Jews in Motion: Unit 4

(17) As iron sharpens iron So a man sharpens the wit of his friend.

(3) Antigonus a man of Socho received [the oral tradition] from Shimon the Righteous. He used to say: do not be like servants who serve the master in the expectation of receiving a reward, but be like servants who serve the master without the expectation of receiving a reward, and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.

(1) The following three words should be said when praying without a minyan:

(2) (Almighty, faithful King)

(3) Hear, Israel: Adonoy is our God, Adonoy is One.

(4) The following two lines are to be said silently:

(5) Blessed [is His] Name, Whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever.

(6) And you shall love Adonoy your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your possessions. And these words which I command you today, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them sharply to your children. And you shall discuss them when you sit in your house, and when you travel on the road, and when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for totafos between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gateways.

(7) And it will be— if you vigilantly obey My commandments which I command you this day, to love Adonoy your God, and serve Him with your entire hearts and with your entire souls— that I will give rain for your land in its proper time, the early (autumn) rain and the late (spring) rain; and you will harvest your grain and your wine and your oil. And I will put grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Beware lest your hearts be swayed and you turn astray, and you worship alien gods and bow to them. And Adonoy’s fury will blaze among you, and He will close off the heavens and there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce; and you will perish swiftly from the good land which Adonoy gives you. Place these words of Mine upon your hearts and upon your souls,— and bind them for a sign upon your hands, and they shall be for totafos between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your sons, to speak them when you sit in your house, and when you travel on the road, and when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gateways. In order that your days be prolonged, and the days of your children, upon the land which Adonoy swore to your fathers to give them [for as long] as the heavens are above the earth.

(8) And Adonoy spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations; and they will place with the fringes of each corner a thread of blue. And it will be to you for fringes, and you will look upon it and you will remember all the commandments of Adonoy, and you will perform them; and you will not turn aside after your hearts and after your eyes which cause you to go astray. In order that you will remember and perform all My commandments; and you will be holy unto your God. I am Adonoy, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am Adonoy, your God—

(9) You must be careful to connect the last words of Shema, ה’ אֱלֺקֵיכֶם (Adonoy, your God), with the word אמת (is true) without pause or interruption so that these three words form one sentence, meaning “Adonoy your God is true” (Maseches Berachos 13a).

(10) —is true—

(11) The chazan repeats:

(12) Adonoy, your God, is true.

(1) In the year that King Uzziah died, I beheld my Sovereign seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of God’s robe filled the temple. (2) Seraphs stood in attendance, each with six wings—two covering the face, two covering the body, and two to fly with. (3) And one would call to the other, “Holy, holy, holy! GOD of Hosts— Whose presence fills all the earth!” (4) The doorposts would shake at the sound of the one who called, and the House kept filling with smoke. (5) I cried, “Woe is me; I am lost! For I am a man of impure lips And I live among a people Of impure lips; Yet my own eyes have beheld The Sovereign GOD of Hosts.” (6) Then one of the seraphs—who had taken a live coal from the altar with a pair of tongs—flew over to me, (7) touched it to my lips, and declared, “Now that this has touched your lips, Your guilt shall depart And your sin be purged away.” (8) Then I heard the voice of my Sovereign saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me.” (9) And [God] said, “Go, say to that people: ‘Hear, indeed, but do not understand; See, indeed, but do not grasp.’ (10) Dull that people’s mind, Stop its ears, And seal its eyes— Lest, seeing with its eyes And hearing with its ears, It also grasp with its mind, And repent and save itself.” (11) I asked, “How long, my Sovereign?” And [God] replied: “Till towns lie waste without inhabitants And houses without people, And the ground lies waste and desolate— (12) For GOD will banish the population— And deserted sites are many In the midst of the land. (13) “But while a tenth part yet remains in it, it shall repent. It shall be ravaged like the terebinth and the oak, of which stumps are left even when they are felled: its stump shall be a holy seed.”

(1) The Congregation says and the Chazzan repeats:

(2) We will hallow Your Name in the world, as they hallow it in the heavens above, as is written by the hand of Your prophet, And they called one to another, and said:

(3) Congregation says and Chazzan repeats:

(4) ‘Holy, holy, holy, is Adonoy of Hosts, the fullness of all the earth is His glory.’”

(5) The Chazzan says:

(6) Those facing them say “Boruch...”

(7) Congregation says and Chazzan repeats:

(8) Blessed is the glory of Adonoy from its place

(9) The Chazzan says:

(10) And in Your Holy Words it is written:

(11) Congregation says and Chazzan repeats:

(12) Adonoy will reign forever; Your God, Zion, throughout all generations! Praise God.

(13) The Chazzan says:

(14) From generation to generation we will declare Your greatness, and to all eternity, we will sanctify Your holiness, and Your praise, our God, will not depart from our mouth forever and ever; because You are the Almighty Who is King; Great, and Holy. Blessed are You, Adonoy, the Almighty, the Holy One.

On the topic of proper preparation for prayer, the Sages taught: One may neither stand to pray from an atmosphere of sorrow nor from an atmosphere of laziness, nor from an atmosphere of laughter, nor from an atmosphere of conversation, nor from an atmosphere of frivolity, nor from an atmosphere of purposeless matters. Rather, one should approach prayer from an atmosphere imbued with the joy of a mitzva.

(17) You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kin but incur no guilt on their account.

(17) Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

(1) רכות TENDER — She thought she would have to fall to the lot of Esau and she therefore wept continually, because everyone said, “Rebekah has two sons, Laban has two daughters — the elder daughter for the elder son, the younger daughter for the younger son” (Genesis Rabbah 70:16).