דָּבָר אַחֵר בְּכָל מְאֹדֶךָ, בְּכָל מִדָּה וּמִדָּה שֶׁהוּא מוֹדֵד לְךָ הֱוֵי מוֹדֶה לוֹ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד
This is one of the Mishnah's explanations of the phrase in the Pasuk we say several times a day at the beginning of Shema, "בְּכָל מְאֹדֶךָ”. My question is which word is the Mishna saying בְּכָל מְאֹדֶךָ is referring to? מְאֹד, מוֹדֵד, מִדָּה all sound very similar. Which one is it?
Firstly just to make something clear the word מִדָּה and מוֹדֵד are one of the same in this context. The word מִדָּה is measurement and מוֹדֵד is the verb to measure.
Therefore the alternative explanation is going on this concept of "measurement".
Refer to the Bartenura who writes:
דבר אחר בכל מאדך. בכל מדות המדודות לך בין מדה טובה בין מדת פורענות:
"דבר אחר: "בכל מאדך – with all of the measures that are measured out to you, whether for good or for retribution.
These are properly two drashos, the second of which uses wordplay. In the Mishnaic manuscripts, some Bavli girsaot, alternate versions, etc. this is clear. The fullest version is found in the Sifrei Devarim, where the two are interrupted by other material:מה ת"ל בכל מאדך בכל מדה ומדה שהוא מודד לך, בין במדת הטוב בין במדת הפורענות . . . ובכל מאדך הוי מודה לו כיעקב אביך שנ' קטנתי מכל החסידים (This is the version from MS Vat. 32; also found in Yalkut Shimoni). A shorter version is found in all Mishnaic manuscripts (Kaufmann A50, de Rossi 138, Cambridge Add. 470.1), which is very similar to the printed girsa quoted above except with בכל used for framing the second drasha: דבר אחר בכל מאודך בכל מידה ומידה שהוא מודד לך בכל הוי מודה לו בכל מאד מאד. Here there is the same division between the drashas, but the second is framed as an explanation of בכל instead of מאודיך. This was further shortened to דבר אחר בכל מאודך בכל מידה ומידה שהוא מודד לך בכל הוי מודה לו מאד מאד, where the keyword is repeated to introduce the drasha but not found within the drasha itself, which is what's found in many Bavli manuscripts, some Mishnaic printings, the Lekach Tov, etc., and finally the keyword was lost, blurring the distinction between the two drashos. Melekhet Shlomo, for one, knows that this is important and reinserts it. The wordplay used in the second drasha isn't helpful for clarity either.
Tl;dr it should be translated Another explanation: "With all your m'ods," i.e. with every mida by which G-d measures you. ["With all your m'ods"], i.e. Confess to him with utter completeness.
