Shema Yisrael - Why is 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 what of the sacred prayer. Many conservative Jews around the globe recite the prayer twice each day. Others say these sacred words at difficult moments or dramatic situations, when they seek for God's protection. In this prayer, the believer turns directly to God and asks Him to listen to their prayer. Within the last decades, Shema Yisrael has become a prominent sign of Jewish identity. Why? The prayer Shema Yisrael is the foundation of the Jewish faith - the belief in a single God. The prayer is mainly known by its first verse that proclaims: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, god, the father is One". Shema can be used by extension to make reference to the entire 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 have been commanded to state Shema twice a day - before sunrise and shortly after nightfall. We have been also commanded to write down Shema Yisrael on a scroll and to affix to our door-posts, that is affixing a mezuzah. In the psalms that comprise the prayer, we are also commanded to love God with our whole being:"And thou shalt love god, the father thy God with all thy heart, sufficient reason for all thy soul, sufficient reason for all thy might". Several scholars have argued that may be the true meaning and power of the prayer. The Talmud tells a remarkable story concerning the great Tzadik (a righteous man) called Rabbi Akiva Ben Yoseph, who lived in the second 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. Regardless of the torments, Rabbi Akiva was reciting his prayers calmly. His tormentor were convinced he was a sorcerer since he appeared 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 have been killed by the Nazis, were calling out the words of Shema Yisrael right before they died. get more info demonstrates the core message of the prayer - having faith in God in the most tragic circumstances, and recognizing that the God who brings the nice, also brings the bad The heartbreaking images of the Jews who called Shema Yisrael right before they were murdered by the Nazis have imprinted its mark in the Jewish collective memory. Since that time Shema Yisrael has become the most recognizable prayer of Jewish identity.Like it? Share it! More by this author |