Prof. Yehuda Halper

 03213-01 Love in Judaism

Love is prevalent throughout Jewish texts. Yet there are many kinds of love, between spouses, between parents and children, for building buildings, for art, for studying Torah, and for God. Jewish texts, from the Bible and Talmud to theological and poetic works focus on not just describing how to live best, but how to love best. Yet, many of these loves are inherently unbalanced; most prominently, love of God is between a lower being and the Divine. In other loves, such as between husband and wife, we seek balance. How can one concept, love, have such varied expression? Is love the goal of Jewish life, or is it merely something acquired along the way? To what extent is love dependent on knowledge (e.g., in the cases of love of art, study, and God)? We shall look at important Jewish texts to seek out answers to these questions.