Moses felt?
nevertheless, a minute portion and particle of his great goodness and light illumines the community of Israel in each generation, as it is stated in the Tikkunim,11 that “an emanation from him (Moses) is present in every generation” “to illumine them….”12
מִכָּל מָקוֹם, הֲרֵי אֶפֶס קָצֵהוּ וְשֶׁמֶץ מֶנְהוּ מֵרַב טוּבוֹ וְאוֹרוֹ – מֵאִיר לִכְלָלוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּתִּיקּוּנִים, דְּ"אִתְפַּשְּׁטוּתֵיהּ בְּכָל דָּרָא וְדָרָא לְאַנְהָרָא לוֹן וְכוּ'".
Since this luminous particle is found in all Jews in all generations, it thus becomes possible for every Jew—through Moses’ goodness and light—to feel the love that he possesses as an inheritance from the Patriarchs in a manner similar to that of Moses.13
Only the glow from Moses’ soul is present in the souls of all Israel in a manner of great obscurity and concealment. But to bring forth this hidden love from its latency and concealment to a state of revelation so that it will be manifest in his heart and mind is “not beyond reach, nor is it far off, but it is very close to you, in your mouth and heart.”14
רַק שֶׁהֶאָרָה זוֹ הִיא בִּבְחִינַת הֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם גָּדוֹל בְּנַפְשׁוֹת כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּלְהוֹצִיא אַהֲבָה זוֹ הַמְסוּתֶּרֶת מֵהַהֶעְלֵם וְהַהֶסְתֵּר אֶל הַגִּילּוּי, לִהְיוֹת בְּהִתְגַּלּוּת לִבּוֹ וּמוֹחוֹ – "לֹא נִפְלֵאת וְלֹא רְחוֹקָה הִיא", אֶלָּא "קָרוֹב הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ",
That is to say, it should be habitual with his tongue and voice to arouse the intention of his heart and mind, for “the sound of one’s voice arouses the devout concentration”15 of heart and mind,
דְּהַיְינוּ, לִהְיוֹת רָגִיל עַל לְשׁוֹנוֹ וְקוֹלוֹ – לְעוֹרֵר כַּוָּונַת לִבּוֹ וּמוֹחוֹ,
so as to immerse his thought in the Life of life, the blessed Ein Sof, for He is literally our true Father and the Source of our life, and to awaken our love for Him like the love of a son for his father.
לְהַעֲמִיק מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ בְּחַיֵּי הַחַיִּים אֵין־סוֹף בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, כִּי הוּא אָבִינוּ מַמָּשׁ הָאֲמִיתִּי וּמְקוֹר חַיֵּינוּ, וּלְעוֹרֵר אֵלָיו הָאַהֲבָה כְּאַהֲבַת הַבֵּן אֶל הָאָב.
And when one accustoms himself to this continually, habit will become nature.
וּכְשֶׁיַּרְגִּיל עַצְמוֹ כֵּן תָּמִיד הֲרֵי הַהֶרְגֵּל נַעֲשֶׂה טֶבַע.
This manner of service is not limited to Moses alone: it is within the province of every Jew,