(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ (ה) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ (ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (ח) וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ (ט) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזֻז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}
(4) Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone. (5) You shall love your God יהוה 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.
During World War II many young Jewish children were harbored by a myriad of monasteries throughout Europe. At the end of the war, the Vaad Hatzalah sent representatives to the monasteries to try and reclaim the orphaned children to their heritage. Many of the children who found refuge did so at a young age and they had but a few recollections of their birthright.
When Rabbi Eliezer Silver, who was the Rabbi of Cincinnati, Ohio and a very influential member of the Vaad, came to a particular hermitage in the AlsaceLorraine region of France, he was met with hostility. "You can be sure, Rabbi, if we had Jews here we would surely hand them back to you immediately!" exclaimed the monk in charge. "However, unfortunately for you, we have no Jewish children here."
Rabbi Silver was given a list of refugees and was told that they were all Germans. The monk continued, "The Schwartzes are German Schwartzes, the Schindlers are German Schindlers and the Schwimmers are German Schwimmers." Rabbi Silver had been told that there were definitely close to ten Jewish children in that hermitage and was not convinced. He asked if he could say a few words to the children as they went to sleep. The monk agreed. Rabbi Silver returned later that evening with two aides, and as the children were lying in their beds about to go to sleep, they entered the large dorm room.
He walked into the room and in the sing-song that is so familiar to hundreds of thousands of Jewish children across the globe he began to sing, "Shema Yisrael Ado..." Unexpectedly – in mid sentence – he stopped. Suddenly from six beds in the room the ending to that most powerful verse resounded almost in unison. "Hashem Echad!"
He turned to the priest. "These are our children. We will take them now!" The children were redeemed, placed in Jewish homes, and raised as leaders of our community.
Command to recognize that there is one Gd, that we must honor and love with all our heart and soul.
Q: Is there anything you love with every fiber of your being?
It was taught, a child…who knows how to speak, his father teaches him the phrase, “The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov” and the first verse of the Shema.
Q: Why do you think the Shema is the first thing to teach to children?
The first mitzvah that a person is obligated in when he becomes Bar Mitzvah is reading the Shema in the evening [when it is dark] … [This teaches that] at first, when one is in a state of darkness a person must accept God’s kingship, even in the darkness and childishness and without [seeing God’s] actions. Then eventually he will come to fulfill it from a wealth of clear understanding, which is like the light of day.
Mashiach Milchamah was appointed to lead the wars waged by Israel. He was tasked with the responsibility of encouraging the soldiers and strengthening them. Before each war, he would open his speech with two familiar words: Shema Yisrael. Our sages ask why it is specifically in a time of war that the words Shema Yisrael are used, and Rabbi Yochanan explains that, 'Even if you have only fulfilled the mitzvah of reciting Shema in the morning and at night, you will not be delivered into the hands of your enemies.' Our Sages are teaching us that the words Shema Yisrael are used to allude to this promise made by the Master of the World. Even if all we have to show for ourselves is the fulfillment of this one mitzvah, He will nevertheless protect us.
Shema is a reminder of Gd's love for us, and how we can develop a love for Him.
Eli Weisel: Jewish. Literary and Moral Perspectives
I pictured myself back in 1945, in the open train that was taking us from Auschwitz to Buchenwald. On the eve of our arrival at the camp, we were completely blanketed by a terrible snowstorm. And suddenly, in the train car, we began shouting "Shema Israel"-at the wind, the snow, the sky, the whole world. We shouted that "Shema Israel" at GdHimself. At that moment, I felt that this prayer issued of the Bible, had been awaiting us all that time, preparing to take on a new significance. At that exact instant, a powerful bond was woven between us and the Book.