WHAT IS THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT?

“O that you will strengthen yourself and persevere very much in order to observe, to do, according to all of the Torah that Moshe My servant has commanded you. Do not deviate from him to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you may go. This Book of the Torah is not to leave your mouth. You should contemplate it day and night in order to observe, to do, all that is written in it. For then you will make your ways successful, and then you will become understanding.” Joshua 1:7-8

How many times has the doctrine of Replacement Theology painted a picture the Messiah of the Bible is anti-Torah, anti-Israel and teaches a theology in which the core teaching states the Torah, Israel and the Old Testament have all been replaced and superseded by the Church and the New Testament? Its the common doctrine having been taught for nearly 2,000 years now.

This is why I firmly and wholeheartedly am convinced the Jesus of Replacement Theology Christendom and the Yeshua as revealed in the entire Bible are two very different doctrines, which I have discussed countless times throughout my Ops over the years and as such will not rehash it all here.

This all said thus far, there is absolute proof, from Yeshua’s own mouth that He did NOT come to render the Torah of HaShem null and void nor did He come to end the Temple, change the Feasts of HaShem nor replace Israel. There is only one character in the Bible who is all about change and teaches Replacement Theology and that is the False Messiah!

We read in Matthew 22 how the Talmidim (Disciples) of Yeshua asked Him a question as to what was the greatest commandment in the Torah. Let’s examine what He said, but first, before we delve into this Op, always remember the following unchanging truths about HaShem, our Great King and Sovereign of the Universe:

• HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
• His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
• He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
• He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
• He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
• He says His Torah is the ONLY truth there is per Psalms 119:142
• He says His Torah is a tree of life and eternal per Proverbs 3:18-19 and Psalm 119:160
• He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm 119:45 and James 1:25
• He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
• He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
• He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
• He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
• He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
• He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
• He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
• He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
• He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
• He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
• He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
• He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
• He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
• He says His Torah is the way of faith per Psalms 119:29-30
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His Torah is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path per Psalms 119:105
• He says one who finds His Torah has found life per Proverbs 8:35
• He says one who finds His Torah has found favor from HaShem per Proverbs 8:35
• He says Messiah Yeshua is the GOAL of His Torah, meaning without His Torah, Messiah cannot be known per Romans 10:4
• He says if we had believed Moshe/Torah, we would have believed Messiah per John 5:46
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His salvation is far from the wicked for they sought not His Torah per Psalms 119:155
• He says to hold fast to and guard His Torah, for it is our life per Proverbs 4:13

Matthew 22:36-40 says “Teacher, what is the great command in the Torah? And Yeshua said to him, ‘You shall love HaShem your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great command. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commands hang all the Torah and the Prophets.'”

Was Yeshua just imparting something brand new to His Talmidim or was He reinforcing something His Talmidim would have instantly recognized and known? Yeshua was quoting the Torah and quoting a specific prayer which is recited by all those who follow HaShem morning and evening of every day, even to this day! He was quoting ‘The Shema’ prayer!

Where is The Shema prayer found in the Torah? The Shema is a scriptural prayer which is based upon three sections of the Torah:

• Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4-9
• Devarim 11:13-21
• Bamidbar (Numbers) 15:37-41

What is the purpose of The Shema and why are we to recite it every morning and evening? Per the Artscroll Siddur discussing The Shema it says “The recitation of the three paragraphs of The Shema is required by the Torah, and one must have in mind that he is about to fulfill this commandment. Although one should try to concentrate on the meaning of all three paragraphs, one must concentrate at least on the meaning of the first verse and the second verse because the recitation of The Shema represents fulfilment of the paramount commandment of acceptance of HaShem’s absolute sovereignty. By declaring that HaShem is One, Unique and Indivisible, we subordinate every facet of our personalities, possessions, our very lives to His will.”

As you will shortly see, ‘The Shema’ prayer is in summary, acknowledging HaShem as King, Master of all of His Creation, Master of the Earth and we are willfully submitting ourselves to His Authority and acknowledge He is One and there is no other nor does He share His Authority with anyone else! In effect, The Shema, is absolute proof Replacement Theology is NOT from HaShem, and anyone claiming to be Messiah and teaches a doctrine where the Torah is now changed, rendered obsolete or irrelevant, is fully exposed as being a false Messiah! Keep this in mind!

The following is ‘The Shema’ prayer in English:

“Shema, O Israel! Adonai Eloheino, Adonai Echad.” “Hear, O Israel, the L-rd is our G‑d, the L-rd is One. Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.

You shall love the L-rd your G‑d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.

And it will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments which I enjoin upon you this day, to love the L-rd your G‑d and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I will give rain for your land at the proper time, the early rain and the late rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be sated. Take care lest your heart be lured away, and you turn astray and worship alien gods and bow down to them. For then the L-rd’s wrath will flare up against you, and He will close the heavens so that there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce, and you will swiftly perish from the good land which the L-rd gives you. Therefore, place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul, and bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, to speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates – so that your days and the days of your children may be prolonged on the land which the L-rd swore to your fathers to give to them for as long as the heavens are above the earth.

The L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to attach a thread of blue on the fringe of each corner. They shall be to you as tzizit, and you shall look upon them and remember all the commandments of the L-rd and fulfill them, and you will not follow after your heart and after your eyes by which you go astray – so that you may remember and fulfill all My commandments and be holy to your G‑d. I am the L-rd your G‑d who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your G‑d; I, the L-rd, am your G‑d. True.”

Remember, this is what Yeshua Himself said in Matthew 22 was the greatest Command in the Torah! Why is this so significant? Because if Yeshua’s purpose was to free humanity from the Torah, then why was He reinforcing the Torah as being the only way to live in service to HaShem?

He then follows up in Matthew 22 and says “And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commands hang all the Torah and the Prophets.'” From where did He quote the second greatest command of the Torah? He was quoting Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:18 which says “Do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your fellow as yourself, I am HaShem.”

If you recall from many previous Ops of mine, I have highlighted the conflict going on at the time of Yeshua between the two main sects of Pharisees i.e. Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, and that it was the Beit Shammai Pharisees Yeshua was in conflict with because of their staunch stance against teaching the Torah to the non-Jews, something Beit Hillel was totally against. In many cases, Yeshua and the Pharisees of Beit Hillel agreed on how to walk in the Torah of HaShem, therefore, when we see the confrontations between Yeshua and the Pharisees in the Apostolic Writings, they are always the Pharisees of Beit Shammai He was engaging with! Later on in Paul’s letters, it is the 18 Edicts enacted by Beit Shammai, who was in power at that time, which was the basis for many of his letters. These 18 Edicts enacted strict separations between Jews and the non-Jews i.e. the Middle Wall of Separation. It is these 18 Edicts which are the basis for Peter’s vision and the sheet. HaShem was fixing the problem! In fact, in the Talmud, it discusses how these 18 Edicts of Shammai were as ‘Troublesome for Israel as the incident with the Golden Calf was!’ To this day, these 18 Edicts have been so thoroughly scrubbed no one can find a list of them anymore.

This is important to remember because the commentary on Vayikra 19:18 says “Rabbi Akiva said that this (Love your fellow as yourself) is the PRIMARY RULE OF THE TORAH! Hillel paraphrased this rule saying, ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to others (Quoting Shabbos 31a from the Talmud Bavli).'” Point is, Yeshua is reiterating what was already well known back then, meaning He didn’t change anything!

Now let’s examine some specific Mitzvot (Commandments) which are embedded within The Shema:

Mitzvot #417 – The obligation to believe in the Oneness of HaShem: Per the Book of the Mitzvos, the commentary says “We are commanded to believe that HaShem, blessed be He, Who brought about and continues to bring about the entirety of existence and is the Master of everything, is One, without any partnership, as it is stated in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4 ‘Hear O Israel, HaShem is our Elohim, HaShem is the One and Only.’ The opening words of the verse, Shema Yisrael, ‘Hear O Israel’, seem to indicate that the statement that follows, ‘HaShem is our Elohim, HaShem is the One and Only,’ is merely a declaration by the Torah regarding the Oneness of HaShem. One might thus think that it does not constitute a commandment to actively internalize this belief. Chinuch emphasizes that this is not the case.

This verse is indeed an obligatory commandment; it is not merely a homily about the Oneness of HaShem, as might be understood from the words ‘Hear O Israel’. As to the meaning of ‘Hear O Israel,’ it is as if to say, ‘Accept this principle from me, know it and believe it, that HaShem, Who is our Elohim, is One, without peer.’ Thus, the words ‘Hear O Israel’ are instructive, commanding us to internalize a belief in HaShem’s Oneness without question. The term ‘Shema’ as three definitions: ‘Hear’ per Genesis 24:52 and Job 29:11, ‘Understand’ per Genesis 42:23 and I Kings 3:9, and ‘Obey’ or ‘Submit’ per Genesis 39:10 and Deuteronomy 11:13. The verse ‘Shema Yisrael’ means to convey all three ideas i.e. we will initially hear about the Oneness of HaShem as in receive the basic principle by tradition from our elders, then understand it as in study the concept and delve into it and finally submit to it i.e. internalize it as our unshakable belief.”

Mitzvot #418 – The obligation to love HaShem: Per the Book of the Mitzvos the commentary says “We are commanded to love HaShem, the Omnipresent Elohim, blessed is He, as it is stated in Deuteronomy 6:5 ‘You shall love HaShem, your Elohim.’ The manner in which this mitzvah is to be fulfilled is that we should contemplate and reflect on HaShem’s commandments and on His handiwork, until we attain a concept of Him i.e. of His Wisdom and Benevolence according to our ability, and in this state of perceiving Him, experience the ultimate delight. This is the love of HaShem that is mandated in the above verse.

The Mishnah Torah Hilchot Teshuvah 10:1-6 notes that one factor that can motivate a person to observe the mitzvos and engage in Torah study is that he seeks Divine reward and fears the retribution that he would incur for conducting himself otherwise. Although such observance is indeed worthy, it is not the optimal way to serve HaShem. The ultimate service of HaShem is one that is motivated by love for Him and a sincere desire to do His Will. To attain this level of service, however, one must first cultivate a love of HaShem.”

Yeshua reiterates this in John 14:15 when He says “If you love Me, keep My commandments!” And what did Yeshua teach? He taught nothing new, He taught the Torah of HaShem! He goes on in John 15:12-15 which says “This is My command, that you love one another, as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all teachings which I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

So we see again, Yeshua is NOT teaching anything new, nor is He teaching any form of Replacement Theology and on top of this, He only is teaching what HaShem has directed He teaches. Reiterates HaShem is One and shares His glory with no one! Meaning, Yeshua cannot be HaShem in the flesh! Remember from my past Ops the discussions concerning ‘The Agent’ of HaShem? It falls under the category of ‘The law of agency’ in which a man’s agent is as himself. Point is, the agent is sent by the sender and the agent can only speak, do, act and negotiate exactly as directed by the sender. Yeshua is The Agent of HaShem just like Moses was The Agent of HaShem! Very important to remember this especially when trying to put Replacement Theology Christendom into its proper place.

Yeshua says in John 5:30 “Of Myself I am unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My Own desire, but the desire of the Father Who sent Me.” The Law of Agency in play!

Yeshua says in John 7:16 “Yeshua answered them and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me.'” Again, the Law of Agency in play!

He also says in John 12:49 “Because I spoke not from Myself, but the Father Who sent Me has given Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” The Law of Agency!

When Yeshua says in John 15:23 “He who hates Me hates My Father as well” is a perfect example of the Law of Agency in action. HaShem sent Yeshua to perform a task on His behalf thus to hate Yeshua is to hate the One Who sent Him.

So, with this said, how is it possible, HaShem, Whom does not and cannot change, His Torah is eternal and will never pass away, can suddenly now change His mind, do everything He said He would NOT do and send His Agent to teach a doctrine which replaces and supersedes everything He gave in the beginning and then still claim to be unchanging? It would make Him out to be a very confused liar and completely untrustworthy! This is again precisely why I so loathe and abhor Christian Replacement Theology because it teaches exactly this insanity! I digress.

Mitzvot #419 – The obligation to study Torah: Per the Book of the Mitzvos the commentary says “It is a mitzvah obligation to study the wisdom of the Torah and to teach it to others. That is to say, that we must study and teach others how to perform the mitzvos and how to avoid that which the Almighty prohibited us from doing, and we must also attain an accurate knowledge of all the Torah’s laws.

The underlying purpose of this mitzvah is obvious, for through the study of Torah, a person can attain knowledge of the ways of HaShem, blessed be He. By contrast, without Torah knowledge, one will neither know nor understand HaShem’s ways, and, as such, he will be likened to an animal.”

Mitzvot #420 – The obligation to recite The Shema every morning and evening: Per the Book of the Mitzvos the commentary says “Among the underlying purposes of this mitzvah is that it was the Will of HaShem to give His nation the merit of accepting His Sovereignty and His Oneness upon themselves every day and night, for all the days that they live. This matter is essential, for being that man is a corporeal being, and thus enticed by the futilities of the world and attracted to its pleasures, he needs, at the very least, a constant reminder of HaShem’s Sovereignty, to guard him from sin. Therefore, it was a manifestation of HaShem’s Kindness that He chose to make us meritorious, and He commanded us to remember His Sovereignty at these two times i.e. in the morning and evening, consistently, and with absolute concentration. We are commanded to do so once during the daytime, to have a positive effect on all our actions throughout the day. For when a person recalls HaShem’s Oneness and His Sovereignty in the morning, and that His Providence and Omnipotence apply to everything in existence, and when one is attentive to the fact that HaShem’s eyes, so to speak, are focused on all one’s ways and that He maintains a count of all one’s steps, to the extent that not a single one of his actions are hidden from HaShem, and that he is unable to conceal from Him even one of his thoughts, this thought, and his verbal acknowledgment of this matter, will certainly serve as a safeguard for him for that entire day, protecting him from sin. Similarly, the nightly acknowledgment of this matter will serve as a safeguard for him the entire night.”

Part of The Shema prayer is the command to put on a Tallit (Prayer shawl) which has Tzitzit (Fringes) on the corners. This is again foundational in the service of HaShem because not only are we to wear a Tallit with Tzitzit, but HaShem Himself wears a Tallit with Tzitzit!

The following is an excerpt discussing the significance of the Tallit and the Tzitzit from the book ‘The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology II’ pages 201-204 which says “The Tallit: We can now look into another question that people often ask. We know that the Torah contains 613 commandments, 248 do’s and 365 don’ts. But why? Why is it necessary to have so many laws? Isn’t it enough for people to have a general idea of what is right and then adhere to it?

There are many people today who argue that we should do away with laws completely. They say that all that is necessary is that people be good and love one another. They point out that at times laws can be harsh. Why then, did HaShem give so many laws in the Torah?

The answer, of course, is because there is evil in the world, if men were perfect, then we would need few, if any, laws. People would live in total peace with one another, without any rules or regulations. This is indeed true of animals, who live in total harmony with other members of their species, without anything remotely resembling formal law. It is all part of their intrinsic nature.

The same was true of Adam before he sinned. He was innocent of any evil, and therefore did not need a multitude of rules and laws. All that was required was that he obey his one commandment not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. That one commandment was enough to give him free will and thus enable him to achieve perfection and a closeness to HaShem. It was only after man sinned that he needed an entire complex of law.

The commandments therefore serve as a safeguard against the forces of evil. They restrict man’s relationship with his neighbor so that one individual does not harm another. They constantly remind us of our obligation to HaShem, so that we do not become swallowed up in evil.

We therefore see that to a large degree, the commandments of the Torah serve to protect us from evil. They are, in this respect, the element of HaShem’s plan that serves as a barrier against the forces of evil. This is what HaShem meant when He said, ‘I have created the Evil Urge, but I have created the Torah as a remedy for it.’

The Torah’s commandments are the element in HaShem’s scheme that serve as a barrier against evil. But, as we have discussed earlier, this is also the concept of HaShem’s garment.

HaShem’s Tallit is therefore the sum total of all the commandments in the Torah. This is what our sages mean when they say, ‘He who keeps the commandments grabs the Divine Presence. This is the meaning of Tzitzit…’

As we shall see in the section on Gematria, the commandment of Tzitzit alludes to all 613 commandments. Our sages similarly teach us that, ‘The commandment of Tzitzit is equal to all the commandments.’

This is also what the Torah means when it speaks of the Tzitzit and says, ‘You shall see them and not stray after your heart and after your eyes.’ The commandment of Tzitzit alludes to HaShem’s Tallit, which in turn, represents the entire structure of the commandments, standing as a barrier against evil.

After Adam sinned, the Torah says that, ‘They knew that they were naked, and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.’ There is a tradition that what they actually made were Tzitzit. Rashi further more explains that when the Torah says, ‘They knew that they were naked,’ it means that they knew they were naked of the one commandment that HaShem had given them.

As soon as man sinned, he realized that he would need the entire structure of commandments alluded to in the Mitzvah of Tzitzit. As soon as he realized that he was naked of his original commandment, he made himself Tzitzit, the one commandment that includes all the others.

The Midrash tells us that the first time HaShem is said to have appeared wearing a Tallit was when He gave Moses the first commandment, the one involving the Jewish calendar. HaShem was beginning to teach Moses the way of the commandments, and when He started, he showed Moses the Tallit that alludes to them all.

As mentioned earlier, one place in the Bible where HaShem’s Tallit is alluded to is in the verse, ‘He covers Himself with light as a garment’ per Psalms 104:2. Here again, the allusion is to the light of the Torah and its commandments, as we find elsewhere, ‘A commandment is a lamp, and the Torah is light’ per Proverbs 6:23.

The main element of HaShem’s plan that serves as a barrier against evil is the array of commandments in the Torah. But even though the commandments are Divine in origin, they do not serve their purpose unless they are fulfilled by man. In this sense, HaShem’s Tallit is not whole unless it is completed by man.

Man’s role in completing HaShem’s garment of commandments is represented by the Tzitzit on the four corners of His Tallit.

In general, we know that the Tallit is only worn because of the Tzitzit that it contains. Without the Tzitzit, the Tallit is nothing more than a square piece of cloth. The same is true of HaShem’s Tallit. Unless fulfilled by man, the commandments do not serve their purpose.

In this sense, the Tzitzit, being loose threads, are like the unwoven portion of the Tallit. As such, they represent the incompleteness in HaShem’s garment. This unwoven part is left for man to complete.

The Tallit is therefore made in the form of a rectangle or square. Our sages teach us that a four sided figure is the archetype of something that is manmade. The square shape of the Tallit alludes to the fact that the main responsibility to complete HaShem’s Tallit lies in the hands of man.

The bond between HaShem and man involves all levels of creation. Man is the goal of HaShem’s creation, and all the spiritual worlds exist only for his sake. There are essentially four levels in the spiritual plane, alluded to by the four letters in HaShem’s ineffable Name (Yod Hey Vav Hey). The four corners of the Tallit allude to these levels, and thus, to the spiritual link between HaShem and man.

In Ezekiel’s vision, after he say the Chashmal, which was HaShem’s garment, he saw the four angels called Chayoth. These four angels are the four Tzitzit on the corners of HaShem’s Tallit. This is why the prophet saw them attached to the Chashmal, which represents HaShem’s Tallit. Our sages further more teach us that the Chashmal exists primarily for these angels, just as the Tallit is worn primarily for the Tzitzit that it contains. As we know, HaShem’s providence is directed primarily through these angels; therefore, they also represent the link between HaShem and man.

Since the Tzitzit represent the bond between HaShem and man, they hang down below the Tallit. HaShem’s Tallit is high above our reach, but His Tzitzit hang down like a lifeline that we can grasp hold of. They reach down to us so that we may complete HaShem’s Tallit, while at the same time perfecting ourselves.

The Tzitzit therefore have five knots, representing the five books of the Torah. The Tzitzit begin with the knots, since the first step in bringing the commandments within man’s reach is the Torah. These knots bind the Tzitzit to the Tallit, just as the Torah and its commandments bind man to HaShem.”

An amazing description of the significance of the Tallit and the Tzitzit! Consider now the prophecy about the end which says in Zechariah 8:23 “Thus said HaShem, Master of Legions: In those days (The end of days) it will happen that ten men (Non-Jews), of all the different languages of the nations, will take hold, they will take hold of the corner (Tzitzit) of the garment (Tallit) of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that HaShem is with you!'” How much is this happening today when people are being awoken by HaShem and are realizing Christendom’s Replacement Theology doctrine is out of the pit and are running to the Torah of HaShem? It is happening in huge numbers now! Baruch HaShem!

All of this is encapsulated in ‘The Shema’ prayer! I will close this Op with the following music video below! In light of what we have discussed in this Op, you see how ‘The Shema’ applies today and if Yeshua said it is the greatest commandment in the Torah, then how is Replacement Theology correct?

Shalom!

SOURCE MATERIALS

• The Book of the Mitzvos by Artscroll
• The Scriptures by the Institute for Scripture Research
• The Chumash with the Teachings of the Talmud by Artscroll
• The Ashkenazi Siddur by Artscroll
• The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology II by Mesorah Publications
• Leviticus Artscroll Tanach Series
• The Talmud Yerushalmi by Artscroll
• The Talmud Bavli by Artscroll
• The Steinsaltz Talmud Bavli by Koren
• The Kehati Mishnah
• The Mishnah Torah