Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. Sound familiar?? I hope so! While most of us have heard and recited this prayer numerous times throughout our lives, you may not know that the words of the Shema and V’ahavta are found in this week’s Torah portion Va-et’chanan.
Of all the prayers that I learned growing up, the Shema was the one that always stuck out to me as the most important. The first time I left the country was my junior year of high school, attending the March of the Living. The March of the Living is a trip where we spent a week in Poland visiting numerous concentration camps, followed by a week visiting the sites in Israel. I remember as a teen feeling numb as I spent my week in Poland, going from camp to camp, reflecting on the devastation of our people’s past. When we landed in Israel, they took us directly to the Kotel, the Western Wall. Standing at the Western Wall, thinking of all I had experienced over the past week in Poland, without even realizing it I started tearing up and as I opened my mouth, the words that came out were, “Shema Yisrael.” Hear O’ Israel the Lord our God, The Lord is One.
Going back even earlier in my life, my Bubbe and Zayde used to come to visit us in Kansas from their home in Des Moines. Every morning and night, visit after visit, my Zayde would come into my room with his golden mezuzah necklace, and we would recite the Shema together. Right before my Bar Mitzvah, my Zayde sadly passed away. I thought of all of our memories as I recited the Shema at my service. Years later, at high school graduation, my Bubbe handed me a wrapped box. I opened it up and inside was my Zayde’s necklace. Every time I recite the Shema, I think of him as I wear my necklace around my neck. I will carry on the same tradition of saying the Shema with my son Henry.
As I use this week’s article to reminisce and share with you some of my personal stories connecting to the Shema, I challenge you to think of the meaning that the Shema has had in your lives. Please feel free to share them with us and with each other.
In conclusion, what is it that makes the Shema prayer so meaningful for so many of us? As a text, it is the affirmation of our faith, that God is one. However, just as God can take on a different meaning for many of us, so too can prayer. However you choose to connect with Judaism, be it practice, prayer, or even just occasionally saying “Yes, I’m Jewish!”, take some time this week to think about the ways that the Shema has come up in your lives.
I wish everyone a wonderful week and a Shabbat Shalom!
-Matt Rissien