Punishments for idolatry
Hebrew
הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן יִפְתֶּה
לְבַבְכֶם, וְסַרְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם
אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם
לָהֶם: וְחָרָה | אַף יְיָ בָּכֶם וְעָצַר
אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָטָר
וְהָאֲדָמָה לֹא תִתֵּן אֶת יְבוּלָהּ,
וַאֲבַדְתֶּם | מְהֵרָה מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ
הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר יְיָ נֹתֵן לָכֶם:
Sephardi
Hishameru lachem pen yifteh
levavkhem, vesartem va-avadtem
elohim acherim vehishtachavitem
lahem: vecharah | af Adonai bachem ve-atzar
et hashamayim v'lo yihyeh matar
ve-ha-adamah lo titen et yevulah,
va-avadtem | meherah mei'al ha'aretz
hatovah asher Adonai noten lachem:
English
fields, so you will not have to move your animals to another place to feed them. Not only will you be blessed with food, but you will eat it and you will be satisfied by it. However, you should be very careful and guard yourselves, in case your hearts become tempted to rebel against God, and you turn away from His ways. If this happens, you will become involved in idolatry and start to serve false gods that are foreign to their makers because they do not help them, and you will foolishly bow down to these false gods. The Lord’s anger will then rage against you. God will close up the heavens, and there will be no rain; the ground will not give its produce because nothing will grow. You will quickly be destroyed, and you will be sent out from the good land—the Land of Israel—which the Lord gives to you.
Wear tefillin
Hebrew
וְשַׂמְתֶּם | אֶת דְּבָרַי אֵלֶּה עַל
לְבַבְכֶם וְעַל נַפְשְׁכֶם, וּקְשַׁרְתֶּם |
אֹתָם לְאוֹת עַל יֶדְכֶם וְהָיוּ
לְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם:
Sephardi
Vesamtem | et devarai eleh al
levavkhem ve'al nafshekhem, u-keshartem |
otam le'ot al yedchem vehayu
letotafot bein eineichem:
English
Even when you are in exile, you should put these words of Mine, written in the Torah, in your hearts and souls; pay attention to them. You should do this by putting on tefillin, which contain the words of the Shema. You should tie the hand-tefillin on your arm as a sign to remember God, and the head-tefillin should be put on your head, above the area between your eyes.
Learn and teach Torah
Hebrew
וְלִמַּדְתֶּם |
אֹתָם | אֶת בְּנֵיכֶם לְדַבֵּר בָּם,
בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ
וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ:
Sephardi
Velimadtem |
otam | et beneichem ledaber bam,
beshivtecha be-veitekha uvelechtecha vaderech
uveshochebecha uvekumecha:
English
You should teach the words of Torah to your children, so that they speak about them and continually discuss them: when you sit in your house, when you go on the way, when you lie down at night, and when you get up in the morning.
Place a mezuzah on your doorposts
Hebrew
וּכְתַבְתָּם
עַל מְזוּזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ:
לְמַעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם
עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְיָ
לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם לָתֵת לָהֶם, כִּימֵי
הַשָּׁמַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ:
Sephardi
Uchetavtam
al mezuzot beitecha uvisha'arecha:
lema'an yirbu yemeichem vimei veneichem
al ha'adamah asher nishba Adonai
la'avoteichem latet lahem, kimei
hashamayim al ha'aretz:
English
You should write these words of the Shema on mezuzot, which you should put up on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. You should keep all of these commandments in order to increase the number of days that you and your children will live on the land—the Land of Israel—which the Lord promised to give to your fathers for as long as the days that the heavens are above the earth, which is forever.
Say the ת of the words וּזְכַרְתֶּם and תִּזְכְּרוּ clearly, so it should not sound like a ד.
The commandment of tzitzit
Hebrew
וַיֹּאמֶר יְיָ אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם
צִיצִת עַל כַּנְפֵי בִגְדֵיהֶם
לְדֹרֹתָם, וְנָתְנוּ עַל צִיצִת
הַכָּנָף | פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת<sup>1</sup>: וְהָיָה
לָכֶם לְצִיצִת, וּרְאִיתֶם | אֹתוֹ,
וּזְכַרְתֶּם | אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹת יְיָ,
וַעֲשִׂיתֶם | אֹתָם, וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ
אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם
אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם זֹנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם:
לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם | אֶת
כָּל מִצְוֹתָי, וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים
לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם:
Sephardi
Vayomer Adonai el Moshe leimor:
Daber el b'nei Yisrael
v'amarta aleihem v'asu lahem
tzitzit al kanfei vigdeihem
l'dorotam, ve-natenu al tzitzit
hakanaf | petil techelet<sup>1</sup>: vehayah
lachem le-tzitzit, ur'item | oto,
uzchartem | et kol mitzvot Adonai,
va'asitem | otam, v'lo taturu
acharei levavkhem v'acharei eineichem
asher atem zonim achareihem:
lema'an tizkeru va'asitem | et
kol mitzvotai, vihyitem k'doshim
leiloheichem:
English
The Lord spoke to Moses and gave him instructions to tell the Jewish Nation. God said: Speak to the Children of Israel and tell them that they should make tzitzit for themselves, which they should hang on the four corners of their garments. This is something that should be done at all times; it is a commandment for all their generations. They should attach a blue<sup>1</sup> string to the tzitzit on each corner. All the threads hanging together will be tzitzit for you. Tzitzit are worn as a reminder, and when you will look at these tzitzit, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord. This is because the numerical value of the Hebrew word tzitzit is 600. Adding the 8 threads and 5 knots, found on each corner, totals 613—the number of commandments in the Torah. Remembering the commandments will cause you to fulfill them. Then you will not wander after the desires of your hearts and the temptations your eyes see. Wandering after your desires causes you to stray from the path of Torah. Look at the tzitzit, so that you will remember and do all of My commandments. Through this, you will be holy to your God.
God took us out of Egypt
Hebrew
אֲנִי יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם |
מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לִהְיוֹת לָכֶם
לֵאלֹהִים, אֲנִי יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם—
Sephardi
Ani Adonai Eloheichem
asher hotzeti etchem |
mei'eretz Mitzrayim lihyot lachem
leilohim, ani Adonai Eloheichem—
English
I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt in order to be a God for you, and in order that you should accept Me as your God by keeping My commandments. I am the Lord, your God.
Do not pause between the words אֲנִי יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם and אֱמֶת. The chazzan says אֲנִי יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם quietly, and then repeats aloud יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֱמֶת. When praying without a minyan, repeat the words אֲנִי יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם before concluding with אֱמֶת.
God has always protected us from our enemies
Hebrew
אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה כָּל זֹאת, וְקַיָּם
עָלֵינוּ, כִּי הוּא יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ
וְאֵין זוּלָתוֹ, וַאֲנַחְנוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל
עַמּוֹ, הַפּוֹדֵנוּ מִיַּד מְלָכִים,
מַלְכֵּנוּ הַגּוֹאֲלֵנוּ מִכַּף כָּל
הֶעָרִיצִים, הָאֵל הַנִּפְרָע לָנוּ
מִצָּרֵינוּ, וְהַמְשַׁלֵּם גְּמוּל לְכָל
Sephardi
Emet ve-emunah kol zot, vekayam
aleinu, ki hu Adonai Eloheinu
ve-ein zulato, va'anachnu Yisrael
amo, ha-podenu miyad melachim,
Malkeinu ha-go'alenu mikaf kol
he-aritzim, ha-El ha-nifra lanu
mitzareinu, ve-ha-meshallem gemul lechol
English
We believe all this that was said in the Shema, and it is true. To us, it is an established fact that He is the Lord, our God, there is nothing else besides Him, and we, the Children of Israel, are His people. God saves us from the hand of kings who try to harm us; it is our King Who redeems us from the hand of all the cruel rulers who seek to harm us. He is the God Who takes retribution from our enemies for us. He pays back all our enemies who try to destroy our souls; He punishes them. He does an unlimited amount of great things and performs