The Torah portion this week includes the Shema, the watchword of our faith. I remember singing the Shema as a child, oblivious to its meaning. Why, I asked myself, should a prayer not be addressed to a 'you,' and why did I feel nothing special when repeating those words?
When I was young and had a problem, I always knew that I could turn to my mother and father. They were the 'yous' in my life. God, on the other hand, was only One, a number, and numbers do not speak. Later, I became more confused when I learned that God was One to which there is no number two. Scholars tried to ameliorate the problem by changing the translation from 'One' to 'unique' or 'alone'. Those words never much helped the child in me. God had to be approachable and more than part of a mathematical system. God had to be more understandable than a word like unique or alone, which had no parallel in this world.
And I never quite understood why we proclaim "Hear O Israel . . ." What is the purpose of telling other Jews what they already know? And the Shema was not pretty. The words had no special charm, and the chant was more rote repetition than song. Our tradition has so many other words and songs to say and sing that were o so beautiful. Why should we put such emphasis on the Shema?
Years had to pass before I understood the importance of those few words. You see, the Shema is about God, and there is no way to describe God in this world. However, with proper meditation during the Shema, one comes to recognize God's imprint on the world. One comes to see Godliness in every nook and cranny of our existence. The whole world proclaims 'You' to one who is able to get lost in the words of the Shema. In those words, God does reveal Himself to those who have used the years to strip all the false definitions of God that they were exposed to.
The Shema is a beginning to a Jew's perception of the Godliness that envelops the world. It does contain God's You. In its simplicity it holds overwhelming beauty. All other prayers are adjunct to the Shema. That simple proclamation is where Jewish spirituality commences.
The Shema is where a Jew begins to pray.