SHEMA - "Hear"  
.....   .....
 


The Shema is the fundamental, monotheistic statement of Judaism
as found in Deuteronomy 6:4 -
(my apologies to my Jewish friends for using the Holy Names;
but this IS a teaching moment and done with the upmost respect
)

shema Yisrael YHWH elohenu YHWH ehad

“Hear, O Israel,
the L
ORD is our God,
the L
ORD is One”

A literal translation would read, in modern English:

"Give Heed, O Israel:
Jehovah is our god -
Jehovah is first and foremost."

Shortly after discovering this literal translation I was rereading the great vision of the Heavens that was given to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, which begins -

HEAR, O ye heavens,
 and give ear, O earth,
and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof,
for the Lord is God,
and beside him there is no Savior.
(Doctrine & Covenants 76:1)

This statement avers the unity of God, and is recited daily in the liturgy (along with Deuteronomy  6:5-9, 11:13-21; Numbers  15.37- 41 and other passages), and customarily before sleep at night. This proclamation also climaxes special liturgies (like Yom Kippur), and is central to the confession before death and the ritual of martyrdom. The Shema is inscribed on the mezuzah and the tefillin. In public services, it is recited in unison.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Deuteronomy 11:13-21:
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
          Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Numbers 15:37-41:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.