Deuteronomy 6:5

And thou shalt love: Implement His words based on love. One who does based on love is incomparable to one who does based on fear. One who does for his master out of fear, when [the master] overburdens him, [the servant] leaves him and goes on his way.

with all thy heart: With your two inclinations. Alternatively, "with all thy heart," that your heart won't be divided toward the Omnipresent.

and with all thy soul: Even if He [God] should take your soul.

and with all thy means: With all of your resources/money. There is the person whose money is more beloved to him than his own body. Thus, it states, "with all thy means." Alternatively, "with all thy means" means with each and every measure that He measures you by, whether by a good measurement or by retributive measurement. And so David says, (Psalms 116:13) "I will lift the cup of salvation, etc." and (Psalms 116:13) "I found trouble and grief."

Mosheh the prophet said to the people of the house of Israel, Follow after the true worship of your fathers, that you may love the Lord your God with each disposition of your hearts, and also that He may accept your souls, and the (dedicated) service of all your wealth;

you shall love Since we have no gods other than He Himself, consequently you must love Him, there being no other god to love.

with all your heart The “heart” denotes consciousness (and is here an allusion to the spirit of intelligence, corresponding to the first Divine Wheel [Ezekiel 1: 15]), as in “wise of heart” [Exodus 31: 6] and “acquires a heart” [Proverbs 15: 32].

with all your soul denotes the corporeal spirit (i.e., desire). This force manifests itself in the kidneys.

with all your might [Hebrew: m’odekha] from “much” [Hebrew: m’od] — in other words, to love Him exceedingly much — as much as you can — and that your love be unqualified.

WITH ALL THY HEART. In the opinion of the Midrash 32; Berachoth 54 a: “With all thy heart — with both your impulses, the good impulse and the evil impulse.” the heart mentioned here is the power of desire, similar to the expressions: Thou hast given him his heart’s desire; lust not after her beauty in thy heart. If so, with all thy soul denotes the intellectual [capacity rather than the sensual capacity of the] soul. Similarly, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life [refers to the rational soul which is immortal]. And according to our Rabbis, who in the Talmud — even if He take away thy soul,” i.e., even at the sacrifice of your life. derived from this [phrase] that one must submit to death and not violate [the Law, the expanded expression] “with all thy soul” is supplementary, by itself indicates that you must suffer martyrdom rather than deny the Law, the question arises, what is signified by the additional word all [‘all’ thy soul], since you cannot speak of half a life? Ramban will offer two answers. for since he said with ‘all’ thy heart … and with ‘all’ thy might [where the intent is to exclude the serving of G-d with only part of the heart’s capacity, or with only part of one’s might or belongings], he also said with ‘all’ thy soul [meaning “your very life,” despite the obvious fact that the command to give “all” rather than “part” of his life is incongruous]. The meaning thereof is that you love Him as your very life, giving up your life with love [for His sake whenever the Law requires you to do so]. Or [another explanation of the word all may be] that suffering or [the loss of body] organs are referred to as “part of the soul,” while martyrdom [death] is termed with ‘all’ thy soul. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “thy soul means the desire, like: enough ‘k’nafshecha’ (at thine own) pleasure; the full soul loatheth a honey-comb; deliver me not over ‘b’nefesh’ (unto the desire of) mine adversaries. With all thy heart refers to knowledge, this being a surname for the rational spirit since [the heart] is its first resting place, and similarly it is stated, The wise in heart will receive commandments. ” Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the expression with all thy heart appears likely from that which he stated, And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart. refers to the rational soul, for in that case it is possible to say that these words shall be upon your “heart” meaning your rational soul. But if we are to interpret with all thy ‘heart’ as referring to the desires, as explained earlier, then how can it be said that these words shall be upon your “heart” or your desires?

ובכל נפשך, 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, “with all your heart,” the meaning is that while alive you are to love G’d with all your heart, if your faith and love for G’d is put to the test of your having to choose it over your very survival, you must choose the former.

ואהבת, you will then enjoy doing things which are pleasing to Him when you understand that there is nothing in this world which is more worth doing. [the word ואהבת is not perceived a commandment by the author; in fact it is questionable if loving someone could be the subject of a commandment altogether. Ed.]