Philosophy of Halacha, Continued

How different Ikkarei Emunah or basic fundamental hashkafos are embodied in various mitzvos that we have. Tonight, we'll try to continue that discussion. Number one, by focusing on brachos in general, chiyuv bracha in general, and specifically the bracha of Ahava Rabba, Ahavas Olam, the second bracha of Birkas Krias Shema. The Gemara in Brachos, דף מ עמוד ב, has a machlokes Rav and Rabbi Yochanan.

אמר רב כל ברכה שאין בה הזכרת השם אינה ברכה.

If you don't mention the Shem Hashem, it's no bracha. Rabbi Yochanan אומר כל ברכה שאין בה מלכות אינה ברכה. Rabbi Yochanan says not only do you need a hazkaras Hashem, but you have to mention malchus also. You have to mention melech ha'olam as well. Most Rishonim say that we pasken like Rabbi Yochanan. And that's the way the din appears in the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch that if you don't say melech ha'olam, you're not yotze. The question is why that should be. Lechoira, Rav's position that just mentioning the Shem Hashem is sufficient seems to be easier to understand. Again, be it a birkas shevach vehoda'ah, be it a birkas hanehenin, whatever type of bracha it is, so the bracha is addressed to the Ribbono Shel Olam and you have to address the Ribbono Shel Olam. Baruch Atah Hashem. Why is it necessary according to Rabbi Yochanan to add malchus? And it's interesting to sharpen the question. You don't need it. The question is there without it. The Mishna Brurah quotes from the Pri Megadim. It's not that Rabbi Yochanan holds, it's not that what Rabbi Yochanan holds that there's no cheftza shel bracha unless there's malchus. What about legabei lo sisa? The issur of bracha she'eina tzricha. לא תשא שם השם אלקיך לשוא. According to Rabbeinu Tam, that's an asmachta. According to the Rambam, it's a drasha gemura. According to the Magen Avraham's understanding. So for purposes of lo sisa, what happens if a person without taking a drink says ברוך אתה השם שהכל? And he makes a Shehakol. So the Pri Megadim says so then even ledidan that we pasken like Rabbi Yochanan, he would be oveir bracha she'eina tzricha. He would be oveir bracha she'eina tzricha. So somehow or other, the cheftza shel bracha, the amitiyas, is complete with a shem. And again, that just reinforces our question that lechoira Baruch Atah, you have to give shevach vehoda'ah. So who are you talking to? Who are you talking to? You're talking to the Ribbono Shel Olam. Okay. So כל ברכה שאין בה שם is eina bracha. כל ברכה שאין בה הזכרת השם אינה ברכה. But where does the requirement of malchus come from? The Rishonim and the Beis Yosef talk about various brachos which don't seem to adhere to this requirement of malchus, right? Most notably the first bracha in Shmoneh Esrei. All the other brachos are smuchos l'chavertos, so that's no question. But they discuss what about Magen Avraham, why is there no in the psicha, why is there no, why is there no malchus? And they give many terutzim. The Kesef Mishneh both in the Kesef Mishneh as well in the Beis Yosef discusses what about the bracha of אלקי נשמה שנתת בי. So he says me'ikar hadin it's not smucha l'chaverta like Asher Yatzar. In fact, it's not even universal that you say Elokai neshama after Asher Yatzar. So here too you have the problem of how come this doesn't comply with the halacha of כל ברכה שאין בה מלכות אינה ברכה. So he says like this. So first of all, he quotes Tosfos's terutz on the previous kasha we mentioned. The previous kasha we mentioned was again, what about the first bracha in Shmoneh Esrei? That too is lacking malchus. V'yeish omrim, the Tosfos al hadaf gives this terutz,

דאלקי אברהם הוי כמלכות לפי שעדיין לא המליכו עליהם העולם עד שבא הוא והמליכו.

hodia malchuso ba'olam, kach kasuv haTosfos. But since Avraham Avinu, right, that's what Chazal also say, that the Avraham tells Eliezer that until I came around Hakadosh Baruch Hu was elokei hashamayim and I made him elokei ha'aretz, right? That Avraham Avinu taught belief in Hakadosh Baruch Hu and thereby in terms of our recognition was ממליך הקדוש ברוך הוא in the world, so Elokei Avraham is the substitute for malchus, for melech ha'olam. Then the Kesef Mishneh says interestingly

ובהכי ניחא לי ברכת אלוקי נשמה שאין בה מלכות וגם אינה סמוכה לאשר יצר דהא מעיקרא לחודיה התקינוה כדאיתא פרק הבא על יבמתו לומר אלוקי נשמה אלא ודאי כיון דאמר אלוקי חשיב כמו מלכות.

You'll see in the Beis Yosef he gives a different teretz. Beis Yosef he gives a different teretz, but here in the Kesef Mishneh he says כיון דקאמר אלוקי חשיב כמו מלכות. Why is elokai the equivalent of malchus and again our original question, why is malchus me'akeves especially in light of the fact that a cheftza shel bracha you can have even without malchus, even without malchus? So the answer lies in understanding chiyuv bracha in general. We have some brachos or some occasions for brachos which at first glance are strange. Let's say take the bracha of asher yatzar. The bracha of asher yatzar is a strange bracha because when you think about it, we thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu that he created us, that we're viable, right?

שאם יפתח אחד מהם או יסתם אחד מהם אי אפשר להתקיים ולעמוד לפניך.

So we're thanking Hakadosh Baruch Hu that he created us, that we're viable. So that's very strange. I mean, either create or don't create, but obviously it would seem to be only fit and maybe even necessary that if the Ribbono Shel Olam is going to create us, so he has to create us that we should be viable, that we should be able to live. If everyone's created rachmana litzlan with kidney failure, so then there is no beriyah, there is no creation. So there are other answers besides the answer we're going to give. But the Rabbeinu Bachya in Chovos HaLevavos has a very, very important yesod. In the pesicha to sha'ar avodas Hashem, Rabbeinu Bachya writes that if you look at the human race and you compare it to the animal kingdom, so you find that in three ways we are inferior to animals. He says number one, be'eis gidulo vehispatchuso. At the time of infancy, so the stage of dependence which a human baby has is much more complete and extends much longer than the comparable stage by animals. Number one. Number two he says,

מה שנראה על פני גופו דבר הקרוב לכך אם חדל להשתתף ולהתנקות ולהתרחץ זמן ממושך וכן כאשר מת הרי ריחו קשה מריח שאר הנבלה ששאר בעלי חיים וצואתו מסריחה יותר מכל זבל.

He says the degradation associated with a person who can't attend to basic hygiene, or rachmana litzlan the degradation of a meis is greater the decomposition. And finally, he says that if a person suffers an injury to the brain, so then that affects him more deleteriously than an animal is affected. And in each of these very important ways, we are dramatically inferior to animals. Then he says something remarkable. He says Nisbonain, let's reflect b'chulshas ha'adam, the weakness of man, v'chesrono and his inadequacy, ורחוקו מלהגיע אל השלמות and how distant, remote he is from any kind of perfection or even self-sufficiency, ורוב צריכותו וזקיקותו למי שימלא מחסורו and just how great is his need and dependence for someone who will satisfy those needs. And then he says, so all this lichora is something to bemoan, right? Weakness, frailty is something that we instinctively bemoan. Right? If, then says Rabbeinu Bachya, נתבונן בריבוי טובות השם יתעלה עליו וחסדיו עמו. That these areas of weakness, the vulnerability and frailty which a person should recognize in himself, is an example of the bountiful chesed which Hakadosh Baruch Hu does with us, on the contrary. ושהוא בראו כפי שבראו עם מגרעות במהותו, the fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created man as He did with all his deficiencies, וצורך וזקוק למה שיסקינהו. And he needs, he's so dependent, he says all this is b'chemlas Hashem alav. All this is the compassion of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Again, how is compassion expressed by creating us weak, frail, vulnerable? כדי שיכיר את עצמו, a person should have self-knowledge v'yisbonain b'chol inyanav, should reflect on how weak he is ויקבל עליו עבודת השם בהחלט. That by recognizing how totally dependent, vulnerable, and frail we are, so that serves as a reminder and as an impetus to avodas Hashem. So rather than our weakness being rachmana litzlan a curse, so that very weakness, if we'll stop and simply reflect for a moment on that weakness and the implications of that weakness, is the biggest bracha, says Rabbeinu Bachya. And lichora, certainly that's one dimension of the Bracha of Asher Yatzar. The Bracha of Asher Yatzar is not simply a hoda'ah, it's that as well, it's not only, it's also this. It's not only that Asher Yatzar is that we were able to expel waste as our body needs and that it didn't poison our system rachmana litzlan, but it's also that we recognize how totally frail and dependent we are. And that too, so the hoda'ah is a double one. The hoda'ah is not only that You saved us from the fate of אם יפתח אחד מהם או יסתם אחד מהם, but the hoda'ah is that You created us in such a way that we're always vulnerable to אם יפתח אחד מהם או יסתם אחד מהם and that we are dependent on Your chesed that that should not occur. So the essence of bracha is to reinforce our sense of dependence. A person is hungry. He's thirsty. He can't survive without food, without drink. But before he eats, before he drinks, he has to acknowledge that he's dependent upon the chesed Hashem to satisfy that vital, basic need. So the main emphasis and the main thrust of bracha is to reinforce this awareness of chulsas haadam vechesrono and recognizing that as a chesed. Because again, it counters the primary danger in a life of avodas Hashem and that—we discussed this last year many times—is hesech hadaas. That same Rama which we discussed last week in siman aleph, so it's quite clear from that Rama that the danger, the pitfall against which we have to be on guard is hesech hadaas. And if only שויתי השם לנגדי תמיד there's no hesech hadaas, so then again miyad the Rama quoting the Rambam says a person is nichna and he's shafel and he's yerei Hashem. And what chiyuv bracha accomplishes is it reinforces and constantly reminds us of our dependence upon the Ribbono Shel Olam. So now you understand Rav Yochanan very well. So comes Rav Yochanan and says it's true, a cheftza shel bracha it's enough to have a shem. To have a cheftza shel bracha you just have to make clear to whom the bracha is addressed, of whom you're speaking in the bracha. That's in terms of a cheftza shel bracha. But if you want to be mekayem chiyuv bracha, so the chiyuv bracha is not simply to have a cheftza shel bracha, but it's to have a cheftza shel bracha which accentuates our dependence upon the Ribbono Shel Olam, which accentuates His sovereignty and our dependence. Says Rav Yochanan כל ברכה שאין בה מלכות אינה ברכה. אינה ברכה. And that also lichora is the pshat the Gemara in Menachos which says that the chiyuv bracha of מאה ברכות בכל יום Chazal related to the pasuk of

ועתה ישראל מה השם אלהיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה

in parshas Eikev. The Gemara doesn't tell us exactly how Chazal relate that. Rashi says אל תקרי מה אלא מאה. That's what Rashi says. Tosafos there in Menachos has other interpretations. Lechol hadeios, let's say especially according to Rashi, what is the mida of al tikrei? What's the mida of al tikrei? Chazal had a license to—you can change up to five letters in any parsha and use that to create a drasha. What's the mida of al tikrei? What's the mida of al tikrei? So clearly the mida of al tikrei means that the idea is there in the pasuk anyway. The idea—it's not that, oh, once you do al tikrei so then yesh me'ayin you can generate something which has nothing to do with this pasuk. No, the idea is there in the pasuk anyway. Is there in the pasuk anyway. So what does it mean? Means like this: Comes the Torah and says מה השם אלהיך שואל מעמך ליראה. You have to have yiras shamayim. That's what the Torah says. Come Chazal and say, and you want to know what will ensure that you have yiras shamayim? What will constantly reorient or orient us properly that we should have yiras shamayim is אל תקרי מה אלא מאה. If a person says מאה ברכות בכל יום and every time if a person says a bracha thoughtfully, nisbonen as the Rabbeinu Bachya says, so what is a person pondering? His total dependence upon the Ribbono Shel Olam. That leads—is most conducive... Conducive to the yiras shamayim. That's what chazal say, ועתה ישראל מה השם אלקיך שואל מעמך is מאה השם אלקיך שואל מעמך says Rashi. Hainu hach, Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks for yiras shamayim. So that's what chazal say and the the derech which a person along which a person travels is אל תקרי מה אלא מאה. And finally, perhaps that's also the pshat in the Kessef Mishne here where he says that Elokai of Elokai neshamah yotzei malchus with. So even with what we'll say there's a certain difficulty, but apparently the Kessef Mishne says that the fact that the Elokai is first person singular rather than the Elokeinu first person plural is is crucial. And the Elokai which completely and totally personalizes it, so what does the shem Elokeinu represent? So again this we've discussed Rav Chaim Volozhiner explains in Nefesh Hachayim that when it says in Shulchan Aruch that when you say Elokeinu in Siman Hey, when it says in Shulchan Aruch that when you say Elokeinu you're supposed to be mechaven ba'al hakochos kulam. So Rav Chaim Volozhiner explains that what that means is not simply that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is omnipotent, it means that as well, but it means much more than that. What it means is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is exclusively potent. And when you say ba'al hakochos kulam it means that not just that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has kol kochos whereas I have limited kochos, no. What it means is ba'al hakochos kulam that Hakadosh Baruch Hu exclusively is a ba'al koach and that we are totally dependent upon him. Says the Kessef Mishne, if you personalize that, you don't just say Elokeinu in in lashon rabbim, but you personalize it completely and totally, so then so then perhaps that substitutes for malchus. Okay, the other the other thing we wanted to discuss tonight is the bracha of Ahava Rabba. Ahava Rabba, we have two basic insights or characterizations of the bracha of Ahava Rabba. Number one is that the sugya in יא עמוד ב with which you're all familiar says that Ahava Rabba functions can function as a birkas hatorah.

אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל השכים לשנות עד שלא קרא קריאת שמע צריך לברך משקרא קריאת שמע אין צריך לברך שכבר נפטר באהבה רבה.

So Ahava Rabba can and if a person hasn't said birkas hatorah beforehand does function as a birkas hatorah. That's one, again, insight into or characterization of the bracha of Ahava Rabba. A second one, there is a machlokes between the Rashba and the Rambam, but there is a tzad hashaveh. The Rashba says that birkas krias shema is somewhat of a misnomer. Birkas krias shema, the phrase, the term birkas krias shema technically the Rashba says in the teshuva which the Beis Yosef quotes is really a misnomer. Veharaya that you can say birkas krias shema without krias shema. If you davened Ma'ariv bein hashmashos, so you say birkas krias shema even though the krias shema you're saying then is not mitzvas krias shema. And in the morning the mishnah says that after gimmel sha'os even though זמן קריאת שמע של שחרית has expired, you can still say birkas krias shema. So he says really really what we call birkas krias shema are independent, but, and this is an important caveat, chazal were misaken that we should say them in terms of the seder hatefillah before and after krias shema as we do. According to the Rambam, when you take a look at all all the Rambams, you see that the Rambam learned pshat not like that. The Rambam apparently understood birkas krias shema keshmon ken hen. And again there there are many rayas to this but just to mention very quickly one or two, when the Rambam quotes that mishnah from which the Rashba brings his raya that birkas krias shema is really somewhat of an misnomer. ...because really you can recite them without a Krias Shema. So the Rambam says

הקורא אחר שלוש שעות ביום אפילו היה אנוס לא יצא ידי חובת קריאת שמע בעונתה, אלא הרי הוא כקורא בתורה ומברך לפניה ולאחריה כל היום אפילו איחר וקרא אחר שלוש שעות.

So when the Rambam tells you that you can say Birkas Krias Shema after shalosh shaos, which is a mefurash din in the Mishna and Gemara in the first perek, the Rambam says and you're saying it, how does he describe what you're doing? He's saying מברך לפניה ולאחריה כל היום. What do you mean מברך לפניה ולאחריה כל היום? Meila during sha'ah revi'is so we'll say קריאת שמע כדי לעמוד בתפילה מתוך דברי תורה. But let's say you're saying according to the Rambam, the Rambam disagrees with the Rav Hai Gaon. According to the Rambam, you can say Birkas Krias Shema all day. If you didn't davven in zman Krias Shema or even in zman tfillah for that matter, you can say Birkas Krias Shema at any point. So why is it that the Rambam seems to be makpid that if at three o'clock this afternoon all of a sudden I I realize that I didn't davven yet, so I say Birkas Krias Shema with Krias Shema. Why why davka with Krias Shema? What's the significance of Krias Shema at this point? The other the other thing which is strange in this Rambam is that the lashon of the Rambam

הקורא אחר שלוש שעות ביום אפילו היה אנוס לא יצא ידי חובת קריאת שמע בעונתה.

The word ba'onasa is totally superfluous. Every mitzvah is ba'onasa. There's no such thing as a mitzvah shelo ba'onasa. You'll say if I take a lulav today and I ask am I mekayeim a mitzvah, so you'll say no, לא קיימת מצות לולב בעונתה. Mitzvas lulav is defined as ba'onasa. That's part of the definition of the mitzvah. You blow shofar today so what לא קיימת מצות שופר בעונתה? לא קיימת מצות שופר. Part of the definition of mitzvas shofar is ba'onasa. What does the Rambam have in mind לא יצא ידי חובת קריאת שמע בעונתה? Another Rambam that you have when the Gemara says in Shabbos that mi shetoraso umnaso is מפסיק לקריאת שמע ואינו מפסיק לתפילה. If a person is toraso umnaso, so he's not mafsik the tfillah but he's mafsik for Krias Shema. So when the Rambam quotes that din he says he's מפסיק לקריאת שמע וברכותיה. He's מפסיק לקריאת שמע וברכותיה. How can that be? So obviously what you see in the Rambam is that the Rambam disagrees with the Rashba. The Rambam understands that Birkas Krias Shema kishman kein hein, you'd never have Birkas Krias Shema without Krias Shema. Ai the Rashba said but there is no Krias Shema after gimel shaos bayom, so the teretz is that Krias Shema differs from rov mitzvos hatorah. In the examples we gave, you blow shofar now, you take a lulav now, so the mitzvah, has taking a lulav has no no meaning, it has no significance if right now there's no chiyuv of ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון. And the same for shofar. If right now there's no din of יום תרועה יהיה לכם, there's nothing else which makes this significant. However mitzvas Krias Shema is what? The Mishna says at the beginning of the second perek in Brachos it's קבלת עול מלכות שמים, correct? Now the Rambam says this again, this is a Rambam we've discussed many times, the Rambam says in Sefer Hamitzvos in mitzvah beis, the Rambam says that the mitzvah of ha'amanas hayichud of שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד, the mitzvah temidis of yichud Hashem, Chazal refer to that as קבלת עול מלכות שמים. So be'emes מצות קריאת שמע בעונתה is really, the Torah said, you know that mitzvah temidis of קבלת עול מלכות שמים of שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד, that that unspoken awareness and belief which should always accompany us, twice a day we want you to to articulate that via the medium of parshiyos hatorah. But the mitzvah of Krias Shema is unlike mitzvas shofar, unlike mitzvas lulav, unlike rov mitzvos hatorah. There is a חפצא של קריאת שמע even shelo ba'onasa. You're not mekayeim mitzvas Krias Shema but there's a חפצא של קריאת שמע even shelo ba'onasa. That being the case, when the Rambam learned the Mishna in the first perek that you can say Birkas Krias Shema after סוף זמן קריאת שמע. He didn't conclude that birchos krias shema a totally independent, rather he said that dependent on the cheftza of krias shema, not on kiyom mitzvas krias shema. Good. Hamura mikol ha'amur is that for the Rambam, birchos krias shema kishman kein hein, you never find them without krias shema. But even according to the Rashba that birchos krias shema can and do stand alone, clearly the Rashba says that l'chatchila we're supposed to say it together with krias shema. Even the Rashba agrees that l'chatchila kach tiknu chazal that birchos krias shema optimally should be said with krias shema. Why is that? So clearly the answer is that each of the birchos krias shema amplify each of the three parshios in krias shema respectively. And the bracha rishona of yotzer or amplifies the basic theme of parsha rishona. Ahava raba amplifies the basic theme of parsha shniya v'chulu. With yotzer or it's very easy to see. Right? The gemara says meforash that the bracha of yotzer or uvorei choshesh is להזכיר מידת יום בלילה ומידת לילה ביום, so no one should think rachmana litzlan that there are shatei reshuyos. So what is the thrust of the bracha of yotzer or uvorei choshesh? Again, is שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד. That's what the thrust is and that's the whole thing of

פועל גבורות עושה חדשות בעל מלחמות זורע צדקות מצמיח ישועות בורא רפואות נורא תהלות אדון הנפלאות

is all echad. That's all echad. So bracha rishona again of birchos krias shema amplifies, amplifies שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד, that emuna. And that's why again for the Rashba l'chatchila you have to say it in tandem with krias shema and for the Rambam the whole takana is to amplify krias shema and without a cheftza of krias shema you can't even say the bracha. Now, so according to this scheme, so the bracha of ahava raba is amplifying parsha shniya of krias shema. What's parsha shniya of krias shema? So the mishna says at the beginning of haya korei, the mishna explains why we say the parshios of krias shema in the sequence we do. Right? We're not following the sequence in the Torah because parshas tzitzis is from parshas shelach, so we're not following the sequence in the Torah. So what does determine the sequence of parshios krias shema? So the mishna says

אמר רבי יהושע בן קרחה למה קדמה פרשת שמע לוהיה אם שמוע כדי שיקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים תחילה ואחר כך מקבל עליו עול מצוות.

So the mishna says very clearly, parsha rishona, its theme is קבלת עול מלכות שמים, parsha shniya, its theme is kabbalas ol mitzvos. So nimtzeinu lameidim that ahava raba number one is a birchas hatorah. Ahava raba number two amplifies the theme of kabbalas ol mitzvos. Now the question is, is that the bracha wears two different hats? It's two two disparate themes which chazal packaged in one bracha? Or no, there's some relationship. It's hainu hach that birchas hatorah and kabbalas ol mitzvos is hainu hach. The Rambam writes at the beginning of hilchos krias shema in פרק א' הלכה א', excuse me, halacha beis, the Rambam talks about how talmud torah is העיקר הגדול שהכל תלוי בו. That talmud torah is an integral part of קבלת עול מלכות שמים. How is that so? So in a famous drasha the Rav zichrono livracha explained this on several levels. One one level was the Rav said when you learn Torah, so what are you doing? When a person studies Torah, so what are you doing? How does a person study Torah? So the Rav said the act of Talmud Torah means that you try to understand Torah internally. You try to understand what the Torah is telling you. You don't ask in light of a certain preconceived notion I have, or in light of a certain value system which I have adopted from Western society, from the cultural milieu in which I live, so how should I understand Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof? Rather, what it means is with no preconceived notions. What Western philosophy says about justice is irrelevant. When the Torah says Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof, what did the Torah mean by Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof? What was the, what is the Torah's concept of Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof? What is the Torah's concept of being ethical, being moral, being oved Hashem? So the act of Talmud Torah is to understand Torah internally, not to superimpose any any foreign logical system, any foreign value system, but to understand Torah according to its logic and thereby internally discover what Torah values are. That the Rav said is clearly an integral part of קבלת עול מלכות שמים. Now, when the Mishnah says ad kan d'varo, when the Mishnah here at the beginning of Haya Korei says that parsha rishona is קבלת עול מלכות שמים, parsha shniya is Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos, how do you understand the difference? Doesn't קבלת עול מלכות שמים mean Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos? If you accept the yoke of, if you live in, you live in Jordan, so now you have to accept the yoke of King Abdullah. What does that mean? It means you have to listen to his decrees. If you don't listen to his decrees, you're a mored b'malchus and the end is predictable. So what does it mean that we distinguish between קבלת עול מלכות שמים, Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos? Isn't it hainu hach? Isn't it hainu hach? So the answer is that there's a very, very important and fundamental yesod which is added in the notion of Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos. קבלת עול מלכות שמים means that we are totally totally committed to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that we're avdei Hashem. We're מקבל עול מלכות שמים. We're avdei Hashem. That our life has to be totally devoted to avodas Hashem. So maybe what that means is that I should takeh devote my life to avodas Hashem as I see fit. That I should sit and reflect and meditate and think what is appropriate how to be oved Hashem. And I takeh will devote my life to service of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that service I will devise and design according to my understanding, according to my understanding. Comes the Torah and says the yesod hayesodos is קבלת עול מלכות שמים. But that has to be followed up with Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos which establishes that the way a person is oved Hashem is not by by devising or designing his own mode of avoda but rather by accepting the mitzvos of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the mitzvos of the Torah. That a person is not oved Hashem the kind of religious subjectivism which sometimes people advocate. So the Torah says the way a person is oved Hashem, the way a person implements and fulfills the mandate of קבלת עול מלכות שמים is by following that up with a Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos, which means that yes, I'm devoted to a life of avodas Hashem. So now, Nachash L'didon. The Gemara tells us implicitly, we piece together, the Gemara tells us two things about the Birchas Ahava Raba. The Gemara tells us that Ahava Raba is a Birchas HaTorah and that Ahava Raba amplifies the second parsha in Krias Shema. So now we ask, so what's that just coincidentally, Chazal, everyone's rushing in the morning, everyone's rushing in the morning to get to work, to say, to whatever, so Chazal packaged two themes in one bracha to save us a bracha? So the answer is Hainu Hach, that Birchas HaTorah again, so when a person is Birchas HaTorah, he's מקבל מצוות תלמוד תורה. So what did we quote from the Rav? That Talmud Torah means to understand Torah according to the logic of Torah and to thereby discover the values of Torah, the Ratzon Hashem embedded within Torah, expressed within Torah. That's what Talmud Torah means. And that is exactly what's added in the Parsha Shniya, that we follow up קבלת עול מלכות שמים with Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos. So basically, this bracha of Ahava Raba expresses that, that conviction which is at the core of Yahadus and at the core of our Hashkafas Olam and commitment, that a life of Avodas Hashem means discovering, again, internally, what the Ratzon Hashem is and to follow up a קבלת עול מלכות שמים with a Kabbalas Ol Mitzvos.