"And you shall love Hashem your G-d . . . with all your
means (bechol me'odecho)' -- with every measure He
metes out to you" (Chazal).
The word me'od, exceedingly, in great measure,
generally serves to emphasize the unique. When we seek to
stress that we are not talking about "good" in the usual
sense, or "great, big," in normal terms, we say tov
me'od, good indeed, or godol me'od, exceedingly
large.
The word rarely assumes a noun form, however, as it does
here, as a capacity.
The Meshech Chochmah infers that one must learn how to
utilize one's love for Hashem to its fullest, to exploit it
for the good. One must use not only the simple innate
characteristics, but also those special, unique kochos
hanefesh that are shared by mankind and not by other
living creatures.
We see that animals are also capable of love and hatred: they
all love what is beneficial for them and favor whoever
provides these benefits. Good and bad, however, is defined by
them only in pragmatic terms of the present: what is pleasant
and palatable right now, not what is beneficial for the
future.
Man is different. Man is capable of projecting his inborn
capacity for affection and esteem, which he shares with other
creatures, and developing them with regard to the future and
future welfare. Good and bad are not necessarily what is
pleasant right now, but what can be beneficial in the
future.
This capacity is the me'od of man. The Torah commands
us to love Hashem with all our means, our might, our power of
faith in the goodness of the future.
*
Man is surrounded by suffering in all forms. And he asks
himself how he can contend with it. How can he cling to his
love for Hashem even when faced by hardship? How can he
relate to the "rod" that strikes him as "his comfort," as
Dovid Hamelech did ["Shivtecho umishantecho, heimo
yenachamuni"]? A punishing rod (shivtecho) and a
supporting cane (mishantecho) are far from synonymous.
But their end purpose is the same, to make us love Hashem.
The Torah teaches and trains us to "Love Hashem your G-d with
all your might/means." In order to withstand a test and to
check if we truly love Hashem with every measure meted out to
us, we must embrace the trait of me'od in our human
makeup. We must utilize our ability to project into the
future and think in long range terms, for then we will be
able to relate to our suffering with real love and gratitude,
as well, for we will know that our tribulations actually
incorporate future happiness. "For the sake of punishing you
and testing you in order to benefit you in the end."
Suffering cleanses sins. Troubles purify the soul. They draw
a person closer to eternal goodness while the principal
remains intact for the World to Come.
It is very difficult to sustain suffering in the present, to
bear it, but man is capable of appreciating and loving what
he knows is ultimately good for him, even if it is not
exactly palatable in the present. His entire future takes on
a different tone through his suffering. The Gaon of Vilna
said: "Were it not for suffering, we would not find our hands
and feet [we wouldn't be able to manage] in Olom
Haboh."
It is true that few can fully appreciate the role and benefit
of suffering to the extent that our saintly tanoim
did, when they exclaimed to their yissurim, "Come, my
dear ones, come my dear ones" (as is related in
Brochos). All this is in the present, but after the
trials are done and gone, we can see them in a different
light of hindsight. A person must train himself to feel a
strong bond of love to his suffering, to recognize in them
heavenly vehicles, holy emissaries to blaze him a trail to
the World to Come. He must regard them as antipollutants,
purifiers that prepare his soul for eternal life and
reward.
Maran HaRav Yisroel Yaakov Kanievsky zt'l wrote,
"Suffering is dear; it is the success and the great and
awesome happiness in eternal matters. This is why one must
rejoice in having experienced past suffering and having
overcome it, for this is a pure profit whose value we cannot
begin to imagine. It is one of Hashem's immeasurable forms of
kindness."
*
How difficult it is. We all pray not to be subjected to
trials. But life is full of vicissitudes, strewn with hurdles
and pitfalls, ups and downs, situations that seem favorable
and others that don't. Our task is to love Hashem through
thick and thin, in everything that is meted out to us, what
appears to be good and what seems to be difficult. We remind
ourselves of it twice daily so that we can persevere in "Love
Hashem . . . with all our might."
The Torah does not only command us in it, it also guides and
directs us. "I am Hashem Who instructs you, to benefit you
from your way, in the way you must pursue." The fortitude to
withstand a test and to grapple with it can be drawn -- so
counsels the Torah -- from an outlook of foresight, a glimpse
or projection into the future. And the future is a promising
one.
