Dvarim [Deuteronomy] 6:4
Love God.
How do you command love? Translation is part of this problem, for one can only interpret Hebrew in English.
The Hebrew is in the perfect tense: an action is complete …
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְיָ֣
Hebrew favours perfect and imperfect tenses — an action is done or not and the present tense is implied when it is considered at all.
This becomes very imprecise in English. English prefers past, present, and future — I was, I am, I will.
An English translation of the Hebrew is actually “And you have loved G!d.” This is heretical — but only in English.
To avoid this absurdity, we interpret the Hebrew to mean You will love G!d.
The mitzva of …
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְיָ֣
is not a mitzva to love G!d. It is a mitzva to appreciate G!d, to admire G!d’s creation, to respect G!d’s creatures (including other human beings), to yearn for abundance (for this feeds both the creature and the creation).
