The thrill that one feels from watching a majestic sunset, smelling the alluring fragrance of a rose, hearing brilliantly melodious music or tasting delicious food should ideally bring about the love that Rambam (Yesodei HaTorah 2:2) so beautifully describes. If this is not always our experience, it is more a statement about us than it is about the nature of things. For to focus only on personal pleasure at such times is not only artificial, it is a lost opportunity. It reduces a naturally transcendent moment and makes it into something trite. Read more at the Jewish Press…