But the Pharisees, when they heard that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in one place. And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”
And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your G-d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- Matthew 22:34-40
Love is such a crucial aspect of our faith. Without the love of Adonai, we cannot live out His Torah or walk in His ways. Yeshua reminds us of this central command, to love Adonai completely, so that they could truly understand the heart of G-d. He does not say to abandon all other commandments, rather that we cannot understand the whole of Torah without first understanding love. All of scripture has the same loving purpose. The instructions given in Torah are the method by which we show love to our Heavenly Father and to our neighbor. May we heed Yeshua's words as we strive to be pleasing before Him. He has given us so much and our desire and calling is to respond in love.
