Sh’ma 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

Deuteronomy 11:13–21

Hebrew

וְהָיָה אִם־שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל־מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה
אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל־
לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶם: וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר־אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה
וּמַלְקוֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ: וְנָתַתִּי עֵשֶׂב
בְּשָׂדְךָ לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ: הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן־יִפְתֶּה
לְבַבְכֶם וְסַרְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם
לָהֶם: וְחָרָה אַף־יְהוָה בָּכֶם וְעָצַר אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶה
מָטָר וְהָאֲדָמָה לֹא תִתֵּן אֶת־יְבוּלָהּ וַאֲבַדְתֶּם מְהֵרָה מֵעַל
הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה נֹתֵן לָכֶם: וְשַׂמְתֶּם אֶת־דְּבָרַי
אֵלֶּה עַל־לְבַבְכֶם וְעַל־נַפְשְׁכֶם וּקְשַׁרְתֶּם אֹתָם לְאוֹת
עַל־יֶדְכֶם וְהָיוּ לְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם: וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם
אֶת־בְּנֵיכֶם לְדַבֵּר בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ
וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ: וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל־מְזוּזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ:
לְמַעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע
יְהוָה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם לָתֵת לָהֶם כִּימֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם עַל־הָאָרֶץ:

Israeli

vehayah im-shamoa tishmeu el-mitzvotai asher anochi metzaveh
etchem hayom le-ahavah et-adonai Eloheichem ule-avdo b'chol-
levavchem uvchol-nafshechem: venatati metar-artzechem be-ito yoreh
umalkosh ve-asafta d'ganecha vetiroshcha veyitzharecha: venatati esev
b'sadcha livhemtecha ve-achalta vesavata: hishameru lachem pen-yifteh
levavchem vesartem va-avadtem Elohim acherim vehishtachavitem
lahem: vecharah af-adonai bachem ve-atzar et-hashamayim velo-yihyeh
matar veha-adamah lo titen et-yevulah va-avadtem meherah me-al
ha-aretz hatovah asher Adonai noten lachem: vesamtem et-d'varai
eleh al-levavchem ve-al-nafshechem ukshartem otam le-ot
al-yedchem vehayu letotafot bein eineichem: velimadtem otam
et-b'neichem ledaber bam b'shivtecha beveitecha uvlechtecha vaderech
uvshachbcha uvkumecha: uchtavtam al-mezuzot beitecha uvisharecha:
lema-an yirbu yemeichem vimei v'neichem al ha-adamah asher nishba
Adonai la-avoteichem latet lahem kimei hashamayim al-ha-aretz:

English

If you will hear and obey the mitzvot that I command you this day, to love and serve Adonai your God with all your heart and all your soul, then I will grant the rain for your land in season, rain in autumn and rain in spring. You shall gather in your grain and wine and oil; I will provide grass in your fields for your cattle and you shall eat and be satisfied. Take care lest your heart be tempted, and you stray and serve other gods and bow to them. Then Adonai’s anger will flare up against you, and God will close up the sky so that there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce. You will quickly disappear from the good land that Adonai is giving you. Therefore, impress these words of mine upon your heart and upon your soul. Bind them as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol above your eyes; teach them to your children, by speaking of them when you sit in your home, when you walk on your way, when you lie down and when you rise up. Inscribe them upon the doorposts of your home and on your gates. Then your days and the days of your children, on the land that Adonai swore to your ancestors to give them, will be as many as the days the heavens are above the earth.

Numbers 15:37–41

Hebrew

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִת עַל־כַּנְפֵי בִגְדֵיהֶם
לְדֹרֹתָם וְנָתְנוּ עַל־צִיצִת הַכָּנָף פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת: וְהָיָה
לָכֶם לְצִיצִת וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹת יְהוָה
וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם
אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּם זֹנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם: לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם
אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹתַי וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם: אֲנִי יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לִהְיוֹת
לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:

Israeli

vayomer Adonai el-mosheh leimor: daber el-b'nei Yisra-el
ve-amarta alehem ve-asu lahem tzitzit al-kanfei vigdeihem
ledorotam venatnu al-tzitzit hakanaf p'til t'chelet: vehayah
lachem letzitzit ure-item oto uzchartem et-kol-mitzvot Adonai
va-asitem otam velo taturu acharei levavchem ve-acharei eineichem
asher-atem zonim achareihem: lema-an tizkeru va-asitem
et-kol-mitzvotai vihyitem k'doshim leiloheichem: ani Adonai
Eloheichem asher hotzeiti etchem me-eretz Mitzrayim lihyot
lachem leilohim ani Adonai Eloheichem:

English

Adonai said to Moses: Speak to the people Israel, and instruct them that in every generation they shall put tzitzit on the corners of their garments, placing a thread of blue on the tzitzit, the fringe of each corner. That shall be your tzitzit; you shall look at it and remember all the mitzvot of Adonai, and fulfill them, and not be seduced by your eyes and heart as they lead you astray. Then you will remember and fulfill all My mitzvot, and be holy before your God. I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am Adonai your God—

אֱמֶת

Truly

When there is a minyan, the leader adds:

Hebrew

יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם — אֱמֶת

Israeli

Adonai Eloheichem - emet

English

Adonai your God—truly—

Hebrew

וְיַצִּיב וְנָכוֹן וְקַיָּם וְיָשָׁר וְנֶאֱמָן וְאָהוּב וְחָבִיב וְנֶחְמָד
וְנָעִים וְנוֹרָא וְאַדִּיר וּמְתֻקָּן וּמְקֻבָּל וְטוֹב וְיָפֶה הַדָּבָר
הַזֶּה עָלֵינוּ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:

Israeli

veyatziv venachon vekayam veyashar vene-eman ve-ahuv vechaviv venechmad
vena-im venora ve-adir umetukan umekubal vetov veyafeh hadavar
hazeh aleinu le-olam va-ed:

English

this teaching is constant, well-founded and enduring, righteous and trustworthy, beloved and cherished, desirable and pleasing, awe-inspiring and majestic, well-ordered and established, good and beautiful, and so incumbent on us forever.

Commentary

IF YOU WILL HEAR וְהָיָה אִם־שָׁמֹעַ. This paragraph suggests a direct relationship between the righteousness of our acts and our fate. If we are good, God will be good to us, and vice versa. That theology was questioned throughout the ages and even by biblical writers themselves, most sharply in the Book of Job. Nevertheless, it does speak to a deep human need to see a world as containing a moral balance between good and evil. What is expressed here in concrete terms may be understood more broadly: moral and immoral actions have consequences, both seen and unseen.

TZITZIT צִיצִת. The biblical scholar Israel Knohl, expanding a medieval Jewish comment, suggests that the word tzitzit may derive from tzitz, a headband worn by the High Priest and tied in back with a p’til t’khelet, a “thread of blue.” On it were the words קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה (kodesh ladonai), “holy before Adonai.” Wearing the tzitzit (literally, the “little tzitz”), we are asked to serve God in a holy way, much as the High Priest did; thus the paragraph commands us to be “holy before your God.” The act of wearing tzitzit turns us all, metaphorically, into High Priests.

TRULY אֱמֶת. The tradition read the word emet, “truly,” as referring both backward and forward: it is the first word of the following paragraph and is also recited as if it were the last word of the preceding paragraph. continued …

Other Gods What is an idol? A thing, a force, a person, a group, an institution or an ideal, regarded as supreme. God alone is supreme. —ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL …

To Love and Revere God When one contemplates the wonders of God’s creation and sees in them God’s infinite wisdom, one immediately loves, praises, and craves to know God’s great name, as David sang, “I thirst for the living God” (Psalm 42:3). But as one contemplates these things one is immediately struck dumb and becomes fearful, for one knows that a person is only a tiny part of the vastness of creation—humble and ignorant, standing with little understanding before the fullness of knowledge, as David lamented, “When I gaze at Your heavens, Your handiwork, what are mortals that You care for them?” (Psalm 8:4–5). —MAIMONIDES …