Sh'ma 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

First B’rakhah preceding the Sh’ma: The Creation of Light

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ
עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא אֶת־הַכֹּל.

Israeli

baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam,
yotzer or uvorei choshech
oseh shalom uvorei et-hakol.

English

Barukh atah Adonai, our God, ruler of time and space, fashioning light and creating darkness, bringing harmony while creating all.

On Festivals falling on weekdays, we resume midway on page 152.

On Shabbat, we say:

Hebrew

הַכֹּל יוֹדוּךָ
וְהַכֹּל יְשַׁבְּחוּךָ,
וְהַכֹּל יֹאמְרוּ אֵין קָדוֹשׁ כַּיהוָה.
הַכֹּל יְרוֹמְמוּךָ סֶלָה,
יוֹצֵר הַכֹּל.

Israeli

hakol yoducha
vehakol yeshabechucha,
vehakol yomru ein kadosh kadonai.
hakol yeromemucha selah,
yotzer hakol.

English

All give You thanks, all praise You, and all declare: “None is as holy as Adonai.” Forever all will praise You, creator of all.

Hebrew

הָאֵל הַפּוֹתֵחַ בְּכָל־יוֹם דַּלְתוֹת שַׁעֲרֵי מִזְרָח
וּבוֹקֵעַ חַלּוֹנֵי רָקִיעַ.
מוֹצִיא חַמָּה מִמְּקוֹמָהּ וּלְבָנָה מִמְּכוֹן שִׁבְתָּהּ,
וּמֵאִיר לָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ וּלְיוֹשְׁבָיו שֶׁבָּרָא בְּמִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים.
הַמֵּאִיר לָאָרֶץ וְלַדָּרִים עָלֶיהָ בְּרַחֲמִים
וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל־יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית.
הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמְרוֹמָם לְבַדּוֹ מֵאָז,
הַמְשֻׁבָּח וְהַמְפֹאָר וְהַמִּתְנַשֵּׂא מִימוֹת עוֹלָם.

Israeli

ha-El hapoteach b'chol-yom daltot sha-arei mizrach
uvokea chalonei rakia.
motzi chamah mimekomah ulevanah mimechon shivtah,
ume-ir la-olam kulo uleyoshvav shebara b'midat harachamim.
hame-ir la-aretz veladarim aleha b'rachamim
uvtuvo mechadesh b'chol-yom tamid ma-aseh v'reishit.
hamelech hameromam levado me-az,
hameshubach vehamefo-ar vehamitnasei mimot olam.

English

Daily, God, You lift the eastern gates, open the sky’s windows, bring forth the sun from its place and the moon from its seat, lighting with mercy the whole world and every inhabitant whom You created. In kindness You illumine the earth and all who dwell on it, and day after day, in Your goodness, You renew creation. Sovereign, from the very beginning You alone ruled on high, praised, glorified, and exalted from earliest time.

Hebrew

אֱלֹהֵי עוֹלָם בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים רַחֵם עָלֵינוּ,
אֲדוֹן עֻזֵּנוּ צוּר מִשְׂגַּבֵּנוּ,
מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵנוּ מִשְׂגָּב בַּעֲדֵנוּ.

Israeli

Elohei olam b'rachamecha harabim rachem aleinu,
adon uzenu tzur misgabenu,
magen yishenu misgav ba-adenu.

English

Eternal One, in Your abundant mercy, have compassion on us. Our strength’s source, our guarding fortress, our saving shield, our stronghold.

Hebrew

אֵין כְּעֶרְכְּךָ וְאֵין זוּלָתֶךָ,
אֶפֶס בִּלְתֶּךָ וּמִי דּוֹמֶה לָךְ.
אֵין כְּעֶרְכְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה
וְאֵין זוּלָתְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא.
אֶפֶס בִּלְתְּךָ גּוֹאֲלֵנוּ לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ
וְאֵין דּוֹמֶה לְּךָ מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ לִתְחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים.

Israeli

ein ke-erkecha ve-ein zulatecha,
efes biltecha umi domeh lach.
ein ke-erkecha Adonai Eloheinu ba-olam hazeh
ve-ein zulatcha malkenu lechayei ha-olam haba.
efes biltecha go-alenu limot hamashiach
ve-ein domeh lecha moshi-enu litchiyat hametim.

English

None resembles You, none stands beside You, nothing exists without You, and none may be likened to You: none resembles You, Adonai our God, upon this earth; none but You shall reign over us in the world to come; none exists but You, Who shall redeem us and bring the messianic age; and none resembles You, our deliverer, who gives life to the dead.

Commentary

FORMING LIGHT יוֹצֵר אוֹר. This opening b’rakhah before the Sh’ma acknowledges that we experience God, first of all, through witnessing the miracle of creation. Praying in the morning, we are asked to pay attention to the wonder of the dawn, of sunlight, and of a new day. In the liturgy, the break of dawn is then imagined as a chorus of song in which we join. This b’rakhah is adapted from a verse in Isaiah (45:7), which reads oseh shalom u-vorei ra, “who makes peace and creates evil.” The prophet insists that both good and evil come from the one God. But in the moment of prayer, we focus on all for which we can be thankful, beginning with the light that makes life possible; therefore, the ancient rabbis transformed this biblical verse and changed the ending to read “creating all.”

ALL הַכֹּל. The word hakol, “all,” occurs five times in quick succession and refers to the totality of humanity, all earthly creatures and forces, as well as the heavenly bodies and the most distant galaxies. It echoes the last word of the opening b’rakhah (borei et ha-kol, “creating all,” at the top of this page) and anticipates the affirmation of the one God, who is God of all, and whom we are about to praise in the Sh’ma.

NONE IS LIKE YOU אֵין כְּעֶרְכְּךָ. The poet is playing with a variety of biblical verses: Isaiah 40:18, “what image can be ascribed to You”; 1 Samuel 2:2, “there is none beside You”; and Isaiah 40:25, “to whom can you compare God.”

MESSIANIC AGE לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ. The poet progresses through stages of redemption from olam ha-ba, the world that is coming, to y’mot ha-mashiaḥ, the messianic age, to t’ḥiyat ha-meitim, life given to the dead.

All Thank You It is not you alone, or we, or those others who pray; all things pray, all things pour forth their souls. The heavens pray, the earth prays, every creature and every living thing prays. In all life, there is longing. Creation is itself but a longing, a kind of prayer of the Almighty. —MICHA JOSEPH BERDYCZEWSKI …

God of All Everything you see enwraps holiness: take away the outer shell and gaze at the spiritual beauty. —HILLEL ZEITLIN …