“Love in a Time That Needs It,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings

July 24, 2026 | 10 Av 5786

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. You can also listen to it as a podcast.

Love! That is the announcement from the guy who made my coffee. When they ask for a name for the order, I say, “love” because yelling “Elaine” doesn’t sound as wonderful or hopeful. Sometimes, they will say, “To Whom Does Love belong?” or “For whom is Love?” It tickles me that their question is also profound. And it makes everyone smile!

We need reasons to smile. We need love in a time of hate.

Love is the theme of this week’s Torah portion, the second one in Deuteronomy. The portion begins with the word, V’etchanan וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן (Deut 3:1). It means yearn towards, long for, be merciful, compassionate, favorable, inclined towards. Moses used this word to describe his attempt to garner compassion, mercy, and favor from God in order to be able to enter the Promised Land. The request was a plea but God refused. Nevertheless, it offers a meaning of what love is: yearn towards, long for, be merciful, compassionate, favorable, inclined towards.

The portion will continue with Moses summarizing the wilderness experience. He reviews receiving the ten commandments on Mt Sinai and the importance of following the laws. In the four chapters of this portion, Moses will push the ancient Israelites toward a bond with God
and the Instruction of laws and rules to build up their faith. How will this be accomplished?

Through love. We know these words. They are part of our liturgical experience each time we pray that comes from this portion:

“You shall love the ETERNAL your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (6:5-9)

They are introduced with words we know well: “Hear, O Israel! The ETERNAL is our God, the ETERNAL alone.”

How we love is reflected in our behavior. How we yearn towards, long for, be merciful, compassionate, favorable, incline ourselves towards righteousness and compassion is what makes a difference when others show hatred. What we learn and how we act impacts those who
come after us. It is for them that love must endure.

Shabbat Shalom! שבת שלום

Let me know what you think. Connect with me here.

Rabbi Elaine Zecher