Shema and Its Blessings

k'ri-at sh'ma uvirchoteha

קריאת שמע וברכותיה

Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

Ps. 104

Hebrew

הַמֵּאִיר לָאָרֶץ וְלַדָּרִים עָלֶיהָ בְּרַחֲמִים
וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית.
מָה־רַבּוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ יְהֹוָה, כֻּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ
מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ קִנְיָנֶךָ:
הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמְרוֹמָם לְבַדּוֹ מֵאָז
הַמְשֻׁבָּח וְהַמְפֹאָר וְהַמִּתְנַשֵּׂא מִימוֹת עוֹלָם.
אֱלֹהֵי עוֹלָם, בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים רַחֵם עָלֵינוּ
אֲדוֹן עֻזֵּנוּ, צוּר מִשְׂגַּבֵּנוּ, מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵנוּ, מִשְׂגָּב בַּעֲדֵנוּ:

Israeli

hame-ir la-aretz veladarim aleha b'rachamim
uvtuvo mechadesh b'chol yom tamid ma-aseh v'reishit.
mah-rabu ma-asecha Adonai, kulam b'chochmah asita
male-ah ha-aretz kinyanecha:
hamelech hameromam levado me-az
hameshubach vehamefo-ar vehamitnasei mimot olam.
Elohei olam, b'rachamecha harabim rachem aleinu
adon uzenu, tzur misgabenu, magen yishenu, misgav ba-adenu:

Hebrew

אֵין עֲרוֹךְ לָךְ
וְאֵין זוּלָתֶךָ
אֶפֶס בִּלְתֶּךָ
וּמִי דּוֹמֶה לָךְ:

Israeli

ein aroch lach
ve-ein zulatecha
efes biltecha
umi domeh lach:

Hebrew

אֵין עֲרוֹךְ לְךָ, יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה
וְאֵין זוּלָתְךָ, מַלְכֵּנוּ, לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא
אֶפֶס בִּלְתְּךָ, גּוֹאֲלֵנוּ, לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ
וְאֵין דּוֹמֶה לְךָ, מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ, לִתְחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים.

Israeli

ein aroch lecha, Adonai Eloheinu, ba-olam hazeh
ve-ein zulatcha, malkenu, lechayei ha-olam haba
efes biltecha, go-alenu, limot hamashiach
ve-ein domeh lecha, moshi-enu, litchiyat hametim.

Commentary

אֵין עֲרוֹךְ לָךְ None can be compared to You: a fourfold statement of the uniqueness of God, each phrase of which is then expanded in the following lines. The fourfold structure of many early rabbinic prayers reflects the influence of Jewish mysticism, which saw reality in terms of four dimensions of increasing spirituality: the world of action, Asiya; the world of formation, Yetzira; the world of creation, Beria; and the world of Emanation, Atzilut.

This world ... the World to Come: the prayer itemizes four time-zones: (1) this world that we inhabit now; (2) the World to Come, according to Maimonides, the realm of the soul after death; (3) the days of the Messiah, when the Temple will be rebuilt, the rule of David will be restored and peace and justice will prevail in the affairs of mankind; and (4) the resurrection of the dead, the final denouement of history, when those who have died will live again.

… before the Shema. The first, but not the other blessings, is enlarged in honor of the Shabbat, because its theme is creation, and Shabbat is “a remembrance of the work of creation.”

מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹם תָּמִיד Daily, continually, renews the work of creation: Rabbi Judah HaLevi explained the difference between creation-from-something (Yetzira) and creation-from-nothing (Beria). When a carpenter makes a table from wood, the table continues to exist after the creative act is finished. When one makes something from nothing, however, the creative act must be continually renewed, otherwise the creation would cease to be. Divine creation is creation-from-nothing, and is thus perpetually reenacted. This prayer invites us to a sense of wonder at the fact of existence: “It is not how the world is, but that it is, which is the mystical” (Wittgenstein).