Parshat Va'etchanan continues to review the actions of the Israelites in the desert and the many transgressions that prevented Moshe from entering the Promised Land are highlighted. In addition, Moshe recounts how close God is to the Israelites and the many ways that God has shown favor to the nation. The Parsha contains much wisdom, including the ten commandments.
The Shema is included in Parshat Vaetchanan. I do not know if this poem does justice to a statement of belief. In my mind, as I wrote this piece, was the memory of saying the Shema as our parents lay dying. The words of the Shema, which follow us through our lives, are anchors to our belief. Whether recited Al Kiddush HaShem, by martyrs such as Rabbi Akiva, or in a first grade classroom, or as a goodnight prayer, these six words link us to God and to each other.
I can only hope that these words can do some small bit of justice to this statement which defies all descriptions.
Six Words
And once there was a word
expanding to six
Like the six days of creation
each word a spark
an enigma
a mystery
Inspired
Kadosh
A command
From a mountaintop hidden in clouds
Sh’ma
Yisrael
HaShem
Elokeynu
HaShem
Echad
The words
formed in fire,
etched in stone.
And from that fiery beginning
from the force known as God,
to the lips of Moses,
our teacher,
came the words
that cemented
a people.
And once they were uttered
in a whisper or a shout
it was a beginning
and they have been
proclaimed
again and again,
pronounced as many times
as the stars in the firmament
as the waves in the tide,
as the sands of the sea.
From then until now,
From now until
until.....
Words,
not of war or peace,
not of sadness or happiness
not of life or death.
Listen
Israel
HaShem is your God
HaShem is one
One.
From perceiving
to hearing
to recognizing
to affirmation
to obeying
We say it
We sing it
We call it out
We expand it
We cry it out
We argue it
We beseech it
sometimes said with no thought
and sometimes with the very strength
of our being
We whisper it to ourselves
when we
are frightened.
We teach it
lovingly
ferociously
to our children.
When we say it together
it is a power that is magnified.
When we whisper it alone
it gives us comfort and strength.
We say the words and we remember
We say the words and we are.
We are.
The words,
the one, the six
They travel with us through our lives
our moves,
our transitions.
Through good and the bad.
Through the sad and the happy
From morning until night.
The words are our challenge,
our comfort.
They are our honor,
our privilege,
our inheritance.
Six words which define us.
They are,
from generation to generation
our connection.
They are Your hope for us.
They are our commitment.
They are the ring upon our finger.
Binding us forever,
One to each other.
Six words
a marriage of forever
in sickness and in health.
They are our constant,
our north star
our guide
as the world swirls around us.
Shema Yisrael HaShem Elokeinu HaShem Echad
Words that have escaped from
lips bloodied and cracked.
The words are there at our beginning.
They are there with us
as we take our last breaths.
*****. ** ***** **
From the top of a mountain
the words came.
Sis words
branded in fire.
Once there was one word
that expanded to six.
Your words
Our words
Ringing from the mountain
or whispered
softly in our hearts
so only our souls can hear.
Shema Yisrael HaShem Elokeinu
HaShem Echad
May we merit always to recite these words.
שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד:
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Deuteronomy 6:4 (Translation from Sefaria)