Meditation on the Shema

Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad!

Baruch shem k'vod malchuto l'olam va-ed.

V'ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, b'chol l'vav'cha uv'chol nafsh'cha uv'chol m'oedecha. V'hayu had'varim ha-eileh asher anochi m'tzavvha hayom al l'vavecha. V'shinantam l'vanecha v'dibarta bam b'shivtecha b'veitecha uv'lecht'cha vaderech uv'shochb'cha uv'kumecha. Ukshartam l'ot al yadecha v'hayu l'totafot bein einecha. Uch'tavtam al m'zuzot beitecha uvish'arecha.

1. My Jewish Learning

The first verse of the Shema, from the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, is among the best-known in all of Jewish liturgy. It is recited at the climactic moment of the final prayer of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and traditionally as the last words before death.

The first verse of the Shema is considered the most essential declaration of the Jewish faith — the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. The passage that follows details the particular ways in which that faith should be lived: Love God with all of your being, teach it to your children, recite it when you wake and lie down, bind it as a symbol on your body.

From the verse in Deuteronomy 6:7, which commands to “Recite them … when you lie down and when you get up,” the rabbis determined that the Shema should be recited twice daily, in the morning and in the evening, which is why it is included in both the morning and evening services. The first verse of the Shema is also recited at the conclusion of Yom Kippur and is included in the Kedusha service on Shabbat. It is customary to recite the Shema, or a portion thereof, immediately before bedtime, and when one’s death is believed to be imminent. It is also a custom to cover one’s eyes while reciting the Shema.

2. Judith Plaskow

"Adonai is One" As the first-learned Jewish prayer, the Sh'ma comes to the tongue so effortlessly that it is easy to lose sight of what it is affirming. What does it mean to assert that God is One? On the simplest level, the Sh'ma can be understood as a passionate rejection of polytheism.... There is another way to understand oneness, however, and that is as inclusiveness. In Marcia Falk's words, "The authentic expression of an authentic monotheism is not a singularity of image but an embracing unity of a multiplicity of images." Rather than being the chief deity in the pantheon, God includes the qualities and characteristics of the whole pantheon, with nothing remaining outside. God is all in all. This is the God who "forms light and creates darkness, who makes peace and creates everything," because there can be no power other than or in opposition to God who could possibly be responsible for evil. This is the God who is male and female, both and neither, because there is no genderedness outside of God that is not made in God's image. On this understanding of oneness, extending the range of images we use for God challenges us to find God in ever-new aspects of creation. Monotheism is about the capacity to glimpse the One in and through the changing forms of the many, to see the whole in and through its infinite images. "Hear O Israel": despite the fractured, scattered, and conflicted nature of our experience, there is a unity that embraces and contains our diversity and that connects all things to each other.

3. Lawrence Kushner & Nehemia Polen

"Adonai is One" The theology of Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe of Lubavitch Chasidism (1745-1813, known as the Ba'al Hatanya -- "author of The Tanya," the masterwork of Chabad Chasidism) maintains that nothing exists but God. This "acosmism" denies the reality of the cosmos. God is not only the basis of reality, God is the only reality; God is all there is. Creation is continuously brought into being through the divine word. If our eyes could truly see reality we would see no material world at all, but instead behold God's continuous utterance of the Hebrew letters, the real matrix of all being.

In such radical moments, the Sh'ma, the declaration of God's unity, means effectively that nothing exists besides God...

But how do we reconcile the apparent contradiction between this acosmic theory of reality and the inescapable experience of living in an obviously material world?... The question is how do we bring awareness of that higher unity into the everyday reality of this world? That is the challenge of sacred living: to realize more unity -- with patience and devotion, to make this world resemble the one on High. And this is where Judaism parts company with the religions of the East. Judaism understands this yearning as a sacred obligation, a requirement for holy living, a commandment.

4. Lawrence A. Hoffman

The first section of the Sh'ma (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) is called "Accepting the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven." Its first verse (Deut. 6:4), "Hear O Israel..." and the response, "Blessed is..." stand out liturgically as an apt summary of Judaism's basic monotheistic principle and the hope for all humanity that flows from it.

Reform congregations say "Hear O Israel..." and "Blessed is..." standing. Halakhah [Jewish law] prescribes sitting not standing for the Sh'ma.... Reform Jews, however, saw the Sh'ma as central to their claim that Judaism's uniqueness lay in its discovery of ethical monotheism. Wanting to acknowledge the centrality of the Sh'ma, and recognizing that people generally stand for the prayers that matter most, they began standing for the Sh'ma despite the Halakhah. They justified their position by arguing that the halakhic act of sitting for the "watchword of Jewish faith" was inconsistent with the halakhic principle of accepting the yoke of heaven: how could one not stand to proclaim God one?

5. Dena Trugman

The following gratitude meditation may be used as part of a guided meditation after studying the above texts. Instruct participants to notice their breath wherever it feels most prominent -- whether in the belly (rising and falling), the chest (expanding and contracting) or the nostrils (coolness of in-breath, warmth of out-breath). Once the participants have been breathing for a few minutes, read aloud the following kavannot, at the pace of one kavannah per breath cycle.

Shema - Listen

May I open my heart to listen to its innermost desires.

Yisrael - Israel

May I bring kindness to my Jewish community.

Adonai - God

May I attune myself to the sacred wonderment that surrounds me in each moment.

Eloheinu - Our God

May I have the courage to mend broken relationships with those in my community.

Adonai - God

May I open myself fully to the Divine presence.

Echad - One

May I embrace all beings in the totality of our created world.

Allow the participants to breathe silently for a few more minutes and then invite them to gently open their eyes. You might choose to discuss the experience of doing this meditation.