Tefillah 043

Today's shiur is dedicated by Rona Roth in memory of her father,
Morry Winikoff, Moshe ben Ronya ve-Yehuda Leib, z"l,
whose Yahrzeit is today, 12th Iyyar.

74:
The essential teaching of the first verse of the Shema is that God is one, an aboslute unity. But when we speak of God's unity what do we really mean? Rambam teaches that true belief in God's unity inevitably implies belief in a non-physical Deity – a Deity that does not exist as part of the physical universe, a Deity that Eyno demut ha-guf ve-eyno guf -"is not physical and has no physical appearance." (This is part of a line from the hymn "Yigdal", which itself is a verse rendition of Rambam's Thirteen Principles, first enunciated in his Mishnah Commentary.) One who conceives of God (other than metaphorically, of course) as being an old man or king with a long white beard, white robes, seated upon a high and lofty throne somewhere in the farthest reaches of heaven, surrounded by angels who play unceasingly on lyres – one who believes in such a God is an idolater pure and simple! Such a person does not believe in the God of Israel.

75:
The One God exists, but because God is not a part of the physical universe, God's existence can only be comprehended intellectually and emotionally in the mind and heart of the believing Jew. It is this conceptualization of the divine essence that the Jew affirms when declaring, twice daily, Shema Yisra'el Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Eĥad: God is, God is God – Supreme and Ultimate – and God is unitary.

76:
When we believe in such a Deity it is but logical that we willingly subject our behaviour to what is perceived as being the dictates of the Deity, and it is this element that is referred to as Kabbalat Ol Malkhut Shamayaim – acceptance of Divine sovereignty. Since, when we recite the first verse of the Shema, we are accepting upon ourselves Divine sovereignty it is but fitting that this supreme declaration of belief be recited with appropriate concentration. A conscious effort should be made to think about what the words mean; this is all the more difficult when we recall that the Shema is recited so often that it becomes almost second nature to do so – and if it is sung the problem is further compounded. Thus a determined effort of concentration is required. Many people cover their eyes when reciting this verse, a physical effort to shut out all distractions.

77:
We may perhaps take our cue from Rambam's theology, as set forth consistently in many places in his writings: in his youth in his commentary on Chapter Ten of Tractate Sanhedrin in the Mishnah; in his middle years in the very first chapter of Mishneh Torah [Yesodé ha-Torah]; and in his old age as the main theme of the Guide for the Perplexed. If we do so we may perhaps have the following thoughts in our mind when reciting (or singing) the first verse of the Shema: "Listen, Jew: God is the Supreme and Ultimate Power in the Universe and God is absolutely non-physical."

78:
Divine sovereignty is also referred to directly in the second line of the Shema (in Hebrew: Barukh shem kevod malkhuto le'olam va'ed), which may be rendered as "Blessed be His Majesty's Name for ever". This doxology is not an original part of the biblical parashah. During the Yom Kippur ritual in the Bet Mikdash, whenever the High Priest would utter God's Proper Name all the people would respond "Blessed be His Majesty's Name for ever". This congregational response has survived to this day as a response to the Proper Name being uttered twice in the first sentence of the Shema. (The original pronunciation of that Proper Name has now been irretrievably lost, so we must always use the surrogate Adonai.) It is customary, usually, to recite this doxology quietly, in an undertone.

79:
The reason why it is recited softly can be traced back to its origins. In ancient times the Shema was recited in a very special manner, called in our sources pores al Shema, 'splitting Shema'. The invention of printing in the late 15th century meant that for the first time in Jewish history it was possible to mass produce prayerbooks. Until that time most people had to recite their prayers from memory; indeed, most people did not recite their prayers at all, but listened very carefully to the cantor and in order to fulfill their religious duty simply responded 'Amen' to his rendition. But the Shema was such an important element in our worship that everybody wanted to say it, and – with some prompting – everybody could recite it out loud in unison. The Shema consists of verses from the Torah and most people knew the verses fairly well, but they could not always remember the proper sequence. Therefore the manner of reciting the Shema was introduced that was called 'splitting Shema'. The cantor would call out the first word or the first couple of words of each verse and the congregation would then recite out loud the whole of that verse. Thus, the cantor would call out Shema! and the congregation would respond Shema Yisra'el Adonai Elohenu Adonai Eĥad. Then the cantor would call out Ve'ahavta! and the congregation, now prompted, would recite the next verse. When they reached the third verse the cantor would call out Vehayu ha-devarim ha'eleh and the congregation would now know which verse to rectite. This procedure was followed until all three paragraphs had been recited.

80:
But let us return for a moment to the first verse of the Shema. After the cantor had prompted them the congregation called out the first verse of the Shema. This verse twice mentions the surrogate for God's Proper Name: Adonai Eloheynu Adonai eĥad. Upon hearing the surrogate the cantor would respond quietly to himself Barukh shem kevod malkhuto le'olam va'ed, "Blessed be His Majesty's Name for ever". When it was no longer necessary to 'split Shema' the custom of adding that response in an undertone did not die out.

81:
The first parashah of the Shema contains beliefs and rituals that underpin those beliefs and that are basic to Judaism – which is why that parashah is singled out for especial concentration: belief in God's unity, love of God, Jewish education, recitation of the Shema every morning and every evening, Tefillin, Mezuzzah – we cannot imagine Judaism without these, and they are all there in that first short passage.

To be continued.

Arnold Schneider writes:

Now that you have reached the prayer itself, the Shema, I have a personal question, if I may. When the Shema is said in the daily morning prayers, I was taught to take the tzitzit and touch the tefillin arm box and then the head box, when you read the words "they should be upon your arm and upon your head" and then kiss the tzitzit. I noticed over all the many years I have been doing this that I am the only one doing it. So my question is: Did you ever hear of this custom? And if so, what is its origins.

I respond:

In the Shulĥan Arukh [Oraĥ Ĥayyim 24] Rabbi Yosef Karo mentions a custom of holding the tzitzit of the Tallit close to the heart when reciting the first paragraph of the Shema because it says that "these words … shall be upon your heart". Rabbi Moshe Isserles adds that "it is also customary to kiss the tzitzit when looking at them" [in the third paragraph of the Shema]. He then adds that "all these things are just to show affection for the mitzvah." This is, in fact, true of all such customs connected with the recitation of the Shema: they all grew up as expressions of affection for the mitzvot – of tefillin and of tzitzit. They are in no sense obligatory. Indeed, some participants may have noticed that when we discussed the second benediction before the Shema (in Tefillah 041) I omitted any mention of the custom of gathering the four fringes of the tallit at the mention of the 'four corners of the world'. I did not mention the custom because it is not obligatory and at least one great authority, the Ga'on of Vilna [1720-1797], would only take the two front tzitzit of his tallit and never kiss them at all [Ma'aseh Rav #39]. In all such customs one should do what one is comfortable with. But if Arnold's teacher taught him that these customs are obligatory he was wrong to do so.