Q&A: Service for Its Own Sake
Service for Its Own Sake
Question
Seemingly, in the Torah itself there is no mention of serving for its own sake, only a mention of loving God. And although I saw that once you interpreted love as intention for its own sake, that seems quite forced. It seems more plausible that God wants us to serve out of our love for Him, and that itself is considered serving for its own sake—that is, the good is good because that is the way of love. And regarding what you mention about Judaism as commitment to Jewish law, seemingly one should add commitment to Jewish law because we entered into a covenant with God, and commitment alone is not enough.
Answer
There is a difference between the commandment to love God and serving out of love. In the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Maimonides deals with love of God, whereas at the beginning of chapter 10 of the Laws of Repentance Maimonides speaks about serving out of love. And indeed, there he defines serving out of love as doing the truth because it is truth.
Commitment to Jewish law is of course commitment to it as the word of God. I have written more than once that commitment in the style of Ahad Ha'am is worth nothing in the religious sense.