Hebrew
לְאַהֲבָה וּלְיִרְאָה אֶת שְׁמֶךָ,
וְלֹא נֵבוֹשׁ וְלֹא נִכָּלֵם
וְלֹא נִכָּשֵׁל לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד.
כִּי בְשֵׁם קָדְשְׁךָ הַגָּדוֹל
וְהַנּוֹרָא בָּטָחְנוּ, נָגִילָה
וְנִשְׂמְחָה בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ.<sup>1</sup>
Sephardi
Le'ahavah uleyirah et shemecha,
v'lo nevosh v'lo nikalem
v'lo nikashel le'olam va'ed.
Ki veshem kodshecha hagadol
vehanora batachnu, nagilah
venismechah bishu'atecha.<sup>1</sup>
English
hidden lessons <b>in Your Torah. Attach our hearts to</b> doing <b>Your commandments. Unify</b> all the feelings <b>of our hearts</b> so that we will <b>love and fear</b> only <b>Your name. May we never feel embarrassed</b> by those who make fun of the Torah, <b>and may we never be disgraced</b> in the World to Come for not serving You properly in this world. <b>May we never stumble</b> in matters of the Torah and its commandments. <b>Because we trust in Your holy, great, and awesome name,</b> we ask You to help us, <b>and we will rejoice and be happy with Your salvation.</b><sup>1</sup>
May God take us out of exile and bring us to the Land of Israel
Hebrew
וְרַחֲמֶיךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ
וַחֲסָדֶיךָ הָרַבִּים אַל יַעַזְבוּנוּ
נֶצַח סֶלָה וָעֶד. מַהֵר
וְהָבֵא עָלֵינוּ בְרָכָה וְשָׁלוֹם
מְהֵרָה, וַהֲבִיאֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם
מֵאַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ,
וְשָׁבוֹר עֹל הַגּוֹיִם מֵעַל
צַוָּארֵנוּ, וְתוֹלִיכֵנוּ מְהֵרָה
קוֹמְמִיּוּת לְאַרְצֵנוּ, כִּי אֵל
פּוֹעֵל יְשׁוּעוֹת אָתָּה, וּבָנוּ
בָחַרְתָּ מִכָּל עַם וְלָשׁוֹן,
וְקֵרַבְתָּנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ לְשִׁמְךָ
הַגָּדוֹל בְּאַהֲבָה לְהוֹדוֹת לְךָ
וּלְיַחֶדְךָ וּלְאַהֲבָה אֶת שְׁמֶךָ:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, הַבּוֹחֵר בְּעַמּוֹ
יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאַהֲבָה:
Sephardi
Verachamecha Adonai Eloheinu
vachasadecha harabim al ya'azvunu
netzach selah va'ed. Maher
vehavei aleinu verachah veshalom
meherah, vahavi'einu leshalom
mei'arba kanfot ha'aretz,
veshavor ol hagoyim mei'al
tzavareinu, vetolicheinu meherah
komemiyut le'artzeinu, ki El
po'el yeshu'ot atah, uvanu
bacharta mikol am velashon,
vekeravtanu malkeinu leshimcha
hagadol be'ahavah lehodot lecha
uleyachedecha ule'ahavah et shemecha:
Baruch Atah Adonai, habocher be'amo
Yisrael be'ahavah:
English
<b>Lord, our God,</b> may <b>Your mercy and Your great kindness never, ever leave us. Hasten and quickly bring upon us blessing and peace. Bring us peacefully</b> to the Land of Israel; gather us from the <b>four corners of the earth. Break the yoke of the nations from upon our neck,</b> removing their restrictions and oppression. <b>Speedily lead us,</b> standing <b>upright</b> and proud, to our <b>land—the Land of Israel.</b> We know that You will do all of this because <b>You are</b> the <b>God Who does acts of salvation, and You chose us from</b> among <b>all the nations</b> of the world that speak many <b>languages,</b> to receive the Torah. <b>Our King,</b> at Mount Sinai <b>You brought us close to Your great name</b> (this reminds us to erase Amalek, since God's name is not complete until Amalek is destroyed) <b>with great love</b> (not as it was after making the Golden Calf), so that we should use our mouths <b>to praise You</b> (and not for negative speech, as Miriam spoke about Moses), <b>to announce Your Oneness, and love Your name. Blessed are You, Lord, Who lovingly chooses His nation,</b> the <b>Children of Israel.</b>
When saying the Shema, concentrate intently on its meaning. While saying the opening line (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל), keep in mind that you are accepting God's sovereignty; while saying the first paragraph (וְאָהַבְתָּ), keep in mind that you are accepting the commandment to love God; and while saying the second paragraph (וְהָיָה), keep in mind that you are accepting all of God's commandments. By saying the third paragraph (וַיֹּאמֶר), you are fulfilling the commandment of remembering the Exodus from Egypt.
Special care must be taken to say each word of the Shema clearly. Pause at each punctuation mark to ensure that you do not string the words together and alter their meaning.
Say the following verse aloud, covering your eyes with your right hand. For transliteration, see page 943.
We declare God's Oneness
Hebrew
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְיָ | אֶחָד:
Sephardi
Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai | Echad:
English
Every Jew should <b>listen</b> and understand that <b>the Lord is our God</b>, and that <b>the Lord is the One</b> and only Ruler and King in the seven heavens, the earth, and the four corners of the universe.
Say the following line quietly:
Hebrew
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:
Sephardi
Baruch shem kevod malchuto le'olam va'ed:
English
<b>The name of</b> God's <b>glorious kingdom is blessed forever and ever.</b>
Love God
Hebrew
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל |
לְבָבְךָ, וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ,
וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ:
Sephardi
Ve'ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, bechol |
levavcha, uvechol nafshecha,
uvechol me'odecha:
English
<b>You should love the Lord, your God,</b> and keep His commandments <b>with all of your heart,</b> as one does when fulfilling his beloved's request. <b>Love God with all of your soul.</b> Be ready to fulfill all of His commandments, even if you might lose your life. <b>Love God with all of your might.</b> Be ready to fulfill all of His commandments, even if you might lose your money.
Learn and teach Torah
Hebrew
וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים
הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ
הַיּוֹם, עַל | לְבָבֶךָ: וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם
לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ
בְּבֵיתֶךָ, וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ,
וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ, וּבְקוּמֶךָ:
Sephardi
Vehayu hadevarim
ha'eleh asher anochi metzav'cha
hayom, al | levavecha: veshinantam
levanecha vedibarta bam, beshivtecha
beveitecha, uvelechtecha vaderech,
uveshochebecha, uvekumecha:
English
<b>These words</b> of Torah, <b>which I command you</b> to do <b>today</b> and every day, should always be new and fresh to you, and they should be engraved <b>on your heart;</b> you should always be thinking about them. You should <b>teach</b> Torah <b>to your children</b> and students, until they know it well enough to answer any question about it. <b>You should</b> be involved in the words of Torah and <b>speak them</b> whenever you can: <b>when you sit in your house, when you go on the way, when you lie down</b> at night, <b>and when you get up</b> in the morning.
Wear tefillin and place a mezuzah on your doorposts
Hebrew
וּקְשַׁרְתָּם
לְאוֹת עַל יָדֶךָ, וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת
בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ: וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל
מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ:
Sephardi
Ukeshartam
le'ot al yadecha, vehayu letotafot
bein einecha: uchetavtam al
mezuzot beitecha, uvisha'arecha:
English
These words, the words of the Shema, should be written in tefillin. <b>You should tie</b> the hand-tefillin <b>on your arm as a sign</b> to remember God, <b>and</b> the head-<b>tefillin</b> should be put on your head, above the area <b>between your eyes. You should write</b> these words of the Shema on mezuzot, which you should put up <b>on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.</b>