Shema question for George

[angels4u]

Hi George,

Would you be able to explain to me what Shema prayers are and where they are used for?

Last Sunday the preachers mentioned Shema prayers as how the Israelites used to expres their love for God.

Was this real love for the Lord or ritual reading?

Are they still being used??

I would like to learn more from it and what are fringes (being used to pray with?

Tx alot, Angels

[M45510G1C]

Hi George,

Would you be able to explain to me what Shema prayers are and where they are used for?

Last Sunday the preachers mentioned Shema prayers as how the Israelites used to expres their love for God.

Was this  real love for the Lord or ritual reading?

Are they still being used??

I would like to learn more from it  and what are fringes (being used to pray with?

Tx alot, Angels   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I'm not George, but I do say the Shema every day

Most Orthodox Jews also recite the Shema regularly.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad.

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Barukh Shem k'vod malkhuto l'olam va-ed

Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever

V-ahavta et Adonai Elohecha b-chol l'vavcha u-v-chol naf'sh'cha u-v-chol m'odecha.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

V-hayu ha-d'varim ha-ayleh asher anochi m'tzav'cha ha-yom al l'vavecha.

And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

V-shinantam l-vanecha, v-dibarta bam

b-shivt'cha b-vaytecha, u-v-lecht'cha ba-derech, u-v-shachb'cha u-v-kumecha.

And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them

when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

U-k'shartam l'ot al yadecha, v-hayu l-totafot bayn aynecha.

And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

U-chtavtam al m'zuzot baytecha u-vi-sharecha.

And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 11:13-21

V-haya im shamoa tish'mu el mitzvotai

asher anochi m'tzaveh etchem ha-yom, l-ahavah et Adonai Elohaychem,

u-l-avdo b-chol l'vavchem u-v-chol nafsh'chem.

And it shall come to pass if you surely listen to the commandments

that I command you today, to love the Lord your God,

and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul,

V-natati m'tar artzchem b-ito, yoreh u-malkosh;

v-asafta d'ganecha, v-tirosh'cha v-yitzharecha.

That I will give rain to your land, the early and the late rains,

that you may gather in your grain, your wine and your oil.

V-natati aysev b-sad'cha li-b'hem'techa; v-achalta v-savata.

And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle and you will eat and you will be satisfied.

Hishamru lachem, pen yifteh l'vavchem,

v-sartem va-avadtem elohim achayrim, v-hishtachavitem lahem.

Beware, lest your heart be deceived,

and you turn and serve other gods, and worship them.

V-charah af Adonai bachem, v-atzar et ha-shamayim v-lo yihyeh matar,

v-ha-adama lo titayn et y'vulah;

va-avadtem m'hayrah mayal ha-aretz ha-tovah asher Adonai notayn lachem.

And anger of the Lord will blaze against you, and he will close the heavens and there will not be rain,

and the earth will not give you its fullness,

and you will perish quickly from the good land that the Lord gives you.

V-sam'tem et d'varai ayleh al l'vavchem v-al naf'sh'chem;

u-kshartem otam l-ot al yedchem, v-hayu ltotafot bayn aynaychem.

So you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your soul;

and you shall bind them for signs on your hands, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

V-limadtem otam et b'naychem l-daber bam

b-shivt'cha b-vaytecha, u-v-lecht'cha baderech, u-v-shachb'cha u-v-kumecha.

And you shall teach them to your children, and you shall speak of them

when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

U-ch'tavtam al m'zuzot baytecha u-vi-sharecha.

And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

L'ma'an yirbu y'maychem vi-y'may v'naychem al ha-adamah asher nishba Adonai

la-avotaychem latayt lahem ki-y'may ha-shamayim al ha-aretz.

In order to prolong your days and the days of your children on the land that the Lord promised

your fathers that he would give them, as long as the days that the heavens are over the earth.

Numbers 15:37-41

Vayomer Adonai el Mosheh laymor.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying...

Daber el b'nay Yisrael v-amarta alayhem,

v-asu lahem tzitzit al can'fay vi-g'dayhem l-dorotam,

v-natnu al tzitzit ha-canaf p'til t'chaylet.

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them,

they should make themselves tzitzit (fringes) on the corners of their clothing throughout their generations,

and give the tzitzit of each corner a thread of blue.

V-hayah lachem l-tzitzit, u-r'iytem oto u-z'chartem et kol mitzvot Adonai,

va-asiytem otam v-lo taturu acharay l-vavchem

v-acharay aynaychem, asher atem zonim acharaychem.

And they shall be tzitzit for you, and when you look at them you will remember all of the Lord's commandments

and do them and not follow after your heart

and after your eyes, which lead you astray.

L'ma-an tiz'k'ru v-asitem et kol mitzvotai, vi-h'yiytem k'doshim laylohaychem.

In order to remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.

Ani Adonai Elohaychem, asher hotzaytiy etchem mayeretz Mitzrayim,

li-h'yot lahem laylohim. Ani Adonai Elohaychem.

I am the Lord, your God, who lead you from the land of Egypt

to be a god to you. I am the Lord, your God.

[M45510G1C]

Originally, the Shema consisted only of the one verse: Deuteronomy 6:4. The recitation of the Shema in the liturgy, however, consists of three portions: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. These three portions relate to the central issues of Jewish belief.

Additionally, the Talmud points out that subtle references to the Ten Commandments can be found in the three portions. As the Ten Commandments were removed from daily prayer in the Mishnaic period, the Shema is seen as an opportunity to commemorate the Ten Commandments.

The first portion relates to the issue of the kingship of God. The first verse, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord," has ever been regarded as the confession of belief in the One (Echad being a compound singular, one in the sense that a bunch of grapes is one) God.

The following verses (commonly referred to by the first word of the verse immediately following the Shema as the "V'ahavta", meaning "And you shall love...") contain the commands to love God with heart, soul, and might; to remember all commandments and instruct the children therein; to recite the words of God when retiring or rising; to bind those words "on the arm and the head" (a reference to tefillin), and to inscribe them on the door-posts and on the city gates (a reference to mezuzah).

The passage following the "Shema" and "V'ahavta" relates to the issue of reward and punishment. It contains the promise of reward for the fulfilment of the laws, and the threat of punishment for their transgression, with a repetition of the contents of the first portion.

The third portion relates to the issue of redemption. Specifically, it contains the law concerning the tzitzit as a reminder that all the laws of God are to be obeyed, as a warning against following the evil inclinations of the heart, and, finally, in remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. For the prophets and Rabbis, the exodus from Egypt is paradigmatic of Jewish faith that God will redeem them from all forms of foreign domination.

The Shema is a very big deal in Jewish culture, it is the very first thing male children are taught upon learning to speak.

The Shema was the battle-cry of the priest in calling Israel to arms against an enemy (Deuteronomy 20:3; Talmud Sotah 42a). It is the last word of the dying in his confession of faith. It was on the lips of those who suffered and were tortured for the sake of the Law.

Rabbi Akiva patiently endured while his flesh was being torn with iron combs, and died reciting the Shema. He pronounced the last word of the sentence, "Echad" (one) with his last breath (Talmud Berachot 61b).

Shema is one of the passages that are quoted in the New Testament. Mark 12:29 mentions that Yahshua considered the Shema the beginning exhortation of the first of his two greatest commandments: 'And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord."

[Ani Ma'amin!]

M45510GIC, do you know all of this from outside study and/or were you at the Sh'ma class on Friday morning at Messiah 2003? I believe the class was at 9am with a Messianic Rabbi who I had not heard of, in Poorman Auditorium. If you were at the class, then you may have noticed a Korean young adult sitting on the right hand side of the place, a few rows from the front. That was me.

[M45510G1C]

Naw, I know it from ym own studies. I have never attended Messiah conference, though I would like to sometime.

[angels4u]

Thank you for explaining all of this in such detail....you wrote:

Well, I'm not George, but I do say the Shema every day

May I ask why you say those prayer?

Are they ment to use repetitive?

Are you born again?

Didn't Jesus tell us not to say repetitive? prayers?

Tx Angels

[nebula]

Didn't Jesus tell us not to say repetitive? prayers?

You mean like:

"Our Father, who art in Heaven

Hallowed by Thy name . . ."?

[angels4u]

Hi Nebula

I'm wondering how you are doing

You are still in University, right?

How did your year go,and are you done?

To answer your question :

Yes I was wondering if the Shema prayer is sort of the same prayer as "Our Father"?

YSIC:Angels

[M45510G1C]

Thank you for explaining all of this in such detail....you wrote:

Well, I'm not George, but I do say the Shema every day

May I ask why you say those prayer?

Are they ment to use repetitive?

Are you born again?

Didn't Jesus tell us not to say repetitive? prayers?

Tx Angels

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am born again

I don't know that this is the sort of thing Yeshua was talking about, but it may bear some consideration.

For me, and I think this is the standard view, the Shema is a way of centering Yahweh in one's life. When I awake it is the first thing I do and the last thing I do before going to bed. It is also a private thing. Certainly each of our relationships with Him is different, and this may not be a good thing for everyone to do. It is a matter of the heart. If you think you will be listened to more for your many words, its no good. If you are doing it to focus yourself on Yahweh, to express your love for Him and His commandments I don't really see a problem with it.

When asked what the most important commandments were Yeshua quoted the part of the Shema:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

More than anything it is a daily and constant reminder that we should live for Him, He should be the center of our lives.

And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them

when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It is also a reminder of His promises, that if we do make Him the center of our lives, He will do good things for us (though they may not always be the "good things" we desire).

It is difficult for me to put my thoughts on this matter into words, but I hope I have given you a decent answer to your question.

[Ahavah]

And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them

when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It is also a reminder of His promises, that if we do make Him the center of our lives, He will do good things for us (though they may not always be the "good things" we desire).

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right on