(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יי אֱלֹקֵ֖ינוּ יי ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ (ה) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יי אֱלֹקֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ (ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (ח) וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ (ט) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּזֹ֥ת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ (ס)
(4) Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. (5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. (7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; (9) inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Questions:
Why was it so important for our ancestors and for ourselves to have multiple reminders on a daily basis of the Shema?
What/who in your life do you love with all your heart and with all your might?
Is it hard or easy to look at your relationship with God in that same way? Why?
What benefits can we gain from paying attention to those physical reminders of the Shema and reciting the Shema in the morning and at night?
Why was it so important for our ancestors and for ourselves to have multiple reminders on a daily basis of the Shema?
What/who in your life do you love with all your heart and with all your might?
Is it hard or easy to look at your relationship with God in that same way? Why?
What benefits can we gain from paying attention to those physical reminders of the Shema and reciting the Shema in the morning and at night?
Hear, O Israel by Arthur Green
The core of our worship is not a prayer at all, but a cry to our fellow Jews and fellow humans. In it we declare that God is one-which is also to say that humanity is one, that life is one, that joys and sufferings are all one-for God is the force that binds them all together. There is nothing obvious about this truth, for life as we experience it seems infinitely fragmented. Human beings seem isolated from one another, divided by all the fears and hatreds that make up human history. Even within a single life, one moment feels cut off from the next, memories of joy and fullness offering us little consolation when we are depressed or lonely. To assert that all is one in God is our supreme act of faith. No wonder that the Sh’ma, the first “prayer” we learn in childhood, is also the last thing we are to say before we die.
The core of our worship is not a prayer at all, but a cry to our fellow Jews and fellow humans. In it we declare that God is one-which is also to say that humanity is one, that life is one, that joys and sufferings are all one-for God is the force that binds them all together. There is nothing obvious about this truth, for life as we experience it seems infinitely fragmented. Human beings seem isolated from one another, divided by all the fears and hatreds that make up human history. Even within a single life, one moment feels cut off from the next, memories of joy and fullness offering us little consolation when we are depressed or lonely. To assert that all is one in God is our supreme act of faith. No wonder that the Sh’ma, the first “prayer” we learn in childhood, is also the last thing we are to say before we die.