A N I N D E P T H A N A L Y S IS :שמע

Transcription

1

2 A N I N D E P T H A N A L Y S IS :שמע Worship of the Heart, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (Page 110) What message does this narrative convey to us? First that the creed of Shema goes back to the very origin of our history, to the dawn of our collective existence. The solemn declaration is perhaps the first truth, which our great Patriarchs discovered. It became their motto and dominant motif in life. It is not merely a theoretical truth, a philosophical pronouncement, a religious dogma, a norm, however central and endowed with meaning. It is rather the shibboleth of our historical uniqueness, a living doctrine which bears witness to course of ages, uniting us with our Patriarchs, drawing them into our temporal ontic circle, thus lending to our own existence the tenor of timelessness.... It is indeed the acceptance of a great task, the declaration addressed to the remote past that joins the march of generations committed to one idea. In a word, the reading of Shema is a dialogue between the ages, the continual restaging of the historic meeting of Jacob and his sons, pregnant with paradoxical destiny, full of import WITNESS Devarim Chapter 6 Listen Israel, the Lord Hashem is our God, Hashem is One. דברים פרשת ואתחנן פרק ו :ד( ש מע י ש ר א ל י ק ו ק א לה ינ ו י ק ו ק א חד Baal Haturim Commentary [Where the words of the Shema appear in the text of the Torah,] the Hebrew [letters] Ayin and Daled are enlarged to form the word Eid [witness] and so it says You are my witnesses says the Lord (Isaiah 43:10). And so, too, God is a witness to Israel, as it is written and I will be a swift witness [against those who practice sorcery, who commit adultery, who swear falsely, who cheat laborers of their wages, and who subvert the cause of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, said the Lord of Hosts (Malachi 3:5) בעל הטורים דברים פרשת ואתחנן פרק ו ד"א ע' ו ד' גדולה הרי עד וזהו אתם עדי נאם ה' )ישעיה מג י( וגם הקב"ה הוא עד לישראל כדכתיב )מלאכי ג ה( והייתי עד ממהר: WHAT DOES ISRAEL TESTIFY TO THROUGH THE SHEMA? WHAT DOES ISRAEL WITNESS FOR GOD? Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 1

3 WHAT DOES GOD WITNESS FOR ISRAEL WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? BY DEFINING GOD S WITNESSING IN THIS MANNER, HOW DOES THIS ADD ANOTHER DIMENSION TO THE SHEMA? ONENESS Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner ( ) was one of the great rabbinic personalities of the twentieth century. IN 1954 he received a letter from a young man who was leaving a religious seminary to begin a secular career. The prospect caused him distress. In the seminary he had found a sheltered environment within which he experienced devoted and intense uninterrupted study and religiosity. He felt that perusing his career seemed like a compromise and would lead to living a double life. Letter from Rav Hutner I want to tell you that in my opinion the internal struggles about which you write have their source in a mistaken understanding of the matter. The general impression one receives from your words is that you are working on the assumption that perusing a secular career means leading a double life. It is unnecessary to tell you that I would never agree to your leading a double life. One who rents a room in a house in which to live and (at the same time) pays for a room in a hotel in which to be a guest is certainly living a double life. But one who rents an apartment with two rooms is not leading a double life but a broad life. I remember once visiting the hospital in Jerusalem where a certain orthodox doctor worked and I saw him approach a patient who was just about to undergo an operation. He asked him for the name of his mother so he could say a prayer on his behalf for the success of the operation. Tell me, beloved friend, is a doctor about to perform an operation on a patient, who says a chapter of Psalms for the safe recovery of his patient, leading a double life? Beloved friend, God forbid that you should see yourself as leading a double life. The sages say that whoever prolongs the word One in the Shema, prolongs his days and Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 2

4 years. Therefore throughout your life you should be one of those who prolongs the one focusing on unity, not duality. It would grieve me very much if this point were not apparent to you. Many dots scattered here and there certainly constitute a multiplicity, but the same number of dots ordered around a single point at the center form one circle. This is your duty in life, to place at the center of your life the one and then you will need to have no worry about dualities. Every new dot you acquire will then merely expand the circle, but its unity will remain. WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THIS LETTER? WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON ONE THING IN THE SHEMA? Devarim Chapter 11 18) And you should put these words on your heart and on your soul and you should bind them as a sign on your arm and they should be as totafos between your eyes. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART דברים פרשת עקב - ראה פרק יא יח( ו שמ ת ם א ת ד ב רי א ל ה על ל בב כ ם ו על נפ ש כ ם וק שר ת ם א ת ם ל או ת על י ד כ ם ו ה י ו ל טו ט פ ת ב ין ע ינ יכ ם אמת ואמונה Kotzk- R Menachem Mendel of על לבבכם והלא צריך להיות בעומק הלב, אלא אין לך On your heart and doesn t it need to be in אדם שאין לו פתיחת הלב וכמ"ש פתח לבי בתורתך the depth of your heart? There is no person הוא יפתח לבנו, ובוודאי כאשר מבקשים זה בכל לב who never opens his heart as it says open ונפש שיזכה לזה הקב"ה עוזר לו, וכאשר יהי' הדברים על לבו יפלו הדברים בתוך לבו ממש, ויתהפך לאיש my heart to your Torah He should open our אחר וידע מה שיש עליו לעשות ולתקן כל ימי חייו hearts and of course we are asking this with ויכנע וישוב, ויכנסו דברי תורה בלבו ויתפשטו בכל all our hearts and soul that we should merit that God helps us with this. איבריו החיצוניים והפנימיים. If these matters are ON his heart, the matters will fall right into his heart (whenever he is open) and he will transform into another person and he will know what he has to do and improve in his life and he will return. And the words of the Torah will enter his heart and will spread through his internal and external organs. Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 3

5 HOW DOES THE KOTZKER REBBE HELP US UNDERSTAND THE WORDING ON YOUR HEART RATHER THAN IN YOUR HEART? MEZUZAH Devarim Chapter 11 20) And you should write them on the door posts of your house and of your gates. Talmud Bavli- Avoda Zara 11a Onkelos the son of Kalonymus became a convert, the Emperor sent a contingent of Roman soldiers after him, but he attracted them by citing scriptural verses and they became converted to Judaism. Thereupon, the Emperor sent another Roman cohort after him, bidding them not to say anything to him. As they were about to take him away with them, he said to them: 'Let me tell you just an ordinary thing: and he proceeded to explain the greatness of God. Then they, too, became converted. Again, the Emperor sent another cohort ordering them not to enter into any conversation whatever with him. So they took hold of him; and as they were walking on he saw the mezuzah which was fixed on the door-frame and he placed his hand on it saying to them: 'Now what is this?' and they replied: 'You tell us then.' Said he, 'According to universal custom, the mortal king dwells within, and his servants keep guard on him without; but [in the case of] the Holy One, blessed be He, it is His servants who dwell within whilst He keeps guard on them from without; as it is said: The Lord shall guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.' Then they, too, were converted to Judaism. The Emperor sent for him no more. דברים פרשת עקב - ראה פרק יא כ( וכ תב ת ם על מ ז וזו ת ב ית ך וב ש ע ר י ך : תלמוד בבלי מסכת עבודה זרה דף יא עמוד א אונקלוס בר קלונימוס איגייר. שדר קיסר גונדא דרומאי אבתריה, משכינהו בקראי, איגיור. הדר שדר גונדא דרומאי ]אחרינא[ אבתריה, אמר להו: לא תימרו ליה ולא מידי. כי הוו שקלו ואזלו, אמר להו, אימא לכו מילתא בעלמא: ניפיורא נקט נורא קמי פיפיורא, פיפיורא לדוכסא, דוכסא להגמונא, הגמונא לקומא, קומא מי נקט נורא מקמי אינשי? אמרי ליה: לא. אמר להו: הקב"ה נקט נורא קמי ישראל, דכתיב: אוה' הולך לפניהם יומם וגו', איגיור ]כולהו[. הדר שדר גונדא אחרינא אבתריה, אמר להו: לא תשתעו מידי בהדיה. כי נקטי ליה ואזלי, חזא מזוזתא ]דמנחא אפתחא[, אותיב ידיה עלה ואמר להו: מאי האי? אמרו ליה: אימא לן את. אמר להו: מנהגו של עולם, מלך בשר ודם יושב מבפנים ועבדיו משמרים אותו מבחוץ, ואילו הקב"ה, עבדיו מבפנים והוא משמרן מבחוץ, שנאמר: בה' ישמר צאתך ובואך מעתה ועד עולם, איגיור. תו לא שדר בתריה. Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 4

6 WHAT MESSAGE DOES THE MEZUZAH REPRISENT ACCORDING TO ONKELUS? WHY DO YOU THINK THE MESSAGE OF THE MEZUZAH CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE ROMAN SOLDIERS? REMEMBERING EGYPT Bamidbar Chapter 16 41) I am Hashem your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be for you as God. I am Hashem your God. במדבר פרשת שלח פרק טו מא( א נ י י ק ו ק א לה יכ ם א ש ר הו צ את י א ת כ ם מ א ר ץ מ צ רי ם ל ה יו ת ל כ ם ל א לה ים א נ י י ק ו ק א לה יכ ם: פ Rambam Laws of Shema Halacha 3 Even though we don t have a mitzvah to wear tzitzis at night we still read about it at night because it reminds us of the Exodus and it is a mitzvah to remember the Exodus from Egypt both day and night., as it says: Remember the day of the Exodus from Egypt all the days of your life and we read the 3 paragraphs of the Shema to do so. רמב"ם הלכות קריאת שמע פרק א הלכה ג אע"פ שאין מצות ציצית נוהגת בלילה קוראין אותה בלילה מפני שיש בה זכרון יציאת מצרים ומצוה להזכיר יציאת מצרים ביום ובלילה שנאמר למען תזכור את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים כל ימי חייך, וקריאת שלש פרשיות אלו על סדר זה היא הנקראת קריאת שמע. WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THE EXODUS THAT IT NEEDS TO BE REMEMBERED EVERY DAY? Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 5

7 Maharal Tiferes Yisrael Why does it say I am the God who brought you up from the land of Egypt and not I am the God who created the heavens and the earth? Because this is referring to our particular relationship to God and therefore it says Who brought you up from the land of Egypt and through bringing us out, we accepted Him upon ourselves as King and we became His servants. If we refer to Him as God who created the world, it makes Him God of the whole world and doesn t differentiate the relationship between God and the Jewish people. Therefore, to specify to particular relationship between God and the Jewish people, we refer to the Exodus; the time when the Jewish People became a nation. HOW DOES THE MAHARAL EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF REMEMBERING THE EXODUS EVERY DAY? Rabbi Norman Lamm, The Shema: Spirituality and Law in Judaism, p. 21 Our words, repeated twice daily, are addressed not to the general community, Klal Yisrael, but to our very personal, intimate forefather Jacob-Israel. In calling out to him across the chasm of the generations, we assure him and ourselves that the One God he worshiped is ours as well; that we continue his tradition, which he entrusted to his children; that we have not and will not falter as we strive to implement the Kingdom of Heaven in our own time and our own places; that three and a half millennia later we still carry aloft our grandfather s torch of yichud Hashem (unification of His Name); and that we pledge to continue to do so even in an age of cynicism, confusion, and despair. Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 6

8 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS The Shema has many messages, but the concept of Oneness is the transcending message. Even if we cannot feel all the feelings that the Shema demands right now, we should still take them in, eventually they will fall into our hearts. The Mezuzah, which contains the Shema is a focused reminder of God s presence and protection over us. Remembering the Exodus, whilst a mitzvah in itself is closely connected to the Shema and our relationship with God. Shema- An in Depth Analysis Page 7