(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יהוה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יהוה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ (ה)וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃(ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (ח) וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ (ט) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזֻז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}
(4) Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. (5)You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.(6) Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. (7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; (9) inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
What does it mean to love God?
בכל לבבך. בשני יצריך דבר אחר בכל לבבך, שלא יהיה לבך חלוק על המקום:
with all your heart: Heb. בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ b'chol l'vav'cha [The double “vet” in לְבָבְךָ l'vav'cha, instead of the usual form לִבְּךָ lib'cha, suggests:] Love God with your two inclinations [the good and the evil]. (Sifrei; Ber. 54a) Another explanation; “with all your heart,” is that your heart should not be divided [i.e., at variance] with the Omnipresent (Sifrei).
ובכל נפשך - לפי פשוטו: אפילו נוטלין את נפשך, שהרי כבר אמר: בכל לבבך.
ובכל נפשך uv'chol nafsh'cha with all your soul, according to the plain meaning of the text “even if it will cost your life.” It must mean this: seeing that the Torah had already covered all the other bases when it wrote בכל ללבך b'chol l'vav'cha, “with all your heart,” the meaning is that while alive you are to love God with all your heart, if your faith and love for God is put to the test and you must choose that or your very survival, you must choose the former.
ובכל מאדך. בכל ממונך יש לך אדם שממונו חביב עליו מגופו לכך נאמר ובכל מאדך דבר אחר ובכל מאדך בכל מדה ומדה שמודד לך בין במדה טובה בין במדת פרענות
and with all your means: Heb. וּבְכָל-מְאֹדֶךָ uv'chol m'odecha, with all your possessions. There are people whose possessions are more precious to them than their own bodies. Therefore, it says, “and with all your means.” (Sifrei) Another explanation of וּבְכָל-מְאֹדֶךָ uv'chol m'odecha is: You shall love God with whatever measure (מִדָּה, middah) He metes out to you, whether it be the measure of good or the measure of retribution.
What about in a practical sense? What are the things we must do to love God?Rabbanit Lisa Schlaff, 2020 (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/335122.12?lang=bi)
Interestingly, this is the first time the notion of loving God appears in the Torah. To the desert Jew who knew of God through the splitting of the sea, the thunder and lightning of matan Torah, mass plague, and bread falling from the sky, this was a shocking statement. “You must fear God” — yes. “You must be in awe of God” — certainly. “You must love God” would have been an incomprehensible command.
And so, as Bible professor Jeffrey Tigay suggests, the first paragraph of shema makes it clear that loving God is not an abstract emotion, but is grounded in the concrete observance of mitzvot....
Once we have internalized the mitzvot, and shared them with our children, we share them with the community. The project of loving God involves engaging as individuals, as members of a family, and as members of a community.
Returning to the Jews in the desert, the command to love God is no longer amorphous or jarring; it is grounded in very concrete action items. We express love to our children not only by saying “I love you” but by sitting on the floor and playing puzzles with them. We express love to our parents not only by saying “I love you” but by doing the food shopping when needed. And to God, we might not say “I love you” at all, but we fill our lives with daily ritual — everywhere and all the time — that is a powerful expression of love. On this Shabbat Nachamu, may we find comfort in our own constant and repetitive expression of this love.