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D'var Tefilot (Words about Prayers): Ahavat Olam

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According to Kol Haneshama Shabbat v'Hagim

First you are loved, then you respond with love. Love is central to Jewish life. Love means commitment and limitations--Torah and mitzvot." Those commitments and limitations arise both in our relationships with each other and our relationship with God.

Kol Haneshama notes, too, a difference in the language of the Sephardic and Ashkenazic versions of this prayer. The Sephardic version reads V'ahavtecha lo tasoor, your love will never depart from us." The Ashkenazic version reads in the imperative "Never remove your love from us."

Kol Haneshama then observes that the Sephardic version better describes the unconditional nature of divine love. The prayer also reflects on the love of the Jewish people in our study of Torah "a wisdom that is received, shared, and passed on, enriched by each generation."