Shema

n.
A liturgical prayer consisting of three Scriptural passages (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41) recited twice daily by adult Jewish males to affirm their faith.

[Hebrew šəma', hear (the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4), imperative of šāma', to hear.]

Basic statement of the Jewish faith: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). As a prayer in the Morning and Evening Service, the Shema incorporates three paragraphs: (a) Shema (Deut. 6:4-9), which, according to the rabbis, is the acceptance of the Kingdom of Heaven, i.e., acceptance of God as the God of the Jewish people; (b) Ve-haya im shamo'a (Deut. 11:13-21), which, while reiterating much of the content of the first paragraph, adds the concept of Reward and Punishment; (c) Tsitsit (Num. 15:37-41), which details the law of the tsitsit (fringes) that must be placed on four-cornered garments, and concludes with mention of God's redeeming Israel out of Egypt.

After the first verse of the Shema is recited, the sentence Barukh Shem Kevod ..., "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever," is added. This sentence is said in an undertone except at the Evening and Morning Services on the Day of Atonement, when it is recited aloud by the whole congregation.

All adult Jewish males are required to recite the Shema twice daily, based on the statement in its first paragraph: "When you lie down and when you rise up." The earliest time it may be said in the morning is "from the time one can recognize an acquaintance at a distance of four cubits," while the latest is at the end of the first quarter of the day, i.e., one quarter of the time between sunrise and sunset. The evening Shema must be said no earlier than nightfall and no later than midnight (the midpoint between sunset and sunrise), although in cases of unavoidable delay it may be said until dawn.

The Shema is recited within a fixed pattern of blessings which precede and follow it. In both the Morning and Evening Services, two blessings precede the recital of the Shema; one blessing follows it in the Morning Service and two in the Evening Service. The blessing following the Shema in the Morning Service, Ga'al Yisrael---"Who redeemed Israel"---must be followed immediately by the silent Amidah, thus effectively linking the Shema to the Amidah.

The Shema text contains 245 words. As there are 248 positive commandments in the Torah corresponding, according to the rabbis, to the 248 bones and organs in the human body, three words are added to the Shema to make a symbolic connection. In the case of a prayer quorum (Minyan) praying together, the cantor repeats the last two words and adds the first word of the next prayer, emet, thus making up the total of 248 words. In the Sephardi ritual, the same three words are repeated by a person praying on his own. In the Ashkenazi ritual, a person praying on his own adds the words El Melekh Ne'Eman ("God, faithful King") before beginning the Shema.

In the Ashkenazi minyan, the Shema is recited by each person individually, whereas among Sephardim the cantor recites all the passages aloud (excluding the one in the second paragraph that indicates the punishment for not obeying God's commandments) and the rest of the congregation recites the Shema together with the cantor.

The sages placed great emphasis on the correct pronunciation of the words, because of the commandment fulfilled by reciting the Shema. The Talmud, for example, gives specific examples of words which end with a certain letter and are followed by words beginning with the same letter, and notes that the worshiper must pause between the two in order to enunciate each properly. Furthermore, Jewish law requires special concentration on the meaning of the words of at least the first two verses (and many Jews cover or close their eyes to achieve such concentration). The Shema has been accepted universally as the Jewish credo and appears in a number of contexts in part or in its entirety. Thus, the Mezuzah on the doorpost contains the first two paragraphs. Both Tefillin boxes, that of the hand and that of the head, contain four biblical passages, including the same two paragraphs.

The Night Prayers, the non-obligatory prayer said upon retiring, incorporate the Shema and are known in Hebrew as keri'at Shema al ha-mittah ("reading of the Shema in bed"). There is even a view stating that a person who finds it difficult to fall asleep should repeat the Shema until he does so.

The prayer recited on a deathbed includes the Shema, and pious Jews have sought to die with the prayer on their lips. Throughout the ages, down to the Holocaust death camps, whenever Jews have been put to death they have recited the Shema in their last moments on earth, affirming their belief in the One God.

The first verse of the Shema appears in a number of places in the prayers. Thus, it is part of the daily morning benedictions. On Sabbaths and festivals, the verse is recited by the cantor and congregation aloud, as the cantor stands holding the Scroll of the Law prior to bringing it to the reading platform (bimah) for the Reading Oe the Law.

Again, it appears in the Kedushah recited in the cantor's repetition of the Additional Service Amidah on Sabbaths and festivals. It is surmised that this particular usage arose from the fact that there was a time when Jews were forbidden by their rulers (who saw in its monotheistic affirmation an affront to their own faith) to recite the entire Shema and informers were sent to ensure that the passages were not read. As the informers left after the customary time to say the prayer, the Jews instituted the inclusion of at least the first verse in the subsequent kedushah.

Finally, as Ne'Ilah, the last service of the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Jewish year, comes to an end, the entire congregation, in a demonstration of the communal acceptance of God, recites the verse aloud.

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1. A city which fell to the lot of the children of Judah when Joshua divided the land of Canaan (Josh 14:1; 15:26). It was at the southern limit of the territory of Judah "towards the border of Edom in the South" (Josh 15:21). Generally considered to be the same as Sheba.

2. Last son of Hebron and father of Raham the father of Jorkeam in the genealogy of Caleb.

3. Son of Joel, father of Azaz and grandfather of Bela in the genealogy of the family of Reuben.

4. One of the sons of Elpaal who lived in Aijalon after having driven out the inhabitants of Gath; he is listed in the genealogy of King Saul.

5. One of the men who stood to the right of Ezra when he read the Law to the people after the return from the Exile.

Concordance
SHEMA 1: Josh 15:26
SHEMA 2: I Chr 2:43-44
SHEMA 3: I Chr 5:8
SHEMA 4: I Chr 8:13
SHEMA 5: Neh 8:4

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