Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim III

“A life in which we will have love of Torah in fear of Heaven.” Although we have already prayed for the gift of Fear of Heaven just a few sentences earlier, in this phrase we are requesting an entirely different level of Fear of Heaven: we are asking God for the gift of being able to study His Torah with such love that every word we study increases our Awe of Heaven. We are praying for the gift of Torah to be such, that we do not only experience deep love for and and from God while studying His Torah, we want our study to leave us with a sense of Awe of God and His Torah.

There is another way to read this phrase: rather than, “A life in which we will have love of Torah and Fear of Heaven,” as if we are asking for two separate things; the love of Torah and the Awe of Heaven, we can recite this phrase with a request that God grant us the gift of not only loving Torah but also the gift of loving Awe of Heaven.