[Continuing our featured resource, commentary from the best of Jewish minds all in one book, edited by Dr. J.H. Hertz, titled Pentateuchs and Haftorahs; our translation of choice is EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses—Admin 1.]
THE SHEMA
THE ONENESS OF GOD AND ISRAEL’S UNDIVIDED LOYALTY TO HIM
Deuteronomy/Davarim 6
1 Now this is the commandment, the laws and the regulations that YHVH your God has commanded (me) to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing into to possess,now this is. Better, and this is.
2 in order that you may hold YHVH your God in awe, by keeping all his laws and his commandments that I command you, you, and your child, and your child’s child, all the days of your life; and in order that your days may be prolonged.that thou mightest fear. This sums up the aim and purpose of the general principles of the legislation, as well as of the separate statues.
3 You are to hearken, O Israel, and are to take-care to observe (them), that it may go-well with you, that you may become exceedingly many, as YHVH, the God of your fathers promised to you- (in) a land flowing with milk and honey.4-9. After the repetition of the story of the Giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses proceeds to declare the other great foundation of the Torah; viz. the oneness of God and Israel’s undivided loyalty to Him.
4 Hearken O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH (is) One!The opening verse of this paragraph, called after its first Heb. word Shema, sounds the keynote of all Judaism, and has been its watchword and confession of faith throughout the ages. Here the fundamental Truth of the Unity of God is proclaimed. It is followed in v. 5-9 by the fundamental Duty founded upon that Truth; viz. the devotion to Him of the Israelite’s whole being.
- He is bidden to love God with heart, soul, and might; t
- o remember all the commandments and instruct his children therein;
- to recite the words of god when retiring or rising;
- to bind those words on the arm and the head,
- and to inscribe them on his door-posts and the city gates.
The later leaders of Jewry showed their spiritual insight when they gave the place they did to this high and winsome message’ (Welch).
In the Liturgy, the Shema is said twice daily, and consists of three sections:
- Deut. VI,4-9; XI,13-21; and Num. XV,37-41.
- The second section Deut. XI,13-21, contains the promise of reward for the fulfillment of the laws, and punishment for their transgression.
- The third section Num. XV,37-41, enacts the law concerning the tzitzith, as a warning against the following evil inclinations of the heart, and an exhortation to submit to the laws of God in remembrance of the Exodus.
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is One. Or, ‘Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One’ (Sifri, Septuagint, and most Jewish translators and commentators). It sums up the teaching of the First and Second Commandments; The LORD is our God, and He is One. The translation given by AJ, ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One,’ is less acceptable; for if the declaration only enunciated the Divine Unity, it would be sufficient to have said, ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is One.’ Some moderns follow Rashbam’s translation: ‘Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD alone.’
the LORD our God. The Heb is the Divine Name of Four Letters, the Father and Sustainer of the lives and spirits of all flesh, the everlasting Power Who guides the destinies of men and nations.
the LORD is One. ‘In the opening v. of the Shema we have a third revelation of God’s being. In Gen. XVII, He is made known to us as Almighty; in Exod. VI, as Eternal; and now as the One’ (Philippson).
- He is One, because there is no other God than He;
- but He is also One, because He is wholly unlike anything else in existence.
- He is therefore not only One, but the Sole and Unique God.
One. Heb. echad. Therefore to Him alone it is right to pray, and not to any being besides Him. The belief that God is made up of several personalities, such as the Christian belief in the Trinity, is a departure from the pure conception of the Unity of God. Israel has throughout the ages rejected everything that marred or obscured the conception of pure monotheism it had given the world, and rather than abandon that pure monotheism, rather than admit any weakening of it, Jews were prepared to wander, suffer, to die” [please go to SHEMA – Perspective from Judaism to read The Shema and martyrdom–Admin 1.]
5 Now you are to love YHVH your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your substance!and thou shalt love. This is the first instance in human history that the love of God was demanded in any religion. The love of God is the distinctive mark of His true worshippers. The worshipper, as he declares the Unity of God, thereby lovingly and unconditionally surrenders his mind and heart to God’s holy will. Such spiritual surrender is called ‘taking upon oneself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven.’ If the Unity of God is the basis of the Jewish creed, the love of God is to be the basis of the Jewish life. And the noblest spiritual surrender and love of God, the Rabbis held, was so to live and act toward our fellowmen as to make God and His Torah beloved in their eyes.
‘The meaning of the love of God is that a man should be longing and yearning after the nearness of God, blessed be He, and striving to reach His holiness, in the same manner as he would pursue any object for which he feels a strong passion. He should feel that bliss and delight in mentioning His name, in uttering His praises and in occupying himself with the words of the Torah, which a lover feels toward the wife of his youth, or the father towards his only son. The earlier saints attained to such disinterested love of God; as King David said in Psalm XLII, 2: “As the heart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after Thee, O God” (Moses Chayim Luzzatto).
‘When the soul sinks in the depths of awe, the spark of the love of God breaks out in flames, and the inward joy increases. Such lovers of God desire only to accomplish His holy will, and lead others unto righeousness (Moses Chayim Luzzatto).
with all thy heart. Because there is one God, we must give Him undivided allegiance. ‘The One God demands the whole of man’ (Smend). The Rabbis explain with all thy heart to mean ‘with all thy desires, including the evil inclination’; i.e. make thy earthly passions and ambitions instruments in the service of God.
with all thy soul. We should be prepared to give up our dearest wishes and inclinations for the love of God. The Rabbis take the words with all thy soul to mean ‘with thy whole life’; i.e. love Him with thy heart’s last drop of blood, and give up thy life for God, if He requires it. The classical example is that of Rabbi Akiba. He longed for the sublime moment when his daily profession of the love of God might be put tot he proof and confirmed by act. That moment came when, after his noble part in the last Jewish War of Independence against Imperial Rome, the Roman executioner was tearing his flesh with combs of iron. ‘All my days,’ Akiba told his weeping disciples, ‘I have longed for this moment, when I loved Him with all my heart, and I loved Him with all my might; now that I have the opportunity of loving Him with all my soul, shall I not rejoice?” It was such understanding of the words of the Shema that gave the Jewish martyrs throughout the ages the comfort and courage to lay down their lives for their Faith. Bachya tells of a medieval Jewish saint who used to pray: ‘My God, thou hast given me over to starvation and penury. Into the depth of darkness hast Thou plunged me, and Thy might and strength Thou hast taught me. But even if they burn me with fire, only the more will I love Thee and rejoice in Thee.’ Such spiritual surrender is, of course, without any thought of reward or punishment in the Hereafter. As another of the saints boldly expressed it, ‘I have no wish for Thy Paradise, nor any desire for the bliss in the world to come. I want Thee and Thee alone.’
. . . . The supreme sacrifice, however, is demanded only to avoid idolatry, incest, and murder.
with all thy might. With the full concentration of feeling and power. One Rabbinic explanation is, ‘with whatever lot Providence has assigned to thee’; i.e. love Him in times of bliss and happiness, and in times of distress and misfortune. Another explanation is ‘with all thy possessions’; i.e. despite whatever material sacrifice thy loyalty to Israel’s God and Torah might entail. An 18th-century moralist understood ‘with all thy possessions’ to mean, ‘even when great wealth is thine’ (Panim Yafoth).
6 These words, which I myself command you today, are to be upon your heart.these words. In v. 4 and 5; viz. the Unity of God and the duty of undivided allegiance to Him, as the epitome of the teaching of the Book.
this day. ‘Do not regard the Divine commands as old and stale news; but consider them as something fresh, as a new Royal Proclamation reaching you this very day’ (Sifri).
upon thy heart. The heart is conceived as a tablet on which these Divine words shall be inscribed; Jer. XXXI,32-33.
7 You are to inculcate them in your children and are to speak of them in your sitting in your house and in your walking in the way, in your lying-down and in your rising-up.teach them diligently. lit. ‘prick them in’; so that the words remain indelibly upon their hearts. ‘Let them have a clear, and not a confused or stammering, knowledge of the duties and teachings of their Faith’ (Sifri).
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and shalt talk of them. They are to be a theme of living interest, early and late, at home and abroad.
when thou sittest in thy house. ‘A man should conduct himself with due propriety in his house, so as to set an example to his household; and he should also be gentle with them, and not overawe them’ (Zohar).
when thou liest down. The Rabbis based on this institution of Evening Prayer. It consists of the Shema, preceded by Two Benedictions (the one, referring to the Divine ordering of day and night; and the second, eulogizing the love of God shown in the revelation of the Torah. The Shema is also followed by two Benedictions (the proclamation of faith; and the prayer for peaceful repose). The Service continues with the Amidah (The 18 Benedictions—3 Blessings of Praise; 12 (now 13) Petitions; and 3 Blessings of Thanks) and Oleynoo. The Shema is also recited before retiring to rest. To fill one’s mind with high and noble thoughts is a wise preparation for the hours of darkness. ‘The Shema is a double-edged sword against all the terrors and temptations of the night’ (Talmud).
when thou risest up. It is preceded by 2 Benedictions, and followed by one. These Benedictions are
(1) a eulogy of God as the Creator of the light of day;
(2) a eulogy of God as Giver of the Torah; and
(3) a eulogy of God as the Redeemer of the 18 Benedictions. On some days, Tachanun and the Reading of the Torah follow. The Service concludes with Oleynoo, Kaddish and some psalms.
8 You are to tie them as a sign upon your hand, and they are to be for bands between your eyes.bind them. The precept of tephillin: The purpose of the tephillin is given in the Meditation recited before putting on the tephillin (Authorised Prayer Book):—“Within these Tephillin are placed 4 sections of the Law, that declare the absolute unity of God, and that remind us of the miracles and wonders which He wrought for us when He brought us forth from Egypt, even He who hath power over the highest and lowest to deal with them according to His will. He hath commanded us to lay the Tephillin on the hand as a memorial of His outstretched arm; opposite the heart, to indicate the duty of subjecting the longings and designs of our heart to His service, blessed be He; and upon the head over against the brain, thereby teaching that the mind, whose seat is in the brain, together with all senses and faculties, is subjected to His service, blessed be He.’ The tephillin are not worn at night, nor on Sabbaths or Festivals, as these are themselves called ‘a sign’ of the great truths symbolized by the tephilin. The commandment of tephillin applies to all male persons from their 13th birthday, when they attain their religious majority (Barmitzvah). On the Sabbath following that birthday, the Barmitzvah is called to the Law, publicly to acknowledge God as the Giver of the Torah.
The wording of v. 8 and 9 is not to be taken as a figure of speech. ‘It seems on the whole to be more probable that the injunction is intended to be carried out literally; and that some material, visible expression of the Israelite’s creed is referred to’ (Driver).
9 You are to write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.write them upon the doorposts.By means of the mezuzah affixed to the doorpost in Jewish homes. The mezuzah is placed in a metal or glass case, and fixed to the right-hand doorpost of the outer entrance of every dwelling room in the house. It contains this section of the Shema and XI,13-20. the word ‘Almighty’ written on the back of the parchment is rendered visible by means of a small opening in the case. The mezuzah is a symbol of God’s watchful care over the house and its dwellers. It is a solemn reminder to all who go out and in, that the house is devoted to the ideals of the Shema.
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I. Abrahams thus sums up the basic importance of Deut. VI,4-9: ‘It enshrines the fundamental dogma (monotheism), the fundamental duty (love), the fundamental discipline (study of the Law), and the fundamental method (union of “letter” and “spirit”), of the Jewish Religion.’
10 Now it shall be when YHVH your God brings you to the land that he swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov, to give you, towns great and good that you did not build,10-19. PERIL OF FORGETTING
The pleasantness of their inheritance in the New Land might breed forgetfulness of their dependence upon the goodness of God, and a disposition to follow the gods of the surrounding nations.
11 houses full of every good-thing that you did not fill, cisterns hewn out that you did not hew, vineyards and olive-groves that you did not plant, and you eat and you are satisfied,cisterns hewn out. In the Holy Land water had to be collected during the rainy seasons and stored. For this purpose, cisterns cut out of the rocks are of special value.
12 take-you-care, lest you forget YHVH who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of serfs.13 YHVH your God you are to hold-in-awe, him you are to serve, by his name you are to swear!
thou shalt fear the LORD thy God. This command is complementary to VI,5 ‘thou shalt love the LORD thy God’. Love and fear of God combined constitute the highest reverence. ‘The fear of God acts as a powerful deterrent from evil; the love of God, as the highest incentive to living in accordance with the Divine will’ (Talmud). ‘Indeed, the fear of the LORD, is the nearest equivalent in Hebrew to what we mean when we speak about religion’ (Welch).
serve. In prayer (Sifri).
by His name shalt thou swear. This is no command to swear; only a bringing out of the religious significance of an oath (Oettli). Primitive man constantly appeals to his gods for the truth and honesty of his transactions; and such appeal to his gods really constituted a profession of his loyalty to those gods. An Israelite is to swear by the Name of God alone, always remembering that it was an unpardonable sin to take God’s Name in vain–and that the truly pious refrain from all oaths.
14 You are not to walk after other gods from the gods of the peoples that are around you,peoples that are round about you. Not that it was permissible to follow the gods of distant nations, but that the danger of adopting the worship of neighboring peoples was more insidious and real (Rashi).
15 for a jealous God is YHVH your God in your midst- lest the anger of YHVH your God flare up against you and he destroy you from off the face of the soil.a jealous God. The Heb. el kanna means, ‘a zealous God’, full of zeal for holiness and justice, to whom man’s doings and dealings are not a matter of indifference, but Who renders strict retribution for all idolatry and iniquity. It also means, ‘a jealous God.’ That may appear a startling description of God. It signifies that God claims the exclusive love of His children, their entire sincerity—and complete self-surrender. He will not allow the veneration and loyalty due to Him alone to be shared with other objects of worship. . . .the blessed doctrine of ‘a jealous God’ is of vital importance for the Jew’s attitude towards the neo-paganism of today and tomorrow. ‘Judaism’s mission is just as much to teach the world that there are false gods and false ideals, as it is to bring it nearer to the true one.’
destroy thee. As a nation and an independent power.
of the earth. Better, of the land; i.e. Palestine.
16 You are not to test YHVH your God as you tested him at Massa/Testing!ye shall not try. i.e. test, by questioning His power or protection; likewise, anyone who obeys the Divine commandments ‘on trial’, i.e. to see if he will be rewarded for doing so, transgresses this prohibition (Mal. III,10, is an exception).
17 Keep, yes, keep the commandment of YHVH your God, and his precepts and his laws thathe commanded you.
18 You are to do what is right and what is good in the eyes of YHVH, in order that it may go-well with you, so that you may come and take-possession of the good land that YHVH swore to your fathers;
that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD. Note the words and good in addition to that which is right. It is not enough to do that which is right; i.e. to act according to the strict letter of the law; as such action often involves hardship and harshness, and the truly pious avoid taking advantage of the letter of strict legality. There is a higher justice, which is equity, and this bids man to be true to something more than the mere letter of his bond. ‘Man must act beyond the rule of law’, say the Teachers of the Talmud. Jerusalem, they said, was destroyed because its Courts adhered too closely to strict Din (justice), and disregarded the principles of Yosher (equity). Two examples will make clear what they understood by ‘equity’. A Rabbi on being consulted by a poor woman whether a certain coin was good answered her that it was. The next day, she came and told him it had been declared bad. He took it from her, and gave her a good one in exchange. He was not compelled to act so. He was going beyond the letter of the law, and doing ‘that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD’.
20-25. THE EXODUS—AN OBJECT LESSON
The future generation is to be trained to gratitude and reverence towards God by means of the story of the Deliverance from Egypt. The Seder Service is a domestic feast based on the actual usage in the Temple of Jerusalem, and accompanied by a running commentary of prayer and legend and exhortation known as the Haggadah shel Pesach. This opens with the questions asked by the youngest child present, who is answered in a recitation of the events of the Exodus, with the Midrashic interpretations of Biblical passages (Josh. XXIV,2-4); Deut XXVI,5-8) relating to the Deliverance. Hallel early formed part of the Seder; Nishmath, various hymns, folk-songs and children’s rhymes were added in the course of the centuries.
The Seder in history would require a monograph. In the Middle Ages, the Seder nights were a time of terror to the Jewries of Christian Europe. From the 12th century onwards, the Satanic charge of using human blood on Passover, was responsible for a long series of hideous massacres. Also, it was on the eve of Passover, 1190 that the Jews of York resolved to anticipate massacre at the hands of the murderous mob by suicide, and perished almost to a man. ‘But the eternal message of hope, revived in the Jewish breast all the more ardently by the Festival of Freedom, saved the martyred people from despair, even in this darkest hour’ (Cecil Roth).
20 When your child asks you on the morrow, saying: What (mean) the precepts, the laws, and the regulations that YHVH our God has commanded you?in time to come. lit, ‘tomorrow.’
what means the testimonies . . . ordinances. This whole section is analogous to Exod. XIII,14, where the child asks ‘What is this?’ Evidently the son here is of riper age than in Exod. XIII. The Rabbis describe the latter as ‘simple’; and the son in this v. as ‘wise.’
21 Then you are to say to your child: Serfs were we to Pharaoh in Egypt, and YHVH took us out of Egypt with a strong hand;we were Pharaoh’s bondmen. These words form the first sentence of the answer to the ‘four questions’ in the Haggadah. The Seder Service is typical of Jewish education: the ceremonies become object-lessons in religion, national history, and morality. The garnered religious thought and emotion of past generations is made the horizon for the opening mind of the Jewish child. At one point of the Seder, which is largely history raised into religion, it is remarked: ‘Every Jew should regard himself as if he had personally come out of Egypt.’ That spirit dominates the whole of Jewish ceremonial. It all tends to the self-identification of the child with his fathers in the days of old, and to foster in the soul of the Jewish child the resolve to take his part in the Jewish life—whether in the sphere of worship, humanitarian endeavour, or Messianic achievement in and out of the Holy Land.
22 YHVH placed signs and portents, great and evil-ones, on Egypt, on Pharaoh and all his house, before our eyes.signs. ‘The father’s reply points to an Almighty Power that can change the course of Nature for the accomplishment of His Divine purposes’ (Koenig).
23 And us he took out of there in order to bring us, to give us the land that he swore to our fathers;24 so YHVH has commanded us to observe all these laws, to hold YHVH our God in awe, to have it be-well with us all the days (to come), to keep-us-alive, as (is) this day.
preserve us alive. ‘God, that He might complete His redemptive work towards Israel, gave it this law, to keep alive in it the spirit of true religion, and to secure in perpetuity its national welfare’ (Driver).
25 And righteous-merit will it be (considered) for us when we take-care to observe all this commandment before the presence of YHVH our God, as he commanded us.and it shall be righteousness unto us. It will be accounted to us meritorious, and deserving of God’s approval. The phrase is similarly used in Gen. XV,6, ‘and he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.’