בִּרְכָּת אַהֲבַה | Ahavat Olam, for Maariv/Arvit translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=22073

Date: 2018-10-10

Last Updated: 2025-03-27

Categories: Birkat Ahavah for Ma'ariv/Arvit

Tags: blessings prior to the shema, devotional interpretation, interpretive translation, ohev amo, performing mitsvot, talmud torah, אהבת ישראל loving Yisrael, אהבת עולם ahavat olam

Excerpt: Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the blessing preceding the Shema in the evening "Ohev Amo Yisrael" in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל עַמְּךָ אָהַבְתָּ,   תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֺת חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים אוֹתָנוּ לִמַּדְתָּ.	You keep loving us, As You have always loved us. Yah, Our God. You impart to us: Torah and Mitsvot, To know reality and justice.
עַל כֵּן יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, בְּשָׁכְבֵנוּ וּבְקוּמֵנוּ נָשִׂיחַ בְּחֻקֶּיךָ, וְנִשְׂמַח בְּדִבְרֵי תַלְמוּד תּוֹרָתֶךָ, וּבְמִצְוֺתֶיךָ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד,	Therefore, Yah, our God, When we are to rest for the night, When we are to rise for the day, We will make Your principles Our conversation. That will give us steady joy As we talk Torah, And plan to do Mitsvot.
כִּי הֵם חַיֵּינוּ	This is what we live for.
וְאֹרֶךְ יָמֵינוּ, וּבָהֶם נֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה.   וְאַהֲבָתְךָ אַל תָסוּר מִמֶּנּוּ לְעוֹלָמִים, בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה, אוֹהֵב עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל:	This is what keeps us going. Day and night we will Ponder their meaning. Just keep on all along loving us. Barukh Attah Yah Ohev Ammo Yisrael.

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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the blessing preceding the Shema in the evening “Ohev Amo Yisrael” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his English translation side-by-side with the Hebrew verses comprising the blessing. –Aharon N. Varady

Source

 

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Contributor: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation)
  Bio: Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, affectionately known as "Reb Zalman" (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014) was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Żółkiew, Poland (now Ukraine) and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy Regime but managed to flee the Nazi advance, emigrating to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the ḤaBaD Hasidic movement while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and served ḤaBaD communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He subsequently earned an M.A. in psychology of religion at Boston University, and a doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. He was initially sent out to speak on college campuses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but in the early 1960s, after experimenting with "the sacramental value of lysergic acid", the main ingredient in LSD, leadership within ḤaBaD circles cut ties with him. He continued teaching the Torah of Ḥassidut until the end of his life to creative, free and open-minded Jewish thinkers with humility and kindness and established warm ecumenical ties as well. In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work. Reb Zalman supported the Open Siddur Project telling its founder, "this is what I've been looking forward to!" and sharing among many additional works of liturgy, an interview he had with Havurah magazine in the early to mid-1980s detailing his vision of "Database Davenen." The Open Siddur Project is proud to be realizing one of Reb Zalman's long held dreams.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalman_Schachter-Shalomi
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/zalman-schachter-shalomi-translation
• 
  Name: Unknown Author(s)
  Bio: Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/unknown
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
  Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

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Title: A_COUPLE_STUDYING_THE__GEMARA__AT__KVUTZAT_RODGES__לימודע_גמרא_בקבוצת_רודגס.D29-023
Caption: A couple studying the gemara at Kvutzat Rodges