Quotes About Shema

the original "Israelite" view gradually became "foreign" and unintelligible. The Shema could only be understood as affirming the later "truth" of Jewish monotheism. This authentically Israelite religious language seems to have become so alien that the Hebrew text was "corrected" in several cases to bring it into conformity with later Jewish theology

Most significant of all, perhaps, is that, of the 613 laws in the Torah, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out, not one uses the word obey. God, the rabbi says, does not impose the intractable on Israel. God uses the word shema. Attend to.

As a faithful Jew, he would have recited the Shema upon rising and retiring each day, the heart of which affirmed: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might

Here are the words of Moses (in italics) that explain how the Shema was to be practiced: Memorize them: Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Teach them: Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise [evening and morning]. Make it physical: Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Publish them: [W]rite them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

But few nations other than Israel set it as their highest task to understand why the law is as it is. Shema is the Torah's call to moral growth.

The central Jewish confession of faith is the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4–5).

Hear, O Israel, Adonai, our God, Adonai, is one," her mother recited the Shema prayer before bed, then opened her eyes. "Remember, Batya. No matter where you are, say your prayer. It will protect you from demons that come during the night searching for innocent souls.

The greatest affirmation in Judaism is the statement, Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohienu, Adonai Echad—Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is One! Rabbi