Shema Israel

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First section of the Shema Yisrael. In most manuscripts and printed editions, the Ajin ( ע) and in the last word the dalet (ד) shown larger so that the verse is visually lifted out of the rest of the text. Both letters together form the word Hebrew עד 'ed , German ' witness' . By pronouncing this phrase, a Jew publicly testifies that God rules the world.

The Shema Yisrael or Shema Yisrael ( Hebrew שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל šma 'yiśra'el , German ' Hear, Israel! ' ) is a Jewish creed that begins with the opening words of a section from the Torah Deut. 6.4–9  EU , after which it is named.

Shema Yisrael or Krijat Shma (recitation of Shema) is also the name of a central component of two daily prayer times: Shacharit (Heb.שחרית), the Jewish morning prayer, as well as Maariw (Heb.מעריב), the Jewish evening prayer. Then it means the recitation of three passages from the Torah as well as the preceding and following praises. The recitation of Shema Yisrael is the central event of the daily synagogue service.

The Shema Yisrael is the oldest expression of Jewish self-image. The first sentence proclaims the unity and uniqueness of God. In the recited Torah passages, several commandments that are important for the practice of faith are addressed:

• the daily recitation of Shema Yisrael itself,
• the application of the Tefillin (phylacteries)
• the Zizijot (shop threads),
• the mezuzot (capsules on the doorpost),
• the passing of the commandments to the next generation.

historical development

In the book of Deuteronomy

“Within the biblical text, the words of the Shema Yisrael are not emphasized in any way that would indicate what meaning these words should have in the later Jewish tradition. They evidently received their unique and central liturgical and dogmatic significance only in early Jewish times. "

The text section Deut. 6: 4-9  EU , whether read synchronously or diachronically, is well integrated into the context of the preceding and following verses. This can be seen particularly clearly when comparing 6.6 (“today”) and 6.20 (“tomorrow”).

At the level of Deuteronomy, “to love” probably means “unconditional covenant loyalty”. Karin Finsterbusch sees a remarkable program in the statements in this section: The laws of Deuteronomy “should be known by heart, they should play a central role in everyday education; they should become the 'markers' of the individual, they should be visible in private and public spaces. "

In the Jewish liturgy

At the beginning there was the text section Dtn 6.4–9  EU . Its paramount importance is shown by the Septuagint , which has added the following solemn introduction: "These are the laws and statutes that the Lord commanded the Israelites in the desert after they were drawn out of the land of Egypt." Ancient Jewish communities which these Recited section in Greek translation, had already given him a fixed liturgical wording, which the translator of the Septuagint did not adapt to his own style, but adopted it in the form given to him.

Both the Mishnah and Flavius ​​Josephus ( Jüdische Antiquities IV, 8,13) bear witness to the early merging of the three sections into a whole. Since the temple was already closed in the afternoon, the recitation of the Shema in the evening was already common practice at that time, but as a private prayer of the individual and not as a community service.

In the temple, the priests recited the three Torah passages aloud immediately after the daily sacrifice (Mishnah Tamid 5,1). The congregation present listened in silence and only answered the first sentence, which contains the name of God, with the cry Baruch shem - which is therefore inserted at this point in the recitation of the first Torah section.

Duty under religious law

The duty to recite the Shema is independent of the duty of prayer. According to Yehuda HaNasi , by reciting the first sentence one has fulfilled the obligation of Shma Yisrael; however, this view did not go unchallenged. Anyone who happens to pass a place where the Shema is recited takes part in it, even if he has already recited it for himself so as not to symbolically exclude himself from the Jewish community.

Recitation of the shema

How the recitation of the Shema is arranged in daily prayer is already laid down in the Mishnah (Berachot 1,2); accordingly, in the morning prayer there are two praises before the Shema ( Birkat Jozer Or , Ahawa rabba ), which is composed of three Torah passages , and one after ( Emet ve-Jaziw ). In the evening prayer, on the other hand, which was recited at nightfall, the three Torah passages are preceded by two praises ( Ha-Maariw Arawim , Ahawat Olam ), and two follow ( Emet ve -Emuna , Haschkiwenu ). According to Ismar Elbogen , the three Torah sections and the praises that frame them have been combined in a longer development.

Shema Israel (1a)

Cover your eyes with your right hand

At the beginning there is the central sentence, which contains the monotheistic quintessence of Judaism :

שְׁמַ ע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָ ד
shəma jisrael adonai elohenu adonai echad ( Sephardic ) or
shəma jisroëil adaunoi elauhëinu adaunoi echod ( Ashkenazi )
“Hear Israel! The Eternal, our God, the Eternal is one. "

In the oral presentation, instead of "the Eternal", another substitute word for the name of God is often used, namely the word " Adonai " ("our Lord") or " HaSchem " ("the name"): schəma jisrael haSchem elohenu haSchem echad (Sephardic) . It is common practice to cover your eyes with your right hand while reciting this sentence in order to focus fully on the content of the words.

Other translations:

• Hear Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is only. (Standard translation)
• Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. (Luther 2017)
• Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. (Rev. Elberfelder)
• Hear, Israel: The Lord our God is the only Lord. (Zurich)

While it is otherwise appropriate to speak softly during prayer, the Shema, as a confession, should be spoken a little louder. The discussion of whether to recite it sitting or standing was decided in favor of sitting; but whoever prays standing during the entire service remains standing.

Baruch Schem

"Praise be to God's glorious rule always and forever!"

This sentence is reminiscent of Ps 72:19  EU , but is not a Bible verse. The middle words - in italics here - are replacements for the holy name of God. This exclamation was the response of the congregation in the Second Temple service when the name of God was recited. To indicate that this sentence does not come from the Torah, it is pronounced more softly than the Shema Yisrael.

Veahavta (1b)

The sentences following Deut. 6.4, which are now recited, contain the central context of the Torah , in which the core message of love for God is embedded; see Talmud Sukka 42a and Berachot 13b ( Deut. 6.5–9  EU ). According to Maimonides ( Hilchot Krijat Shma 1,2) the first section of the Torah has three main statements:

1. Confession of the uniqueness of God and his rule over the world;
2. Love for God;
3. Obligation to Study the Torah.

Woe in shamoa (2)

Deut. 11 : 13-21  EU , the second Torah section "adapts itself to the first in the introduction and conclusion and is likely to owe its inclusion [in the recitation of Schma] above all to this." With the recitation of the 2nd section you declare your willingness to take up the “yoke of the Mitzvot ”. If the first section was addressed in the 2nd person singular, the section Vehaja im-schamoa is in the 2nd person plural. He addresses the whole people of Israel. Chajim Halevy Donin explains that the effects of observing or disobeying the commandments promised here (e.g. a long life) do not apply to the individual but to the people as a whole.

Wajomer (3)

Kiss the Zizijot at the Vajomer section

After Elbogen, the last of the three Torah sections ( Num 15,37–41  EU ) was added last in time. As an indication of this, he considers that this section from the Book of Numbers in Palestine was not recited in the evening in the 9th century. His special accent is that in his final sentence he clearly emphasizes the religious significance of the liberation from Egypt and thus one of the main contents of the Jewish religion.

During the entire recitation of the Shema Yisrael in the morning service, it is customary to hold the tsiziyot with the left hand and to bring it to the lips when tsizijot is mentioned three times in the section Vajomer.

Krijat Shma before going to sleep

To end the day with the Shema Yisrael, the following additional private prayer is customary:

• Before going to sleep one prays: “Praise be to you, Eternal, our God Regent of the world, who puts sleep in my eyes, slumber in my eyelids. [...] Praise be to you, Eternal One, who illuminates the whole world through your presence. "
• Then Shema Yisrael (1a)
• Baruch shem
• Weahavta (1b).

Further occurrences of the Shema in the liturgy

According to its meaning, the Shema Yisrael is recited in a few other places in the service apart from in morning and evening prayers as well as in private night prayers:

• Beginning of morning prayer,
• Keduscha of Mussafgebets on the Sabbath and holidays,
• Digging out the Torah scroll,
• additional Mussaf prayer on Rosh Hashanah ,
• Conclusion of the liturgy of Yom Kippur ,
• At Hoschana Rabba , the proclamation of Shma Yisrael is the highlight of the seventh tour around the Almemor .
• At a funeral

In music

• Arnold Schönberg's Holocaust melodrama A Survivor from Warsaw , which addresses the suppression of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto , closes with the Schma Yisrael sung by a male choir .
• Erich Walter Sternberg used a traditional musical motif of Shᵉma Yisrael in his symphonic poem Hear Israel from 1948.
• The organ symphony Le Cantique des Cantiques (2004) by Walter Steffens opens with the prologue about Höre, Israel (based on the book of Moses).
• In his debut album, the Jewish singer Matisyahu sings the Shema Yisrael in the song Got no water .
• In the second part of his song "Meditation # 3 Shema", the American theologian and songwriter Michael Card has a Jewish male choir sing the Schma Yisrael with fervor (CD The Beginning, 1989)

literature

• Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish prayer today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service. Morascha, Zurich, 2002.
• Ismar Elbogen: The Jewish worship service in its historical development . 2nd edition, J. Kauffmann Verlag. Frankfurt / Main 1924. ( online )
• Israel Meir Lau : How Jews Live. Faith, everyday life, celebrations . Gütersloher Verlag, Gütersloh 1988. ISBN 3-579-02155-9 .
• Meir Seidler: Shema Yisrael. Unity - The Jewish View. Kovar, Eichenau, 1998, ISBN 3-925845-76-3 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Schma  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Commons : Schma Yisrael  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• sung by Cantor Brian Shamash (* 1975 in New York) on YouTube , South Huntington Jewish Center, Melville, New York.
• Jehonatan Grünfeld: The Shema Yisrael in morning prayer. In: talmud.de. June 23, 2000 . 
• Gabriel Miller: The Shema Israel Prayer in a Church. In: Ask the Rabbi. 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl-Erich Grözinger: Jewish thinking. Theology, philosophy, mysticism. Volume I: From the God of Abraham to the God of Aristotle. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2004, ISBN 3-593-37512-5 , p. 251.
2. ↑ Eckart Otto: Deuteronomy 4.44-27.68 . In: Herder's Theological Commentary on the Old Testament . Herder, 2012, p. 779.783 .
3. ↑ Karin Finsterbusch: Deuteronomy. An introduction . In: UTB . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8252-3626-7 , pp. 85 .
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Ismar Elbogen: The Jewish worship service in its historical development . S. 24 .
5. ↑ Wolfgang Kraus, Martin Karrer (Ed.): Septuaginta German . German Bible Society, Stuttgart 2009, p. 184 .
6. ↑ Wolfgang Kraus, Martin Karrer (Ed.): Septuaginta German . Introduction Deuteronomy. German Bible Society, Stuttgart 2009, p. 176 .
7. ↑ Ismar Elbogen: The Jewish worship service in its historical development . S. 25 .
8. ↑ ^{a b} ismar Elbogen: The Jewish worship service in its historical development . S. 100 .
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish prayer today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service . S. 140 .
10. ↑ Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish Prayer Today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service . S. 139 .
11. ↑ ^{a b} Israel Meir Lau: How Jews live . S. 38 .
12. ↑ Ismar Elbogen: The Jewish worship service in its historical development . S. 16 .
13. ↑ ^{a b} Seder haTefillot. The Jewish prayer book . S. 87 .
14. ↑ ^{a b} Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish prayer today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service . S. 142 .
15. ↑ Ismar Elbogen: The Jewish worship service in its historical development . S. 22 .
16. ↑ Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish Prayer Today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service . S. 141 .
17. ↑ Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish Prayer Today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service . S. 143 .
18. ↑ ^{a b} Chajim Halevy Donin: Jewish prayer today. An introduction to the prayer book and synagogue service . S. 147 .
19. ↑ Kerry M. Olitzky, Ronalt H. Isaacs: Small 1 × 1 Jewish Life: An Illustrated Guide to Jewish Practice and Basic Information on Jewish Knowledge . 3. Edition. JVAB, London 2015, p. 96-97 .
20. ↑ Eric Werner : Contributions to a Historical Study of Jewish Music . KTAV Publishing House, 1976, p. 279
21. ^ Lewis Stevens: Composers of Classical Music of Jewish Descent. Vallentine Mitchell, 2003, ISBN 978-0-85303-482-7 , p. 336.