Q&A: On the Commandment to Love God
On the Commandment to Love God
Question
In the past we discussed the commandment of faith / belief—whether it is a general heading for all the commandments or a commandment in its own right—and you told me that it is a general heading, because it does not make sense to command belief.
What about the commandment, "And you shall love the Lord your God"? Is that an actual commandment, and if so, what does it mean to command someone to love?
Answer
I suggested that perhaps it is a heading, because it is hard to accept a commandment to believe. I am not sure that this is Maimonides' intention, although according to his view there are such commandments. See positive commandments 95–96 in the Book of Commandments.
As for the meaning of commanding love, two comments: (a) It is possible to command love. With belief this is a logical problem; regarding love it may be a psychological problem, and even about that I am not at all sure. A person can build love in an intentional way. But in my opinion this is a commandment addressed to the intellect, not to the emotion. See what I wrote about this here on the site.