14. Crucial Thoughts of Love

Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David move from “Do they feel our love?” to something even more subtle, and often more powerful: do they live inside our loving thoughts?

Building on the classic Chassidic framework of the three “garments” of the soul, machshava (thought), dibbur (speech), and ma’aseh (action), we explore three ways love is revealed, and why most homes naturally excel at action (providing, doing), struggle with speech (saying it clearly), and almost completely overlook thought.

A striking line lands hard: a child’s inner voice is shaped less by what we say… and more by what we consistently think. We unpack the “telepathic” reality kids pick up on, why negative bias hijacks our minds, and why pure machshava can be the deepest gift that quietly changes everything downstream.

Along the way, we connect it to Ahavat Hashem, bringing Maimonides (Rambam): “m’derech ha’ohavim… she’hem choshevim b’ahavah” — it’s the way of lovers to think in love.

This week’s avodah: notice what “invades” your loving thoughts… and practice returning to the simple, holy sentence: “Of course I love my child.”
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening and Sponsor Acknowledgments
01:39 Thought, Speech, Action Sequence
03:10 Three Ways to Express Love
05:35 Parental Investment in the Three Garments
06:37 Importance of Thinking Before Speaking
08:23 The Heart’s Role and “Opening Your Heart”
12:14 Why Parents Excel in Action
13:58 Why Speech Needs Improvement
17:55 Why Thought Is Almost Absent
22:52 Does Thinking Love Actually Matter?
25:46 Machshava as Tefillah and Presence
28:56 “A Child’s Inner Voice Is What I Think”
32:57 Why Machshava Feels Unmeasurable
36:44 Thinking Love From the Child’s Existence
41:27 Thoughts That Expand Space vs. Clog It
43:56 Why We Struggle With “Free” Love-Thoughts
46:22 How Pain/Judgment Invade Love-Thoughts
48:08 Machshava as the Core of the Soul
50:09 Parenting with Pure Thought: Guarding the Heart
51:25 Next Steps: Focus on This Week’s Study