VaEtchanan 5872
Deut. 3:23 – 7:11
Rabbi Gary Pokras 

 

“You shall the love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your stregth.” [Deut. 6:5] 

What does it mean to love God with everything we have?  

For years I have struggled to find the answer, and to be honest, I still do.  

This week instead of offering my own interpretation, I would like to share a poetic reinterpretation of this passage from the Torah, which is commonly referred to as the v’ahavta in the worship service. It comes from the Reform Machzor for Yom Kippur, Mishkan HaNefesh (p. 189) 

V’AHAVTA — WHEN YOU LOVE 

When you love Adonai Elohecha body and soul 

these things I ask of you will be possible: 

 

To answer your children’s questions about Me 

and believe your answers yourselves 

To connect religion to your everyday 

comings and goings … 

for example, 

when you hug them in bed at night 

with tender words –Sh’ma Yisrael 

or when you think to say Modeh Ani 

in the rush of getting them up and out 

in the morning 

To be alert enough 

to open doors for your children 

in every waking moment 

and when they dream. 

 

And finally, to remember just why 

all these things matter: 

 

They matter because I, Adonai Elohecha, 

brought you and your children out of Egypt 

to be God for you. 

I am your God. 

And when you do these things 

I will be your children’s God.