Shema Yisrael

Rabbi Akiva's last word

A government had banned Jews from studying Torah. Rabbi Akiva, a great sage of the Mishnah, kept teaching in public and was arrested. The Gemara says that when they took him out to be killed, it was time for Shema. They were combing his flesh with iron combs, and he was accepting God as King. His students asked, even now? He said all his life he had been troubled by "with all your soul," which means "even if He takes your soul." Now he could keep it. He stretched out echad until his soul left on that word.

How long to stretch "one"

The Gemara says whoever stretches echad ("one") gets his days and years stretched. Rav Acha bar Yaakov: stretch the dalet. Rav Ashi: just do not rush the chet. Then comes a limit. A sage who saw someone stretching it a long time told him: once you have crowned Hashem above, below and in the four directions, you need no more. Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, 1300s) adds a rule for the alef: do not stretch it, because it can sound like "ei chad," which he explains as "there is no one."

Two big letters spell "witness"

Abudarham says we say the first verse out loud as testimony, as if each person is telling the next: hear, I believe that Hashem our God is unique in His world. He points to the letters. The last letter of Shema, ayin, and the last letter of echad, dalet, are written large in the Torah. Together they spell ed, the Hebrew word for witness.

Why "hear"?

Abudarham says shema holds three meanings that grow out of each other. First, sound reaching the ear, as in "Yitro heard" (Shemot 18:1). Next, understanding, as in a nation "whose language you will not understand" (Devarim 28:49), which uses the same verb. Last, accepting, as in "if you really listen" to My commands (Devarim 11:13). He says all three are asked of you here: hear it, grasp it, and take it on.

King first, then the commands

Why does this paragraph come before the next one, "If you listen"? The Mishnah gives the answer of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchah, a sage of the Mishnah: so a person first accepts God as King, and only then accepts the commands. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) builds a pause into the text from this: stop briefly between "forever and ever" and "You shall love." The whispered line in between has its own story at the Reishit Chochmah prayer.

Three extra words for 248 limbs

When you say Shema alone, the siddur starts you with El Melech Ne'eman, "God, faithful King." It is a count. Abudarham finds 245 words in the three paragraphs of Shema, three short of 248, the number of limbs in a person. These three words make 248. Their first letters also spell amen, and the Gemara says that is what amen stands for.

The rabbi who wanted them gone

The Ramah (Rabbi Meir HaLevi Abulafia, a leading rabbi of Toledo, Spain, in the 1200s) wrote a reply objecting to saying these words, and to adding amen in front of them. One reason: they only fill out a count, so they add to Shema something that, he says, neither Yaakov, his sons, nor Moshe said. He called the custom baseless. Whoever can end it without a fight should; the rest should drop it for themselves. The Tur (a law code from the 1300s) and Abudarham both report this. The siddur still prints the words.

How can you testify to what you cannot see?

The Gemara (the rabbis' discussions on the Mishnah) says that reading Shema without tefillin (the boxes of Torah verses worn on the arm and head) is like giving false testimony about yourself. Rav Kook (the first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel, who died in 1935) asks how anyone can testify to God's oneness, since it is beyond what a person can grasp. His answer: words alone testify to something you have not seen. When you also do the actions that come from it, it is as if you have seen it. Tefillin are the action tied to these words.

סוד אחדות האלהות לאמתתו הוא למעלה מהשגת האדם, ואיך יתכן שיעיד על זה

God chose to be our King

The Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, an Italian kabbalist who died in 1746) explains what it means to call God King. On His own, he writes, God depends on nothing and is not related to anything. But in His goodness, and out of humility, He chose to relate to His creations the way a king relates to his people: as their head and leader, honored by them. He quotes Mishlei: "A king's glory is in a multitude of people." That is why we owe Him service, and this verse is where we accept it.

ורצה להיות להם במדריגת מלך אל עם שיחשב להם לראש ולמנהיג ולהתכבד כביכול בם

What to have in mind on "echad"

Sefer Baal Shem Tov (a collection of teachings in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidut, who died in 1760) says what to have in mind on the last word, "echad." The main thing is that nothing in the whole world exists apart from God, whose glory fills the earth, and nothing is empty of Him. The one saying it should count their own self as nothing, because what a person really is, is the soul, a piece of God from above. Then only God is there.

הכוונה של אחד... שאין בכל העולם רק הקדוש ברוך הוא שמלא כל הארץ כבודו

"Shema" means gathering

The Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, a Chassidic leader who died in 1905) says the word "shema" here means a gathering: Israel coming together to serve one God. The more they gather, the more God's presence rests on them. Each day, by saying this verse, they become one community. He also reads the big ayin as seventy, for the seventy languages Jews are scattered in, and the big dalet as the four directions. Scattered like that, they still declare God one.

שמע היא כינוס ואסיפה להיות בנ"י עובדין לאל אחד

My mind wandered during the first line. Does it count?

If you lost the meaning of the verse, no: say it again. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) rules that if you did not focus on the first verse, you have not fulfilled the mitzvah and must go back. The rest of Shema still counts if you focused on that verse. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary, around 1900) says to repeat it quietly, so it does not look like you accept two gods. Peninei Halakhah (a modern law guide) adds that after the fact, a general grasp of the meaning is enough.

Why do people cover their eyes for the first line?

So nothing you see pulls your mind away. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) records the custom of putting your hands over your face for the first verse, and the Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary, around 1900) says it means the right hand. Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary, early 1900s) quotes the Arizal (the kabbalist of Tzfat, 1500s): close both eyes with the right hand, and hold four tzitzit in the left hand against your heart.

How long do I hold "echad"?

Long enough to think what it means, and no longer. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says to stretch the chet long enough to crown God in heaven and on earth, and the dalet long enough to think that God alone rules in all four directions, but not past that. Do not rush the chet, and do not stretch the alef. The Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, 1700s), cited in the Mishnah Berurah, says not to stretch the chet at all. The Story section has the Gemara behind the limit.

Do I have to say Shema out loud?

Yes, at least with your lips. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says to say it loud enough to hear yourself, but if you did not, it still counts, as long as your lips formed the words. Just thinking it does not count, says the Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary, around 1900), because thought is not the same as speech. Saying the first verse out loud is a custom, to wake up your focus. Peninei Halakhah (a modern law guide) calls it a good custom for everyone to say it together, with a tune.

Why is Baruch Shem whispered? Is it ever said out loud?

It is whispered after the first verse, says the Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law). The Reishit Chochmah prayer tells the Yaakov story. Devarim Rabbah (an old collection of teachings on Devarim) gives another picture. Moshe took the line from the angels. Rabbi Asi compares it to a man who stole jewelry from the king's palace and told his wife to wear it only at home. On Yom Kippur, when Israel are as pure as angels, it is said aloud, and the Shulchan Aruch rules that too.

I skipped Baruch Shem. Do I go back?

Authorities disagree. The Levush (a code from the late 1500s) and the Magen Avraham (a 1600s commentary on the main code) say you must go back. The Bach (Rabbi Yoel Sirkis, 1600s) and the Biur Halacha (a commentary from around 1900) say you did not need to. The Aruch HaShulchan (a law code, around 1900) says that if you already began Ve'ahavta, you do not go back. Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary) rules like the Levush, and says to go back to Shema Yisrael itself, citing the Arizal (the kabbalist of Tzfat).

What is El Melech Ne'eman, and when do I say it?

Only when you pray alone. Shema has 245 words. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says the count reaches 248, matching the parts of the body, when the prayer leader repeats "Hashem your God is true" aloud. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, 1500s) records the custom that someone alone says El Melech Ne'eman instead. With a congregation, he rules, you do not: answer Amen to the leader. The Mishnah Berurah (a commentary from around 1900) calls this a holy custom, citing the Magen Avraham and the Bach.