V'ahavta
וְאָהַבְתָּThe paragraph following the Shema, on loving God with all one has.
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶךָוְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם עַל־לְבָבֶךָוְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָוּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת עַל־יָדֶךָ וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָוּכְתַבְתָּם עַל־מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ
Ve'ahavta et Adonai Elohekha bekhol levavkha uvkhol nafshekha uvkhol me'odekha Vehayu hadevarim ha'eleh asher anokhi metzavekha hayom al levavekha Veshinantam levanekha vedibarta bam beshivtekha beveitekha uvlekhtekha vaderekh uvshokhbekha uvkumekha Ukshartam le'ot al yadekha vehayu letotafot bein einekha Ukhtavtam al mezuzot beitekha uvish'arekha
You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.
Taken from Deuteronomy 6:5-9, the V'ahavta follows immediately after the Shema in the liturgy. It instructs one to love God fully and to teach these words to the next generation.
Variation: Wording is essentially identical across traditions; pronunciation of the vowels differs between Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs.
Practice saying it aloud
Optional — read the line out loud and see how close you get.
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶךָ
Quick check
"Levavkha" means:
Which book of the Torah is this passage from?
The root ד־ב־ר relates to:
Where does the passage say to write these words?
"Uvshokhbekha uvkumekha" refers to: