Seeing the Face of God Va-et’chanan, Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11
I am a “Les Miserables” stan, [stalker fan] as the kids say. From the first time I saw the show on Broadway in the 1980s, I fell in love with the music, story, and the characters (except Cosette–she still annoys me). I have seen countless performances and have “treated” my family to many a singalong in the car. And, despite the fact that I have little to no theatrical or musical talent, I still secretly dream of playing Eponine one day.
While it does not take much for me to turn to “Les Miserables,” the fact that this week’s Torah portion includes the command to “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) is a natural reason to start singing. This imperative, focused as it is on love, lends itself perfectly to the central tension of “Les Miserables”–and a central commandment of Jewish life and living. As many scholars of religion have noted, “Les Miserables” is a narrative centered around the tension between justice and mercy, between punishment and love. At its heart a Christian story written by a Catholic, “Les Miserables” reminds us that, “to love another person is to see the face of God.” In Hugo’s religious understanding, love wins–every time. The happy ending goes to Valjean, who receives and gives mercy. Meanwhile, the representation of strict justice, Javert, takes his own life (spoiler alert).
Back to the Torah. Rabbi Shai Held, author of the beautiful book “Judaism Is About Love”, shares the following anecdote:
“More than two decades ago Rabbi Shai Held was lecturing to a class of fifth-year rabbinical students when he remarked in passing, ‘Judaism revolves around the claim that God loves us and beckons us to love God back.’ Held recalls thinking, ‘I was just quoting the morning liturgy: bechol levavacha – ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, – as it says in the Veahavata section of the Sh’ma.'”I am perpetually fascinated by the fact that the Torah commands love towards three distinct figures. We are commanded to love God, as cited in this week’s portion. We are commanded to love the stranger; this command is repeated more than any other in the Torah. Finally, we are commanded in Leviticus to love our neighbors as ourselves (there are some, particularly modern scholars and psychotherapists, who suggest that within this verse is a fourth command: to love ourselves). I have often taught that we are not commanded to love our parents. Likewise, neither are we commanded to love our children. But we are commanded to love God. as Rabbi Held says–God beckons us to love God back. Rabbi Lisa Schlaff notes how surprising this commandment is, especially because it first appears in the Book of Deuteronomy. She writes:
“To the desert Jew who knew of God through the splitting of the sea, the thunder and lightning of matan Torah[the giving of 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.”Love is not a desert priority; it is not the focus of a survival mentality. The fact that Torah commands love right at this moment teaches us that love is elemental, foundational, and will move us from survival to security, from tenuousness to thriving. Whether in the desert, the Promised Land, or 2024 North America, our tradition is clear that love is a verb; it is not simply an emotion or a feeling. For the Torah and later sources, love is what we do–not how we feel. While Deuteronomy sets us on the path of what we are meant to do: teach and speak about love, our tradition grows from there. Rabbi Held writes that it means that, “a Judaism that fulfills its purpose is a Judaism in which we are all moved to greater acts of love and kindness than we might otherwise be. That’s the project.” In “Les Miserables,” Victor Hugo says to love another person is to see the face of God. Our tradition might imagine that caring for others in vulnerable moments, treating them with dignity, and performing acts of kindness reflects the face of God. That is what it means to love God with all of our hearts, with all of our souls, and with all of our might.