No immediate inspiration came to me about "love," until I decided to think about Ahavah, a Hebrew word for love.

I start with the "Ahavah Rabah" prayer: With an abounding love, you love us, Nurturer, our God;....place into our hearts ability to understand, to see, to hear, to learn, to teach, to keep, to do, and to uphold with love all that we study of your Torah. *

I remembered the first line about abounding love, but I hadn't really taken in the mention of love in the last line. What a beautiful notion: to uphold with love all that we study of your Torah.

Uphold with love. Words to live by.

I went on to browse more on topic, by googling "ahavah," and I found out that there are three commandments in the Torah about love:

"Love your neighbor as yourself"(Leviticus 19:18);

"Love the stranger as yourself" (Leviticus 19:34);

and "You must love Adonai, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Quite the trio! I plan on holding them close through the Days of Awe.

Meanwhile, I cannot resist including this photo of two of my most beloved ones, showing their love for each other and decked out in red no less!

*Translation from Kol HaNeshamah , 2009.

Sources: Rabbi Julian Sinclair at Jewish Chronicle online and Judaism 101)

#BlogElul for 23 Elul 5773