Learning of Love

א-ה-ב

alef-heh-vet

If he hadn’t been told of love, he would never have considered loving,” observed French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Whether love does come naturally or is an acquired trait, the Torah uses the root א-ה-ב (alef, heh, vet), love, to command the love of both God and humankind. On the one hand we are instructed ְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֶלוֹקֶיךָ (ve-ahavta et hashem elokekha), “Love the Lord, Your God” and on the other   וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ (ve-ahavta le-rei'akha kamokha), “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Bible is generously seasoned with words of love that sometimes lead to dramatic scenes. Abraham is told to take the son אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ (asher ahavta), “whom you love,” Isaac, and sacrifice him. Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt comes about becauseוְיִשְׂרָאֵל אָהַב אֶת יוֹסֵף (ve-yisra'el ahav et yosef), “Jacob loved Joseph,” more than his other sons. Proverbs warns its young acolyte melodramatically to beware of the woman who entices him with the phrase נִתְעַלְּסָה בָּאֳהָבִים (nitalsa ba-ahavim), “Let us couple in amorous embrace.”

Biblical love is nevertheless often spiritual, especially in the story of Jonathan and David, whose relationship, David insists, surpasses אַהֲבַת נָשִׁים (ahavat nashim), the love of women. The Psalmist chants of his love of God, while Song of Songs sings another tune, as the beloved speaks of being אַהֲבָה חוֹלַת (holat ahava), lovesick.

The rabbis explain the suffering of the righteous with a concept called יִסּוּרִים שֶׁל אַהֲבָה (yisurim shel ahava), afflictions of love, i.e., suffering in this world to suffer less in the world to come. They also recognize God’s love for humanity in אַהֲבָה רַבָּה (ahava rabba), great love.

The title of A.B. Yehoshua’s first novel is הַמְּאַהֵב (ha-me'ahev), The Lover, and אַהֲבָה (ahava) is a four-letter square sculpture by Robert Indiana at the Israel Museum. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda got into the act when he coined the word אֲהַבְהָבִים (ahavhavim), flirting, based on our root. Ruth Almagor Ramon, author of Rega Shel Ivrit on Hebrew usage, uses our root to teach a lesson in studied ambiguity. The two-noun construction אַהֲבַת הוֹרִים (ahavat horim) can be either parent’s love for children or children’s love for parents. Using our root and the same two-noun construction, Ramon comes up with an adjectival phrase, אַהֲבַת נֶפֶשׁ (ahavat nefesh), profound love.

The question remains: Is love a learned condition? To some, אַהֲבַת הַבְּרִיוֹת (ahavat ha-beriyot), love of humankind, does come naturally. To others, learning the Hebrew word for love is sufficient.

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Learning of Love