Fear and Love: Shabbat Message from Rabbi Dan Levin
July 31, 2026
Click here to listen to an audio recording of this Shabbat Message by Rabbi Dan Levin Recently, a friend was visiting his daughter and son-in-law. He was playing with his grandson, and he saw the little boy about to do something dangerous. He called out to his grandson, “Hey! Stop! Come back!” The little boy looked back at him startled, with a look of surprise. My friend’s daughter spoke with him and said, “Dad, we don’t raise our voice with our son. We don’t ever want him to be afraid of us.” My friend replied to his daughter, “I understand, and I’m sorry if I startled him. But I think it’s a good thing for your son to be a little afraid sometimes.” There is a complicated relationship between fear and love. We think fear means we are