Shema and Its Blessings

k'ri-at sh'ma uvirchoteha

קריאת שמע וברכותיה

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Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

The Shema is to be recited with intense concentration. In the first paragraph one should accept, with love, God’s sovereignty; in the second, the mitzvot as God’s will. The third paragraph’s close constitutes fulfillment of the mitzva to remember, morning and evening, the exodus from Egypt. See laws 352–356.

When praying without a minyan, say:

Hebrew

אֵל מֶלֶךְ נֶאֱמָן

Israeli

El melech ne-eman

The next verse should be recited aloud, covering the eyes with the right hand:

Deut. 6

Hebrew

שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל, יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ, יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד:

Israeli

sh'ma Yisra-el, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad:

Softly:

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד.

Israeli

baruch shem k'vod malchuto le-olam va-ed.

Deut. 6

Hebrew

וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ, בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־
מְאֹדֶֽךָ: וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה, אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם, עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ:
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֨ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ,
וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ: וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְאוֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ, וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין
עֵינֶֽיךָ: וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ:

Israeli

ve-ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, b'chol-levavcha uvchol-nafshecha uvchol-
me-odecha: vehayu hadvarim ha-eleh, asher anochi metzavcha hayom, al-levavecha:
veshinantam levanecha vedibarta bam, b'shivtecha beveitecha uvlechtecha vaderech,
uvshachbcha uvkumecha: ukshartam le-ot al-yadecha, vehayu letotafot bein
einecha: uchtavtam al-mezuzot beitecha uvisharecha:

Commentary

… of the yoke of the kingship of Heaven,” meaning that we take God as our Sovereign, and our covenant with Him as the essence of our existence as a people. The LORD is One: among the many meanings of this phrase are: (1) there is only one God; (2) God is a unity, indivisible; (3) God is the only ultimate reality; (4) God is One despite the many appearances He has had throughout history; and (5) God alone is our King. This great sentence is the supreme declaration of Jewish faith: among the first Hebrew words learned by a child, often the last words of martyrs.

בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם Blessed be the name: This was the congregational response to the utterance in the Temple of the Tetragrammaton, God’s holiest name. It is said here as a memory of the Temple service, but silently (except on Yom Kippur) because it is not part of the biblical text.

וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם Teach them repeatedly: Education is the responsibility, not only of schools, but also of parents. In Judaism, parents are educators, the home a matrix of learning, and education a conversation across the generations. Alshich connects this verse with the earlier one (“Love the LORD”): How do we teach our children? By showing them what we love.

… this love flows is the Torah, God’s covenant with His people. This contains “the laws of life” in a double sense: laws that guide us in life, and laws that give us life.

THE SHEMA שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל Listen, Israel: The word Shema is untranslatable in English. It means (1) listen, (2) hear, (3) reflect on, (4) understand, (5) internalize, (6) respond in action, and hence (7) obey. In rabbinic Hebrew it developed yet other senses, such as “transmit, know about, infer, learn.” I have translated it here as “Listen” rather than the traditional “Hear” because listening is active, hearing passive. The Shema is a call to an act of mind and soul, to meditate on, internalize and affirm the Oneness of God.

Most civilizations have been cultures of the eye. Judaism, with its belief in the invisible God who transcends the universe, and its prohibition against visual representations of God, is supremely a civilization of the ear. The patriarchs and prophets did not see God; they heard Him. Hence, the key verb in Judaism is Shema, “listen.” To give dramatic force to the idea that God is heard, not seen, we cover our eyes with our hand as we say these words.

יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ The LORD is our God: The sages called this declaration “acceptance …