Breaking Down the Importance of the Shema

The Shema is found in the parasha (Torah portion) V’etchanan. This is the second Torah portion of Devarim-the Book of Deuteronomy. Devarim is, for the most part, a series of sermons given by Moses right before his death. Moses delivered these addresses to the People of Israel on the east bank of the River Jordan, in Moab, the present-day nation of Jordan.

V’etchanan also contains the second rendition of the Ten Commandments in Chapter 5. The Shema is found in Chapter 6. “Listen Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One.”

Moses is addressing the Israelites directly. This command from the Prophet to the Children of Israel would become the watchword of the Jewish people, the central prayer in Judaism. Jews would cover their eyes to augment Kavanah — focusing on the words — which of course we still do. Leaders like Rabbi Akivah would die with the Shema on their lips, in acts of Kiddush Hashem – -sanctifying G-d’s Holy Name.

We bear witness to the power of these Hebrew words, which I will refrain from writing out here in deference to the tradition, because G-d’s name is the third word of the Shema. But the force of these six words is that sparse as they are, they mutually reinforce each other. In numerical order they are:

1. “Shema” is a command: Listen or Hear! It is a call to obedience, but it is more than that. It is an invitation to be attentive to the deeper resonance involved with the act of quieting the mind so that one may truly listen, that one might authentically hear. The most profound truths of life are found in quiet places.

2. “Israel” here represents the people in the wilderness of Sinai, who had been slaves in Egypt 33 centuries ago. It addresses, as well, all the generations to come, over three millennia, to the present day. Israel means “one who wrestles with G-d” and has referred to the third patriarch, Jacob, the United Kingdom (under Saul, David, and Solomon), the Northern Kingdom after Solomon, the descendants of Jacob (first called Israelites, later Jews) then in the modern world, Medinat Yisrael – -the present State of Israel.

3. The next word is what is called in Greek the Tetragrammaton — the four-letter name of G-d: Yud-Hey-Vuv-Hey, or YHVH. The Hebrew root has to do with Being, and reflects the Divine words at the Burning Bush: eyeh asher eyeh usually rendered “I am that I am.” The very core of the divine nature is Being itself — surely a profound metaphysical concept. Jews here use the Hebrew equivalent for Lord, which I will not use here. The rabbinic substitute is Adoshem.

4. “Elokeinu”(the traditional substitution is used here) — the Holy One is our G-d, meaning the G-d of Am Yisrael/People Israel, and by implication, the G-d of all peoples.

5.and 6. The holy name Adoshem is repeated next, to emphasize the importance of the last word and the last point: Echad. G-d is “ One.” One in the sense of being indivisible, unique, and the only one to be called G-d. Here is denied the existence of other gods, so polytheism is rejected. Also rejected would be the dualism as practiced in ancient Persia, the monism (all reality is Divine) found in some Indian philosophies, various forms of pantheism (Nature is Divine), all forms of agnosticism and atheism, and trinitarianism.

Indeed the Oneness of the Divine is the foundation of monotheism — that there is only one G-d. This is why Deuteronomy Chapter 6, verse 4 has resonated through history and has changed the world.