16 August 2024
Week of August 11-17 2024
Torah portion: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 Haftarah: Isaiah 40:1-26
Theme: Shema, the Lord is our one true God
The Torah portion for today ends what scholars call Moses’ First Discourse and begins his Second Discourse. The three discourses of Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy are as follows: First Address (1:1–4:43), Second Address (4:44–28:69) and the LORD’s Covenant with Israel (4:44–11:32). The long addresses by Moses include narrative, law and exhortation to tell the Israelites how to lead a successful life as people of God once they reach and settle in the Promised Land. They include the most fundamental precepts of monotheism.
Today’s readings is incomparably rich as it continues Moses’ exhortation to Israel to hear about God’s goodness and on Israel’s uniquely intimate relationship with this good and great God. The parashah is the source of the classic words of Jewish worship, Sh’ma Yisra-el or the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9).
The Shema is considered a central affirmation of Judaism. It expresses the belief in one and incomparable God. It is traditionally recited by Jews twice a day, upon waking up as part of the morning (Shacharit) and before going to sleep as part of evening (Arvit or Ma’ariv) services.
It also serves as the climax of the liturgy on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Inspired by martyrs who made it their final profession of faith before being put to death, Jews often recite the Shema as their dying words.
Mothers would sing the Shema to babies like some sort of lullaby. My Jewish Learning tells a famous story about Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, a known Lithuanian rabbi. After the Holocaust (Shoah), Rabbi Yosef tried to find Jewish children who were placed and hidden by parents in convents and church orphanages during the war. He walked through orphanages while reciting the beginning of the Shema. Some children would remember the prayer sung to them, and they covered their eyes and cried out, “Mama, Mama!”
Like the children in the short story, Jews would cover their eyes while singing the first line of the Shema. The Talmud (Berakhot 13b) is said to be the original source for this custom. It says that Rabbi Judah the Prince covered his eyes while he said the Shema to block out the distractions of the students around him. Other explanations for this practice say that it is done because it is difficult to express complete belief in God while looking at the pain in the world around us. Also, there is a need for a full concentration to hear God.
The common practice is to cover the eyes with the right hand. This might be a throwback to the toilet practices in ancient times. The left hand was used to wipe one’s behind and hence it is deemed not sanitary and not appropriate for religious affirmation.
It has been noted that though the Torah is full of commands: with 613 of them, there is no biblical word that means “obey.” Instead, the Torah uses the word shema which means “hear, listen, reflect on, internalize and respond.”
The first verse of the Shema is considered the most essential of the Jewish faith: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Scholars call it as the “acceptance of the yoke of the kingship of God. “ In Torah scrolls and many prayer books, the letter ayin at the end of “sh’ma” and the letter dalet at the end of the word “echad” are written larger than the other letters. If you add them together, the word “ed” which means to witness is formed. Etz Hayim says that to recite the Shema is to testify to the belief on the “unity and uniqueness of God.”
The next verse, all taken from the book of Deuteronomy, details how to live one’s faith: 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.
Between the first and the second verses, Jews say one line of text that is traditionally recited in an undertone: Baruch shem kavod malchuto l’olam va-ed (Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever). A rabbi says that the Baruch Shem is said like a whisper so as not to disrupt the flow of verses from the Scriptures.
I think the saying of the Baruch Shem disagrees with the comment that the Shema is not a prayer. Prayers are addressed to God; the Shema is addressed to the Israelites. The Shema emphasizes the need to listen. As Etz Hayim says, prayer is not only talking to God. It also includes listening to what God is telling us. And in saying the Baruch Shem, the believer is saying something to God.
Altogether, the Shema consists of three separate passages taken from the Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy (6:4–9) and (11:13-21); and Numbers (15:37-41). Thus, Jews consider the Shema as a Biblical commandment for believers to accept God’s absolute sovereignty and love; accept all commandments and the concept of reward and punishment and finally, to wear the tzitzit, the ritual fringes that serve as a reminder of God’s presence and which are worn by many Orthodox men at all times.
When Jesus was asked which the first commandment of all is, he answered by saying the lines from the Shema: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Deut 6:4-5).
For Reflection and Discussion: 1. How do you close your eyes to the distractions to believing in one true God? 2. Do you think Christians should also sing the Shema? Why? If no, what is your regular prayer to affirm your belief in one true God?
Bibliography: ETZ Hayim: Torah and Commentary (New York, 2001); https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13548-shema;https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ask-the-expert-covering-your-eyes-for shema/;https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/99345?lang=bi
This week’s Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Minerva Generalao, Philippines, Bat Kol Alumna July 2014 and July 2023.
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