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28 lip 2023 · The Hebrew word for love is ahavah, which is rooted in the more molecular word hav,1 which means to give, revealing that, according to Judaism, giving is at the root of love. What does this etymological insight teach us both about the function of love and about how love functions?
Jewish tradition teaches that God, out of ahavah (ה ָב ֲה ַא), “love,” chose to give the Torah to the people of Israel. And the people of Israel, in accepting the Torah, chose to live according to God’s mitzvot. This way, this prayer reminds us of the loving relationship among God, Israel, & Torah.
beginning. God’s love just is an eternal fact of the universe. And God’s love is not a duty; it’s a genuine feeling and affection that God experiences. This is why the prophet Hosea compares God’s love for his people to a husband’s ahavah for his wife, or to a parent showing ahavah for their child.12 It’s one of the
Ahavah (ah-hah-VAH) אהבה This is the Hebrew noun for “love.” The Torah speaks extensively about love: Ahavah of Isaac toward his wayward son, Esau ; ahavah of Jacob toward his wife Rachel ; ahavah between G‑d and His people ; ahavah we are to have for each other ; and ahavah we are enjoined to extend to “strangers” ( converts ).
Featuring a modern English translation and a commentary that presents a digest of the centuries of Torah scholarship which have been devoted to the study of the Mishneh Torah by Maimonides.
With a great love (ahavah rabbah) You have loved us (ahavtanu). The love of God for the people of Israel is declared here just before the Sh'ma. It prepares us for the Sh'ma. Now you might expect a listing of gifts to us - God's freeing us, feeding us, delivering us.
The Bible itself demands that we experience both ahavah (love) and yirah towards God. Before reading the biblical source for this commandment, you might discuss with your study partner: 1. What might it mean to love God? To feel yirah for God? 2. Is it possible to simultaneously feel love and yirah? 3. What might that feel like?
