The Shema: Its Significance and Implications
By R. YK
Like many Jewish people the Shema is the first "prayer" I remember learning as a child. The Shema is the one "prayer" that has remained with me throughout my lifetime irrespective of my level of observance and commitment to Judaism. The purpose of this "opinion piece" is to present my comprehension of the significance and implications of the Shema. As with all "opinion pieces" this paper is filtered through this author's theological presuppositions and understanding of the Hebrew language. This paper will primarily concentrate on the first pasuk of the Shema as found in Devarim 6:4.
English Translations and Personal Paraphrase
I consulted six Siddurim to see how the Shema was translated into English. Four Siddurim translated the Shema into the English version I learned as a child:
"Hear O Israel: The Lord is our God, The Lord is One."
These Siddurim include Dr. Joseph Hertz's The Authorized Daily Prayer Book,Chabad's Siddur Tehillat HaShem Rabbi Sidney Greenberg's Likrat Shabbat and The Progressive Chavurah's SiddurChaverim Kol Yisraeil. The above-mentioned translation seems to span the theological spectrum of Judaism.
However the Orthodox Siddur, The Complete ArtScroll Siddur and The Reconstructionist Movement's Kol Haneshamah Siddur each translate the Shema differently from the "standard" translation. They read as follows:
"Hear, O Israel: HASHEM is our God, HASHEM, the One and Only."- ArtScroll
"Listen, Israel: The Eternal is our God, The Eternal One alone!"- Kol Haneshama
These nuanced translations of the Shema with ArtScroll's translation of echad as "one and only" emphasizing God's uniqeness and Kol Haneshamah's transalation of shema as "listen" emphasizing to listen intelligently closely approximate my understanding of these two Hebrew words. Long before I learned that the ayin in the word shema and the dalet in the word echad were purposely written larger to form the word ayd (witness) and that the chet and dalet of echad were prolongated to affirm God's sovereignty, I intuitively understood that the words shema and echad had a special significance.
Previous to living in Yisrael not withstanding my Hebrew School education, I learned Hebrew as an "academic tool" to exegete the biblical text. Learning Hebrew (in Ulpan) as a living language, as a language that I spoke, thought and functioned in has changed my perspective on the meaning, significance, and implications of the Shema.
The following is my personal paraphrase of the first verse of the Shema:
"Pay attention, listen with your understanding and the brain HaShem has given you. HaShem has chosen to personally relate to us the Jewish people. His nature and attributes are unique. There is no other god like Him. [Referring to His nature and attributes] There is no other true god in the universe except for our God HaShem."
The Implications of Declaring That There Is Only One True God.
The Shema's declaration "that there is only one true God" has serious implications for polytheism and monotheism. Belief in one God limits one's choice as to the set of beliefs a person chooses to embrace. What I mean is that if I were a polytheist the gods I believed in might have competing and contradictory belief systems. By being a polytheist, I could then snycretize the beliefs I preferred from my pantheon of gods thereby creating a personal belief system that catered to my needs. In essence I would be creating my own "designer" religion.
On the other hand, believing in one god (monotheism) says that I exclusively accept this god's judgments, laws, and moral imperatives. My belief system and core values become less subjective.
Traditional Judaism [Which I lean toward] maintains that there is one God as revealed in the Torah and He is the God of the whole earth. Though the people of the earth worship other gods, there is only one true God that exists - The God of Yisrael. Even if other so-called gods exist , HaShem is more powerful than all of them. At the time of the Exodus, it was commonly thought that gods were territorial and that their power was limited to the boundaries of a specific country such as Egypt. So the fact that "The God of the Hebrews" was more powerful [as demonstrated during the time of Exodus] than "The gods of Egypt " within their own territory was revolutionary. In His triumph over "The gods of Egypt" HaShem demonstrated that He was not bound by space or geographical location but that He was the God of all the earth. This idea is further attested to in the book of Y'Hoshua as evidenced by HaShem's victories over the "territorial" gods of the Canaanites.
The idea of devotion to a single god without the acceptance of the existence of other gods was revolutionary. Henotheism is the devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods which was taught by Plato and Plotinus .As mentioned above traditional Judaism does not accept or believe in the claims and existence of other Gods- including the deities worshipped by other monotheistic religions such as Christianity, Islam and Bahai. [I consider Bahai to be a modified form of henotheism] This belief and non-acceptance of other credos does not lend itself to ecumenism and can often be interpreted as exclusivist, ethnocentric, and triumphalistic.
Substituting Re-eh for Shema
Principle number three of the "Thirteen Principles Of The Jewish Faith " states the following: I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be his Name, is not a body, and that he is free from all properties of matter, and that he has not any form whatsoever. If re-eh (to see) was substituted for shema (to hear) in the pasuk, the third Principle of the Jewish Faith would be invalidated. Re-eh in the pasuk would imply that God might be present in an idol or in nature such as an animal or tree. Perhaps God might be present in a body like the twelve Olympian gods of the Greek pantheon. Re-eh would imply that idol worship would be acceptable, violating the precepts of the second commandment that HaShem gave to Moshe and our people on Mount Sinai.
Concluding Remarks
The monotheistic, theological , and practical implications of the Shema were considered revolutionary within the historical framework in which the Shema was given. Except for a few isolated cases at that time, world religions were polytheistic and pantheistic, engaging in idol and nature worship. The Shema was asking not only the Jewish people but also the inhabitants of the world to carefully listen and pay attention to its claims about the unique nature of The God of Yisrael. It is my opinion and perhaps a radical one that through the Shema, The God of our forefathers, the Creator of heaven and earth, was and is inviting all humankind, both Jew and non- Jew, to embrace Him. I believe that the Shema as found in The Gutnick Edition Chumash,commonly known as the Rebbe's Chumash, hints (remez) at the universal invitation HaShem extended to all humankind.
"Hear, O Israel! (Right now) God is our God (and the nations have their own gods, but in the future all will realize that) God is one."
May the future be now!!
Selected Bibliography
- Brown, Steven M., Higher and Higher: Making Jewish Prayer Part Of Us, 8th ed., New York: International Youth Commission United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 2007
- Donin, Hayim Halevy, To Pray As A Jew, New York: Basic Books, 1980
- Greenberg, Sidney Rabbi, Likrat Shabbat, 11th ed., Bridgeport, Conn.: The prayer Book Press, 1978
- Hertz, Joseph H. Dr., The Authorized Daily Prayer Book, 15th ed., New York: Bloch Publishing Company, 1948
- Mangel, Nissen Rabbi, Siddur Tehillat HaShem, 5th ed., New York: Merkos l'Inyonei Chinuch, 2006
- Miller, Chaim Rabbi, The Gutnick Edition Chumash, 1st ed., New York / London: Kol Menachem 2003-6
- Reconstructionist Prayer Commission, Kol Haneshamah, 3rd ed., Wyncote, Pennsylvania: The Reconstructionist Press, 1996
- Progressive Chavurah / Siddur Committee, Siddur Chaverim Kol Yisraeil, and Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2000
- Scherman, Nosson Rabbi / Zlotowitz, Meir Rabbi, The Complete ArtScroll Siddur, 1st. ed., Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Inc., 1984
- Scherman, Nosson Rabbi / Zlotowitz, Meir Rabbi, Shema Yisrael, 7th. ed., Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Inc., 1982