Beth Schafer
This week’s Torah portion, Va’etchanan, brings us right into the center of Jewish life with the words of the Sh’ma: “Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.”
Most of us know these words by heart. We’ve sung them in community or to a child at bedtime, maybe at camp, in a moment of deep conviction, or at the bedside of someone who is at the end of their life. I, myself, have taken to uttering its words upon take-off and landing on an airplane. What I love about the Sh’ma is how it never stops unfolding. And, at different moments in our lives, we find ourselves clinging to different words.
Sometimes the word we need most is the very first one: Sh’ma—Listen. In the rush of our daily lives, it’s so easy to get caught up in our own voices and the noise around us. “Sh’ma” is that gentle nudge to stop and listen. To listen to the people who need us. To listen to the quiet inside ourselves. To listen for the presence of the Divine in a world that is humming all the time.
Other times, it’s the closing word that sings out: Echad—One. This is more than saying there’s only one God. It’s about declaring that God is One. The oneness of God pulls together all the scattered pieces of our world, and all the scattered pieces of us. When we affirm Echad, we remember that everything belongs, and everything is connected.
And sometimes, the word that grounds us is Yisrael—Israel. Not only as a nation or a land, but as a people. To say “Sh’ma Yisrael” is to remind ourselves that we are part of something larger than our own personal stories. When we emphasize “Yisrael,” we lean into our shared calling: to live as a people who strive for wholeness, justice, and peace.
That’s the gift of the Sh’ma. Six short words, a lifetime of meanings. A child may hear them as a lullaby. A seeker may hear them as a call. Someone in pain may hear them as a comfort. Wherever we are, the Sh’ma finds us.
The Sh’ma was one of the first pieces of liturgy I set to music over 25 years ago. It has always touched me that it was one of the versions sung here at Temple Sinai before my arrival and one that we still use today. I re-recorded and re-released it this year in its most simple form. You can find it anywhere you stream music. Here are a couple of links for easy listening.
Sh’ma Yisrael… may we keep learning to listen, may we keep finding our way back to Oneness, and may we remember we never walk this path alone.
