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

Hebrew

אֱמֶת אֱלֹהֵי עוֹלָם מַלְכֵּנוּ, צוּר יַעֲקֹב מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵנוּ.
לְדֹר וָדֹר הוּא קַיָּם וּשְׁמוֹ קַיָּם, וְכִסְאוֹ נָכוֹן
וּמַלְכוּתוֹ וֶאֱמוּנָתוֹ לָעַד קַיֶּמֶת.
וּדְבָרָיו חָיִים וְקַיָּמִים, נֶאֱמָנִים וְנֶחֱמָדִים,
לָעַד וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עוֹלָמִים, עַל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ]
וְעָלֵינוּ, עַל בָּנֵינוּ וְעַל דּוֹרוֹתֵינוּ, וְעַל כָּל־דּוֹרוֹת
זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲבָדֶיךָ. עַל הָרִאשׁוֹנִים וְעַל הָאַחֲרוֹנִים
דָּבָר טוֹב וְקַיָּם לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד,
אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה חֹק וְלֹא יַעֲבֹר.

Israeli

emet Elohei olam malkenu, tzur Ya-akov magen yishenu.
ledor vador hu kayam ushmo kayam, vechiso nachon
umalchuto ve-emunato la-ad kayemet.
udvarav chayim vekayamim, ne-emanim venechemadim,
la-ad ule-olemei olamim, al avoteinu [ve-imoteinu]
ve-aleinu, al baneinu ve-al doroteinu, ve-al kol-dorot
zera Yisra-el avadecha. al harishonim ve-al ha-acharonim
davar tov vekayam le-olam va-ed,
emet ve-emunah chok velo ya-avor.

English

Truly, the God of the universe, our sovereign, is the stronghold of Jacob and our protecting shield. In every generation God is present, God’s name endures, God’s throne is established, and God’s sovereignty and faithfulness abide. God’s teaching is living and enduring, truthful and beloved throughout all time. As our ancestors accepted it as incumbent on them, we accept it as incumbent on us, and on our children, and all the future seed of the house of Israel who serve You. Both for our ancestors and our descendants, it is a goodly teaching, enduring forever, a constant truth, a never-changing principle.

Hebrew

אֱמֶת שֶׁאַתָּה הוּא יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
[וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ], מַלְכֵּנוּ, מֶלֶךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ].
גֹּאֲלֵנוּ גֹּאֵל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ], יוֹצְרֵנוּ, צוּר יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ,
פּוֹדֵנוּ וּמַצִּילֵנוּ, מֵעוֹלָם שְׁמֶךָ אֵין אֱלֹהִים זוּלָתֶךָ.

Israeli

emet she-atah hu Adonai Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu
[ve-imoteinu], malkenu, melech avoteinu [ve-imoteinu].
go-alenu go-el avoteinu [ve-imoteinu], yotzrenu, tzur yeshu-atenu,
podenu umatzilenu, me-olam sh'mecha ein Elohim zulatecha.

English

Truly, You are Adonai our God and the God of our ancestors, our sovereign and our ancestors’ sovereign, our redeemer and our ancestors’ redeemer. You are our creator, and the rock of our deliverance, our redeemer and help. So You are known throughout time, for there is no God but You.

Hebrew

עֶזְרַת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ] אַתָּה הוּא מֵעוֹלָם,
מָגֵן וּמוֹשִׁיעַ לִבְנֵיהֶם אַחֲרֵיהֶם בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר.

Israeli

ezrat avoteinu [ve-imoteinu] atah hu me-olam,
magen umoshia livneihem achareihem b'chol-dor vador.

English

You were always the help of our ancestors, a shield and deliverer for their descendants in every generation.

Hebrew

בְּרוּם עוֹלָם מוֹשָׁבֶךָ,
וּמִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ וְצִדְקָתְךָ עַד אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ.

Israeli

b'rum olam moshavecha,
umishpatecha vetzidkatcha ad afsei aretz.

English

You abide at the pinnacle of the universe—Your judgment and Your righteousness extend to the ends of the earth.

Hebrew

אַשְׁרֵי אִישׁ שֶׁיִּשְׁמַע לְמִצְוֺתֶיךָ,
וְתוֹרָתְךָ וּדְבָרְךָ יָשִׂים עַל לִבּוֹ.

Israeli

ashrei ish sheyishma lemitzvotecha,
vetoratcha udvarecha yasim al libo.

English

Blessed are the ones who attend to Your mitzvot and place Your teaching and words on their hearts.

Hebrew

אֱמֶת אַתָּה הוּא אָדוֹן לְעַמֶּךָ,
וּמֶלֶךְ גִּבּוֹר לָרִיב רִיבָם.

Israeli

emet atah hu adon le-amecha,
umelech gibor lariv rivam.

English

Truly, You are the ruler of Your people, a mighty sovereign, who takes up their cause.

Hebrew

אֱמֶת אַתָּה הוּא רִאשׁוֹן, וְאַתָּה הוּא אַחֲרוֹן,
וּמִבַּלְעָדֶיךָ אֵין לָנוּ מֶלֶךְ גּוֹאֵל וּמוֹשִׁיעַ.

Israeli

emet atah hu rishon, ve-atah hu acharon,
umibaladecha ein lanu melech go-el umoshia.

English

Truly, You were at the beginning and You will be at the end—aside from You we have no ruler who can redeem and deliver.

Commentary

… continued Read forward, the word affirms what follows: credal statements spelling out the implications of the Sh’ma; each statement is preceded by the word emet, thus articulating a kind of Jewish creed. Read backward, it refers to God, who is identified with truth. The phrase is based on the words of Jeremiah, “Adonai is true (Adonai emet), is truly the living God, and the sovereign of time and the world” (10:10). Additionally, another biblical meaning of the word emet is steadfastness or faithfulness. In this interpretation, what is affirmed is that God will always be present for us.

TRULY THIS TEACHING IS CONSTANT אֱמֶת וְיַצִּיב. Reuven Kimelman, a contemporary liturgical scholar, contends that the “teaching” referred to in this assertion is the Decalogue, which originally preceded the recitation of the Sh’ma in the ancient synagogue. The recitation of the Decalogue was dropped from the liturgy because the rabbis were afraid that people would consider only those commandments as obligatory, as many Christians did. In its current context, the liturgical affirmation refers to the constancy of the entire Torah.

HELP OF OUR ANCESTORS עֶזְרַת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ]. Two contrasting theological concepts are at work in this blessing. The first emphasizes the value of personal observance of Torah and mitzvot (“Blessed are the ones who attend to Your mitzvot . . .”); the second emphasizes communal redemption and the need for God to destroy oppression, with the exodus from Egypt serving as a paradigm for all future redemptions. The first is non-violent, speaking of personal practice and virtue through performing acts of love and care; the second insists that God must war against evil in order to root it out. These two views echo a talmudic argument as to whether the future redemption will be achieved peacefully or will come through war.

TRULY, YOU WERE AT THE BEGINNING AND YOU WILL BE AT THE END אֱמֶת, אַתָּה הוּא רִאשׁוֹן, וְאַתָּה הוּא אַחֲרוֹן. A similar expression “I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end” is quoted three times in the Christian Testament. The wording of this prayer may have been deliberately polemical at the time it was written in antiquity, and intended to oppose Christian theological claims, which were emerging as a rival to Judaism.

Redemption What might redemption mean in our time? Gordon Tucker, a contemporary rabbi, points out that in the Bible, when an object is redeemed, it returns to its original state. Following a teaching of the Ḥasidic master Avraham Mordecai of Gur (Imrei Emet, parashat Emor), he remarks that there was a moment after leaving Egypt and crossing the Sea when we experienced freedom and the infinite possibility signalled by the limitless horizon of the desert. It was the time before the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai; yet it was a special moment of being with God. Jeremiah records God saying, “I remember the generosity of your young days, the love you exhibited when we were first engaged, walking with Me in the desert” (2:2). We can hope that our religious life will lead us back to a moment of innocence, when we feel free and in unselfconscious relation to God.