"It happened in those days that Moshe grew up and went out to his brethren and observed their burdens" (Shmot 2:11). In what way did Moshe observe their burdens? "He focused his eyes and heart to be distressed over them" (Rashi). Moshe Rabenu did not simply observe the suffering of his brothers. He took their suffering to heart. Why did it bother him so much that his fellow Jews were suffering? Moshe after all was a prince in Pharaoh's palace, there was no chance he would be enlisted into slavery alongside them. Moshe Rabenu could not ignore the plight of others, when he saw suffering he would take it upon his heart and also upon his shoulders - "he would take their burden upon his shoulders and assist each and every one of them" (Shmot Rabba 1:27). Here was a prince who was not concerned with any affront to his dignity, if necessary he would carry heavy objects in order to lighten their burden in any way possible. The Mishna tells us that one of the forty eight ways in which the Torah is acquired is through "sharing his fellow's yoke" (Avot 6:6). This adage is not limited to sympathizing with another's suffering, but requires one to offer actual physical assistance whenever possible. If one cannot offer assistance, then he should at least feel the pain of the other. If a person can help and he does not, but simply says "I really feel for you", not only is he offering no physical assistance, but his "feeling is not genuine and he is not lending any moral support either.

Moshe Rabenu did not only carry the burden of his fellow Jews emotionally but in the physical sense as well. When "he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, of his brethren" (Shmot 2:11), he was unable to stand idly by, he had to immediately react: "he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand" (ibid. 12). The next few psukim tell us quite clearly that Moshe's actions were at a risk to his own life (when Pharaoh found out what had happened, he wished to kill Moshe - see Shmot 2:15). Moshe did take precautions - "he turned this way and that and saw that there was no man" (ibid. 12). (Rashi explains the text to mean that Moshe saw with his Ruach HaKodesh "that there was no man destined to descend from the Egyptian who would convert", yet the simple understanding of the pasuk is that he looked around to see if any Egyptians were watching). We can infer from Moshe's precautions that had he spotted observers, he would not have endangered his life. The Egyptian had had no intention of killing the Jew, rather he was working him hard - "he was striking him and intimidating him throughout the day" (Rashi Shmot 2:11). Because his life had not been in danger there was no justification for Moshe to endanger his own life.

The fact is that there would have been no justification for Moshe's endangering his life, even if the Jew's life had been in danger. Just as Chazal tell us "what do you see to assume that your blood is redder than that of your victim" (Pesachim 25b - rationalizing why one must give up his own life rather than kill a fellow Jew), the opposite also holds true - why should you assume that the other's blood is redder than yours (in which case Moshe would not have been permitted to endanger his own life in order to save another). Perhaps if there had been a remote chance of danger, there may have been no obligation to take that chance, but it would have been permitted to take a minimal risk in order to save another's life (see Sm"a to Choshen Mishpat 426:2 and Aruch HaShulchan). It is for this reason that Moshe looked here and there to see if anyone was watching - had there been an imminent danger (i.e. perhaps an Egyptian was watching), he would not have taken the risk.

The following day, Moshe again observes an injustice and cannot remain complacent and apathetic - "He went out the next day and behold! two Hebrew men were fighting. He said to the wicked one 'why would you strike your fellow'" (Shmot 2:13). Moshe is unable to ignore such an act, he is forced to protest. Furthermore, not only can he not remain silent in the face of crimes against his fellow Jews, but his sensitivity extends to non-Jews as well. Upon arrival in Midian, Moshe observed that the shepherds were exploiting Yitro's daughters, we then read: "Moshe got up and saved them and watered their sheep" (ibid. 17). Why must he get involved? "Who appointed you as a dignitary, a ruler and a judge over us" (ibid. 14). Is it Moshe's responsibility to fight every injustice that takes place on this earth?

Moshe had such a love for justice that he was unable to watch injustices being perpetrated without reacting. The pasuk states: "You love righteousness and hate wickedness, therefore has Hashem, your G-d, anointed you, with oil of joy from among your peers" (Tehillim 45:8). Chazal relate this pasuk to Avraham Avinu (see Bereishit Rabba 49:9), yet I would like to add that from our Parsha it is quite clear that the same statement may be made regarding Moshe Rabenu. We hear nothing special about Moshe prior to Hashem's having revealed Himself to Moshe at the burning bush. Why was Moshe chosen as Hashem's emissary to redeem the Jewish nation from Egypt? All we know of him is of his being pained by the suffering of his fellow Jews from the Egyptian bondage and being unable to react. He cannot watch an Egyptian hitting a Jew and not react.

He cannot view two Jews fighting and remain silent. He even feels the pain of non-Jews such as Yitro's daughters, when others are mistreating them. He had such a love of justice that he had to speak out. Chazal tell us that Moshe' treatment of his flock shows us that his sympathy for the plight of others extended to the animal world as well. The Midrash records an incident in which a goat wandered off and Moshe saw that it was in too much pain to walk back on its own. Moshe had such mercy on this goat that he carried it himself and returned it to the other animals (see Shmot Rabba 2:2).

Moshe's characteristic of responding to every injustice, stems not only from love for his fellow man but from love for Hashem as well. The A-lmighty is a "Compassionate and Gracious G-d" (Shmot 34:6), He is a "King Who loves righteousness and judgment" (from the weekday Shmone Esrei). Moshe's love for Hashem requires him to do what he can to insure that Hashem's world be free of injustice - that righteousness and justice rule. Because our Creator is Compassionate and Gracious, our love for Him obligates us to be so as well - towards non-Jews, for they too were created in His image, and towards our fellow Jews out of love for Klal Yisrael. In the case of the two Jews fighting, there is a double obligation of love for Klal Yisrael - to save the victim from harm and to save the perpetrator from sin. Love for our fellow man means saving him not only from physical danger but from spiritual danger as well. This latter chesed is even greater than the former, for the victim will suffer for a short time, while the perpetrator risks giving up his share of the World to Come and will thereby suffer for eternity. (The problem here was that the perpetrator was an evil man and had no interest in being saved by Moshe Rabenu, he even rebuffed Moshe's attempts in a very arrogant manner).

Moshe's love for the Jewish nation, like his love for justice, is not rooted only in his love for his fellow man, but stems from love for Hashem. The Sefer HaChinuch explains the Mitzvah of "You shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart" (Devarim 6:5). This requires not only a person's heart to be channeled towards Hashem, but to the exclusion of all other objects of our love. How can this be? Are we not commanded: "you shall love your fellow as yourself" (Vayikra 19:18)? Are we not told that we must love the Torah and the Land of Israel as well? How then are we expected to fulfill these words of the Sefer HaChinuch?

We are obligated to love other objects as well, but they are part and parcel of our love for Hashem. Let us take the example of love for our fellow Jews: Because we love Hashem, we therefore love His children too (we often find this in human relationships as well, when we love another person that extends to love for their children as well). We love the Torah because it is Hashem's Torah that He imparted to us. We love the Land of Israel because Hashem gave it to us as a place to serve Him and carry out His Will. This was the sin of the spies, they spoke loshon hara about the Land of Israel - they were thereby guilty of not showing their love for the Land Hashem gave us. Speaking in such a manner about Hashem's Land, indicates something lacking in their love for the A-lmighty Himself. Anytime the Torah commanded us to love something - it is not for its own sake, but it is derived from our love for Hashem. There are, therefore, no other values in this world outside of loving Hashem and serving Him.

It appears to me that this was the objection HaGaon HaRav Elchanan Wasserman zt"l raised toward the term "national religious". How can one be national and religious? If being a nationalist is part of Avodat Hashem, then being religious includes being a nationalist. There is no need to explicitly mention it. Would one specify that one is a "religious Shabbat observer", a "religious man who gives tzdakah", or "religious and keeping the laws of kashrut"? Are all of these not obvious when we label someone religious? If serving Hashem means being nationalistic then there is no need to explicitly state it. If serving Hashem precludes being nationalistic, then there is no room for the classification "national religious", for that implies that there are values outside of our religion! Hashem wants us only to follow His dictates. Loving the Jewish people, if that is what being nationalistic means is an intrinsic part of our love for Hashem and our desire to follow His dictates. There is therefore no room for the classification "national religious".

The Gemara tells us that there is a Mitzvah for a man to marry his sister's daughter (see Sanhedrin 76b). Today this and all other intra-family marriages are discouraged out of medical concerns. Why does the Gemara deem this a Mitzvah? Because such a bond carries with it a greater guarantee that the relationship between husband and wife will be a proper one. If a man loves his sister, then he will love her daughter too, and be less likely to quarrel with her. Chazal saw in a man's love for his sister such a strong bond, that they feared that should the niece/wife act in a manner inappropriate for a married woman, he may try to protect her and not reveal her actions. They therefore enacted a special decree to prevent this from happening (see Gittin 17a). If a man's love for his sister's children is so strong, how much more so must his love for Hashem's children be. The love for our fellow man is not a separate commandment, it stems from our love for Hashem and from our desire to observe His Torah.

The Chafetz Chaim relates a story that took place during the days of the Spanish Inquisition in the year 5252. The evil Spaniards slaughtered two boys before the eyes of their grieving mother. On witnessing this atrocity, the woman cried out: "Creator of the Universe, I confess that so long as my sons were alive my love for You was not a complete one. There was a small corner of my heart that was reserved only for my children. Now that my sons have died, all my love can be channeled to You, and it is only now that I can properly fulfill: 'you shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart, with all your soul' (Devarim 6:5)" (see Tnuat HaMussar volume 4, chapter 5). Obviously these words testify to greatness of this woman, yet there is something lacking in her approach. She saw her love for her children as being in addition to her love of Hashem. A Jew's love of his children is an outgrowth of love for Hashem, it is not "at the expense" of the love for Hashem. Hashem commands us to love our wives, our children, and the entire nation. We love these people as part of our love for Hashem, not as something separate.

The love of justice we mentioned must also be a result of our love for Hashem, and not a separate value. Every day we declare Hashem to be "the King Who loves righteousness and judgment". When the Torah commands us "you go in His ways" [19] (Devarim 28:9) (see the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot Mitzvat Asei 8, and see Hilchot Deot 1:5-6), we are given a positive commandment to love justice. Love of justice is therefore not a separate value, but is part of our love for Hashem and our following in His ways. There is a positive commandment to love the Jewish people (see Sefer HaMitzvot Mitzvat Asei 206) - here too it is not an independent Mitzvah, but should stem from our love of Hashem. The same applies to all the Mitzvot of the Torah that must be fulfilled through love and fear, in other words part of our love and fear of Hashem includes observing these Mitzvot. We love the Torah because it is His wisdom, what greater good could He have bestowed upon us than "that He gave us the Torah of truth and implanted eternal life within us."

Our love for Hashem also means that we must serve Him "lishma", for its own sake, and not for the sake of being rewarded. The Mishna tells us: "Antigonus Ish Socho ... used to say 'Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward'" (Pirke Avot 1:3). Two of his students, Tzaddok and Baitus, did not follow this adage, interpreting the words of their teacher as to mean that the reason we must not serve for the sake of a reward is because there IS NO reward, G-d forbid (see Rashbam Baba Batra 115b in the name of Avot DeR' Natan chapter 5). They were, as we know, mistaken, for one of the principles of our faith is a belief in reward and punishment. The intention of the Mishna is to clarify that this must not be what motivates us to serve Him. The Rambam elaborates: "the only ones who serve Hashem in this way are the ignorant, the women and the children" (Rambam Hilchot Tshuva 10:1).
They are initially educated to serve Hashem "until they will gain more understanding and serve with love" (ibid.). What must motivate us to serve Hashem? "No reason in the world, not for fear of retribution and not for want of anything good. We must do what is true simply because it is truth" (ibid. halacha 2).

When the Chazon Ish died, one of the eulogizers claimed that from the age of thirteen the Chazon Ish he had reached the level of studying Torah purely "lishma". Upon hearing this R' Yechezkel Levinstein rose and said that this was impossible! even a person as great as the Chazon Ish perhaps reached this level at the latter stage of his life, nobody can study Torah purely "lishma" at the age of thirteen, even the Chazon Ish. Far be it for me to decide who among these great sages is right, I cannot judge the words of my Rebbe HaRav Yechezkel Levinstein zt"l and certainly not those of the Chazon Ish zt"l. What we can derive from this interaction that our goal must be to learn Torah "lishma" and not for the sake of a reward.

The Mishna we have just quoted poses a difficulty. If we are told: "Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward", why do we daven daily: "May it be Your will, Hashem, our G-d, and the G-d of our forefathers, that we observe Your decrees in This World, and merit that we live and see and inherit goodness and blessing in the years of Messianic times and for the life of the World to Come". Are we not asking for a reward? I would be able to understand this tefilla if I were the only one reciting it, for I am yet to reach the level where I can claim that I only learn Torah lishma. But this prayer was also recited by the Chazon Ish and other Gedolim. How are we then to understand this tefilla? Is this not an explicit request for a reward for all that we have done?

Perhaps we can explain that those reciting the prayer are not asking for rewards for themselves, but rather for their fellow Jews. I serve Hashem without the goal of being rewarded, yet I am davening that my fellow Jews who follow Hashem's command "inherit goodness and blessing in the years of Messianic times and for the life of the World to Come". It would be wonderful, if alongside them I merit too, but this is not the intent of my prayer. I am praying for others - it is not that I am expecting a reward from Hashem, but I love my fellow Jews so much that I only want good for them. Just as I pray for my friend's physical well being, that "may Hashem give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth" (Bereishit 27:28), I pray that Hashem give him that which is truly good - the days of the Moshiach and life in the World to Come.

I am not convinced that this is the intent of the prayer, and I would therefore like to suggest an alternative approach. Tosafot (Avoda Zara 19a "al menat"), tell us that the prohibition against serving Hashem with the intent of being rewarded only exists if this condition can be classified as a "tnai kaful" - a two sided condition. In other words, one is only prohibited from stating "if I am rewarded then all is well and good, and if I am not rewarded then I regret having observed any Mitzvot". A one-sided condition - one that states a desire for a reward, yet does not demonstrate regret for past performance of Mitzvot if the reward does not arrive, does not fall under the prohibition of "Be not like servants who serve their master ("al menat lekabel pras") for the sake of receiving a reward". (Tosafot here are concurring with the view of the Rambam (Hilchot Ishut 6:17) who claims that a conditional statement with the words "al menat" implies a "tnai kaful". For example if a man were to tell a woman "you are sanctified to me on condition ("al menat") that I give you 200 zuz". According to the view of the Rambam, this statement would mean that should he not fulfill the dictates of his conditional statement, if he does not give her the money, then the marriage does not take effect. This is the source, therefore, for the claim of Tosafot, that when the Mishna tells us serving Hashem "al menat lekabel pras", only precludes a two-sided condition). With this understanding, we can say that when we daven to Hashem that we "merit that we live and see and inherit goodness and blessing in the years of Messianic times and for the life of the World to Come", there is no flip side, we are not saying that should Hashem not reward us we will regret ever having served Him, G-d forbid, this tefilla is therefore not in violation of the dictates of the Mishna.

Not only is there nothing wrong with asking for this reward, it is the ideal approach. Would not a lack of interest in the World to Come, be an insult to Hashem's precious gift? Is life in the Next World really of no interest to us? The spies were severely punished for not desiring the Land of Israel - that special Land that Hashem wished to give us. If it is Hashem's desire to provide us with life in the Next World, we must not scoff at His gifts, we must desire them greatly.

We can view this in a slightly different manner. If one wishes to give me a gift, there are two ways I can approach receiving it. Either I am happy at the prospect because he wishes to give me something I have always wanted - a good book, clothing, etc. This desiring for gifts is not appropriate for people on a higher spiritual level for "one who hates gifts will live" (Mishle 15:27). There can be, however, another motive for accepting the gift of another. It is not myself so much who is happy to receive this gift, as much as the giver is happy at my having accepted it. For my part, I have no need for what he is giving me, but how can I not accept it after seeing the joy my receiving it has brought him? The Gemara (see Megilla 28a) cites several examples of Amoraim who were invited to dine with the Reish Galuta (the head of the Diaspora in Bavel). Some refused because "one who hates gifts will live", while others accepted because they saw that the Reish Galuta would be honored by their presence.

It is Hashem's desire to provide for His creations. The greatest good that He can bestow upon us is the gift of life in the World to Come - eternal life, closeness to Hashem. We in this world have no concept of how good that world is - "no eye has ever seen a god - except for You - that acted for those who trust in Him" (Yeshayahu 64:3). Hashem created us in order to provide us with that which is eternally good. It is true that He provides for our needs in this world as well, but the true purpose of the creation is not for what He gives us in this world, but so that we can bask in the glory of the Shchina (see Messilat Yesharim chapter 1), the best place to accomplish this is in the Next World.

We may get a glimpse in this world of the meaning of basking in the Shchina - by the joy of observing Shabbat and Yom Tov, by the immense pleasure we get from learning a page of Gemara. All of this together cannot compare to the brightness of the Shchina in the Next World. Shabbat may be one sixtieth of the Next World (see Brachot 57b), but in the final analysis the Next World is sixty times Shabbat. Hashem created us in order to provide us with eternal good. When we daven that we merit the days of the Moshiach and life in the World to come, we are asking that His will be fulfilled - His will is to provide for us. One who davens for these rewards is asking Hashem that the purpose of the Creation be realized. This prayer, therefore, is not asking Hashem to reward us, but is just one of the ways in which we serve Him. One who prays to Hashem "I desire life in the World to Come because this world is full of troubles - acts of terrorism, illnesses, income tax, etc." is praying for his own welfare. When, however, his focus is "I desire the Next World because that would mean a fulfillment of the Creation", then he is serving Hashem out of love - not as one who serves His Master for the sake of receiving a reward, but as one who asks for the reward as a tool to better serve His Master. Just as a human being can accept a gift in order to please the giver, our love for Him prompts us to desire His reward.

How do we attain a true love of Hashem? There are several ways this can be accomplished. Whatever method we choose, it must be both intellectual as well as emotional. We must understand with our minds that Hashem provides for all, and we must feel good in our hearts that Hashem does so much for us. The Rambam tells us (Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:2) that the way to acquire a love for Hashem is to stand and marvel at the wonders of the creation. When we view this tremendous world that Hashem has created for us - from the upper worlds of the angels down to the smallest insect, we cannot help but love the One Who Created this. Rashi, on the other hand, is of the opinion that the way to acquire a love for Hashem is through Torah study - "'You shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart' (Devarim 6:5) ... and what is the love? 'and these words shall be upon your heart' (ibid. 6), for as a result of this, you become aware of the Holy One Blessed is He and attach yourself to His ways" (Rashi Devarim 6:5). (The psukim can be explained from the opposite angle as well - not only does learning Torah result in a greater love for Hashem, but our love for Hashem motivates us to learn Torah. This must be the case, for how much love can one have for another if they have no interest in listening to what their beloved has to say? When we love another, we find everything they say of interest. We can therefore explain that from "you shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart" (Devarim 6:5), we can arrive at "and these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart, you shall teach them thoroughly to your children" (Devarim 6:6-7). What we have just said in the name of Rashi is based on the Sifri).

Rashi's claim that the way to love Hashem is to learn more Torah emphasizes the intellectual, while the Rambam's approach places greater emphasis on the emotional - the heart. David was alluding to each of these two approaches, when he said: "the heavens declare the glory of Hashem" (Tehillim 19:2), and "the Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Hashem is trustworthy, making the simple one wise" (ibid. 8). David is declaring - go outside, look at the sun, the moon, and the other marvels of creation, through this you will recognize "the glory of Hashem". There is however, says David HaMelech, another way to come to that recognition and that is by studying the Torah. These are two parallel paths one can tread on in his quest to serve Hashem - they each lead to the same destination. A non-Jew who does not learn Torah, has no choice but to choose the emotional path of viewing Hashem's creation. We, thank G-d, have the Torah - we can attain a love for Hashem by learning. These two paths are in a sense one and the same. Hashem, so to speak, "looked at the Torah and created the world" (Zohar Shmot 161:2). Hashem created the world based on the dictates of the Torah - whatever is in the Creation can be found in the Torah, and whatever we find in the Torah we can find in the Creation. Marveling at the creation - the emotional approach, and learning the Torah - the intellectual approach, will achieve the same result.

Based on this we can point out something quite interesting. The Torah begins with "In the beginning of G-d's creating the heavens and the earth" (Bereishit 1:1). Rashi begins his commentary of the Torah with: "R' Yitzchak said, the Torah should rather have begun with 'this month shall be for you' (Shmot 12:2)". The Ten commandments, on the other hand, begin by stating "I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt" (Shmot 20:2). The Kuzari (see article 1:25, and the Ramban as well) wonders why Hashem presented Himself as the One Who took us out of the land of Egypt rather than the One Who Created the heavens and the earth. Rav Amiel z"l explained that each of these Rishonim are being consistent with their views. Rashi, who feels that the best way to love Hashem is to learn Torah, wonders why the Torah did not begin with the details of the Mitzvot themselves. By so doing, claims Rashi, not only can we better know Hashem, but the better to love Him as well. We, therefore, need the reasons provided by R' Yitzchak to explain why the Torah began with the stories of the creation.

The Rambam, however, who states that the way to arrive at a true love for Hashem is to contemplate the wonders of the creation, is not very bothered by R' Yitzchak's questions. The Kuzari agrees and it is for this reason that he does not understand why the Ten Commandments do not begin by stating that Hashem created the world, is this not the ultimate and eternal proof for "I am Hashem, your G-d" (Shmot 20:2) - the first of the Commandments?

In truth, both are necessary - the Torah must tell us that Hashem created the Heavens and the earth. In fact the Mitzvah of Shabbat is a testimony to the world having been created in six days. Knowing that Hashem created the world is one of the foundations of our belief. Many in fact find Rashi's opening question very difficult. How can we begin to understand the Torah without knowing what preceded it? The introductory sentence of the first Mitzvah of "this month shall be for you" is "and Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt saying" (Shmot 12:1). Who is Hashem? "This month shall be for YOU" - who is this "you" referring to - is it Moshe and Aharon? This section continues with "and I shall pass through Egypt on this night, and I shall strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt" (ibid. 12). What did they do to deserve such a cruel punishment? We are then told that Hashem will bring us "to the land about which I swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov" (Shmot 35:1). Who are they? I have never heard of them! We need those passages of the Torah that precede this Mitzvah in order to understand it and that which follows.

What then does Rashi mean when he claims that the Torah should have begun with the Mitzvot and skipped the creation and all that followed? One explanation offered, is that of course we must know that Hashem created the heavens and the earth, and that this creation took six days. If not, how are we to understand the Mitzvah of Shabbat? We must know who our forefathers were and that it is in their merit that we have been given the Land of Israel and have become the people of Israel. We must know who the Egyptians were, what they did, and what they did to deserve the Ten Plagues that were wrought upon them. We could have left all that to the Oral Torah. Rashi is asking why it had to be written in the Torah, for the Written Torah could have begun with "this month shall be for you". To this question we have the well known answer: "The strength of His deeds He declared to His people" (Tehillim 111:6-7). It is because the non-Jews do not learn the Oral Torah that all the events prior to the giving of this first Mitzvah had to be written down. Should they claim that we stole their land, we can respond by showing them the Torah - "if the nations of the world will say to Israel, you are bandits, for you conquered the lands of the seven nations, Israel will say to them 'the whole earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed is He, He created it and He gave it to the one who is proper in His eyes, by His wish He gave it to them, and by His wish He took it from them and gave it to us" (Rashi Bereishit 1:1). It never dawned on Rashi that the entire book of Bereishit and the beginning of Shmot are superfluous. As we have mentioned Rashi felt that the principle way to arrive at a love for Hashem is by learning Torah, and the Rambam feels that the ideal way to accomplish that is to contemplate the wonders of the creation. We must realize that "both are words of a living G-d" (Eruvin 13b). We must speak to our soul through our minds as well as through our hearts.

The Mitzvah to don Tefillin alludes to these two paths as well. Hashem commanded us to lay Tefillin on our head, as well as on our arm - adjacent to our heart. One cannot do one without the other. Shabbat, as well, is a testimony to the Creation of the World (as is stated in the first set of Commandments), as well as testimony to Hashem having taken us out of Egypt (as is written in the second set of Commandments). Here too, we find two ways to achieve a love for Hashem. Speedily in our day, when we see a fulfillment of "from Zion will the Torah come forth and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Yeshayahu 2:3), we will also see a fulfillment of "the heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice" (Tehillim 96:11). May we merit a total fulfillment and perfection of the Torah as well as the Creation together, speedily in our day. Amen.