Shema Yisrael - How come This Jewish Prayer So Famous?Posted by Midtgaard Vilstrup on April 22nd, 2021 Shema Yisrael is the most renowned prayer in Judaism. Every Jewish person knows the words of the sacred prayer. website around the globe recite the prayer twice each day. Others say these sacred words at difficult moments or dramatic situations, when they look for God's protection. In Additional hints , the believer turns right to God and asks Him to hear their prayer. In the last decades, Shema Yisrael has become a prominent sign of Jewish identity. Why? The prayer Shema Yisrael may be the foundation of the Jewish faith - the belief in a single God. The prayer is mostly known by its first verse that proclaims: "Hear, O Israel: god, the father is our God, god, the father is One". Shema can be used by extension to make reference to the full version of the prayer. The prayer is comprised by three paragraphs from the Torah: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. In these psalms, we are commanded to say Shema twice each day - before sunrise and soon after nightfall. We are also commanded to jot down Shema Yisrael on a scroll and to affix to our door-posts, that's affixing a mezuzah. In the psalms that comprise the prayer, we have been also commanded to love God with this whole being:"And thou shalt love god, the father thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might". Several scholars have argued that this is the true meaning and power of the prayer. The Talmud tells a fascinating story about the great Tzadik (a righteous man) called Rabbi Akiva Ben Yoseph, who lived in the next century. Rabbi Akiva who was simply prosecuted for his faith, was imprisoned by Tyrannus Rufus. Rabi Akiva was painfully tortured: his flesh was slowly being torn with iron tools. In spite of the torments, Rabbi Akiva was reciting his prayers calmly. His tormentor were convinced he was a sorcerer since he seemed to be feeling no pain. Rabbi Akiva died on the Atonement Day reciting the Shema along with his last breath. Based on the story, his last word was Echad - One in Hebrew. During the Holocaust, hundreds of thousands of Jews who were killed by the Nazis, were calling out what of Shema Yisrael just before they died. This gesture demonstrates the core message of the prayer - having faith in God in probably the most tragic circumstances, and recognizing that the God who brings the good, also brings the bad The heartbreaking images of the Jews who called Shema Yisrael just before these were murdered by the Nazis have imprinted its mark in the Jewish collective memory. Since that time Shema Yisrael is just about the most recognizable prayer of Jewish identity.Like it? Share it! More by this author |