Chema Israel

Listen, Israel, the Eternal our God One

• Which is " Israël" ?

• According to the context of the verse even, it acts of the people of Israel, to which Moïse is addressed. Chémâ Israel is thus a teaching: earlier in the Bible (Exodus 24:7), the people exclaimed: Na' adze venichma , “we will make and we will listen” (see the interpretation of this verse). " Israël" in this prayer also refers to Jacob/Yaacov (third patriarch of the Old Testament) which following its combat with an angel is famous " Israël". This verse was recited by the twelve children of Jacob/Yaacov to reassure it on its bed of dead because their father feared that once late they forget his lesson and the gods of Egypt do not venerate. Yaacov had this fear because before dying, whereas it was to announce to them the date of arrival of the Messiah, it had a lapse of memory and believed that his/her children were not deserving with the eyes of ieu. Once this sentence repeated by the children of the patriarch, the heart of this last calmed down and he answered in a last breath of life: " Blessed is forever the Name of Its reign glorieux". This teaching, it is the Monothéisme, it is time to listen to it, and to accept on oneself the yoke of the royalty of the skies ( kabbalat ol malkhout chamaïm) (Michna Berakhot 2:5). The Jews were until there monotheists " by tradition" , it is time that they include/understand one of the most difficult notions of the Judaism, and one of its most fundamental: the Eternal, who Is our God (the Almighty), Is One.
  Non only one (Single), but One: the multiplicity of its attributes, generosity, justice, mercy, etc is apparent, and due to the failure of the man to apprehend, in all the extent of its finitude, infinity in all the extent of its infinitude. The generosity of God is His justice is Its miséricorde
  Cet teaching is so difficult that Maïmonide begins its Michné Torah with the words " Knows that there exists a Being First at the base of tout". Knows and not Crois (according to an oral teaching of Rav Leon Askénazi, known as Manitou - to see " Moral significance of the monothéisme" on its site and the responsa 11822 and following on cheela.org)
• One can also interpret this proclamation as uttered by 12 sons of the patriarch Israel with their father, Jacob, who accepted this name of Israel after having fought a ange.

  Rabbi Josué Ben Levi ( a strongly famous Amora for its aggadic lesson ) known as: " Jacob, right before dying, was about to reveal the end of time “Fin of the Days” to his children, when Chekhina (divine Presence) was diverted him suddenly. Jacob feared that one of his/her children was perhaps unworthy. However, they exclaimed all “Listening, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord Is One,” it by what they wanted to say, “As a God we are all ones (in the belief of God, we all are plain)”; then Jacob answered, 'Baroukh Chem (Kevod leolam va' ED) '" (treaty Pessa' him. 56a; to also see Berechit Rabba 98.).

• It can still act of the people of Israel, to which the nations are addressed, when they recognize, according to the prophecy of Sophonie Sophonie, that God is One and His Name One.

Blessed either forever the name of Its glorious reign

• Why the second line, " Baroukh chem kevod, etc." , is she written in small characters, and decides it with low voice, except Yom Kippour?

• the question is amply treated in the treated Pessa' him, 56a page (cf, e.a, the aggada of Rabbi Josué Ben Levi supra). See the responsa 14355 and following on the cheela.org site for more detail
• the treaty Pessa' him 56a also brings back the interesting opinion of Abbahou, a Amora having lived and preached in Israel: in Palestine (where the Christians were enough prévalents and preached the doctrines trinitarist, or at the very least, the existence of God the Father and God the Son), it should be recited with high voice, in order to affirm high and strong the unit of God. On the other hand, with Nehardea (town of Babylon, where the Christians were unknown), it should be said to low voice.
• One will note that Rabbi Juda haNassi, worried by his studies, put his hand on his eyes and repeated the first verse in silence (Talmud Berakhot 13a).

• Actuellement, the first verse is read with high voice as well by the officiant or the cantor as by the congregation, which answers then by the Baroukh Chem silently. The Ashkénaze S read then the remainder of Chémâ in silence, whereas Sépharades read it with high voice (other than Baroukh Chem, and of the warning in the event of idolatry, cf second section).

Veahavta (And you will like)

The remainder of the first section, named according to the first word according to the proclamation of Chémâ in the Torah, enjoint to love God constantly, in any place, and to teach it with its enfants.
Obligation to teach the Torah (" these paroles"), the passage contains subtle references to the Ten Commands enumerated in the Talmud.
Elle also contains, according to the Juifs rabbanites, an allusion to the Tefilin and the parchments to make appear in a Mezouzah, become by the virtue of this verse a " sign distinctif" of a Jewish house.
Les Karaïte S does not recognize the use of the tefilin (they interpret totafot like zikaron , " souvenir"), and their mezouzot does not include/understand these parchments (they are plates taking again the Ten Commands).

second section

וְהָיָה, אִם - שָׁמֹעַתִּשְׁמְעוּאֶל - מִצְוֹתַי, אֲשֶׁראָנֹכִימְצַוֶּהאֶתְכֶם, הַיּוֹם--לְאַהֲבָהאֶת - יְהוָהאֱלֹהֵיכֶם, וּלְעָבְדוֹ, בְּכָל - לְבַבְכֶם, וּבְכָל - נַפְשְׁכֶם.
וְנָתַתִּימְטַר - אַרְצְכֶםבְּעִתּוֹ, יוֹרֶהוּמַלְקוֹשׁ; וְאָסַפְתָּדְגָנֶךָ, וְתִירֹשְׁךָוְיִצְהָרֶךָ.
וְנָתַתִּיעֵשֶׂבבְּשָׂדְךָ, לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ; וְאָכַלְתָּ, וְשָׂבָעְתָּ.
הִשָּׁמְרוּלָכֶם, פֶּןיִפְתֶּהלְבַבְכֶם; וְסַרְתֶּם, וַעֲבַדְתֶּםאֱלֹהִיםאֲחֵרִים, וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם, לָהֶם.
וְחָרָהאַף - יְהוָהבָּכֶם, וְעָצַראֶת - הַשָּׁמַיִםוְלֹא - יִהְיֶהמָטָר, וְהָאֲדָמָה, לֹאתִתֵּןאֶת - יְבוּלָהּ; וַאֲבַדְתֶּםמְהֵרָה, מֵעַלהָאָרֶץהַטֹּבָה, אֲשֶׁריְהוָה, נֹתֵןלָכֶם.
וְשַׂמְתֶּםאֶת - דְּבָרַיאֵלֶּה, עַל - לְבַבְכֶםוְעַל - נַפְשְׁכֶם; וּקְשַׁרְתֶּםאֹתָםלְאוֹתעַל - יֶדְכֶם, וְהָיוּלְטוֹטָפֹתבֵּיןעֵינֵיכֶם.
וְלִמַּדְתֶּםאֹתָםאֶת - בְּנֵיכֶם, לְדַבֵּרבָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָבְּבֵיתֶךָוּבְלֶכְתְּךָבַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָוּבְקוּמֶךָ.
וּכְתַבְתָּםעַל - מְזוּזוֹתבֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ.
לְמַעַןיִרְבּוּיְמֵיכֶם, וִימֵיבְנֵיכֶם, עַלהָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁרנִשְׁבַּעיְהוָהלַאֲבֹתֵיכֶםלָתֵתלָהֶם--כִּימֵיהַשָּׁמַיִם, עַל - הָאָרֶץ.

Vehaya im shamoa tishmeou el- mitzvot have asher anokhi metzave etkhem hayom le' ahava ett Teenager-nay Elo-hekhem ou' leavdo, bekhol levav' khem oubekhol nafshè' hem
Venatati metar- artze' khem be' ito yorè or malkosh, ve' assafta deganekha, vetirosh' kha ve' yitsarekha
Venatati etsev besadekha liv' hemtekha, ve' akhalta vesavata.
Hishamrou lakhem (with low voice) PEN yfte levavkhem; vesartem va' avadtem elohim a' herim, vehishta' havitem lahem.
Ve' will hara af Teenager-nay bakhem, ve' atsar ett hashamaïm, bicycle yhye matar, va' adama lo titen ett yevoula, va' avadtem will mehera me' Al haaretz hatova asher Teenager-nay noten lakhem (one begins again with high voice)
Vesam' tem ett devaraï it Al-levavkhem ve' Al nafshekhem; oukshartem otam the ot Al yadèkhem, vehayou the totafot bein eïnèkhem
Velimadetem otam ett-bènèkhem ledaber bam, beshiv' tekha be' veithekha ou' v' lekhtekha baderekh, ouv' shokhbekha ou' v' koumekha
Ou' khtav' tam Al mezouzot beitekha or vish' areikha
Lema' year yirbou yèmèkhem vèyimè benekhem Al hadama, asher nishba Teenager-nay la' avotèkhem latèt lahèm, kiyemeï hashamaïm Al ha' aretz.

If you carry out the commands that I prescribe you today, to love and serve to the Eternal your God of all your heart and all your heart.
I will in good time send (known as the Eternal) to your country the rain, the hasty rain and the late rain, and you will return your grains, your wines and your oils.
I will make grow grass for your cattle. (You will thus have all in abundance; ) you will eat, and you will be satisfied.
(with low voice,) But keep well your heart against the seduction; you do not draw aside (good way); do not serve as other gods, and you do not prosternez in front of them .
the anger of the Eternal would ignite against you; there would close the tanks of the sky, it would be no rain, the ground would not give its fruits, and you would be banished soon of this good country which the Eternal will have given you . (one begins again with high voice)
Prenez thus my words in heart, nourish your spirit, attach signs them on your hand, and carry them like a fronteau between the eyes.
Teach them with your children, speak in your houses, on a journey, by laying down you and while raising you.
Write them on the posts of your houses and your doors.
So that you remain in the country which the Eternal swore with your ancestors them to give, as a long time as the sky will be above the ground.

This passage includes in rather similar terms the commands of Chémâ, the proclamation and the transmission of the monotheism, but there assistant also the idea of remuneration, positive or negative. The warning in the event of idolatry is uttered with low voice, because, in addition to its crippling aspect, it marks more if it is recited on a lower tone. Moreover, whereas the remainder of the prayer is said to high voice and collectively, this " recitation with voice basse" in fact a passage which each individual recites personally, which increases even more the attention that it carries there.

3rd section

וַיֹּאמֶריְהוָה, אֶל - מֹשֶׁהלֵּאמֹר.
דַּבֵּראֶל - בְּנֵייִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּאֲלֵהֶם, וְעָשׂוּלָהֶםצִיצִתעַל - כַּנְפֵיבִגְדֵיהֶם, לְדֹרֹתָם; וְנָתְנוּעַל - צִיצִתהַכָּנָף, פְּתִילתְּכֵלֶת
וְהָיָהלָכֶם, לְצִיצִת, וּרְאִיתֶםאֹתוֹוּזְכַרְתֶּםאֶת - כָּל - מִצְוֹתיְהוָה, וַעֲשִׂיתֶםאֹתָם; וְלֹא - תָתוּרוּאַחֲרֵילְבַבְכֶם, וְאַחֲרֵיעֵינֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר - אַתֶּםזֹנִים, אַחֲרֵיהֶם
לְמַעַןתִּזְכְּרוּ, וַעֲשִׂיתֶםאֶת - כָּל - מִצְוֹתָי; וִהְיִיתֶםקְדֹשִׁים, לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם
אֲנִייְהוָהאֱלֹהֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁרהוֹצֵאתִיאֶתְכֶםמֵאֶרֶץמִצְרַיִם, לִהְיוֹתלָכֶם, לֵאלֹהִים: אֲנִי, יְהוָהאֱלֹהֵיכֶם.

Vaydaber Teenager-nay el-Moshe lèmor:
Daber el Beneï Israel, ve' amarta aleihem, ve' assou lahem tzitzit 'Al-kanefeï bigdehem ledorotam; venatenou Al-Tzitzit hakanaf petil tekhelet
Vehaya lakhem lètzitzit, our' item oto, ou' zekhartem ett-kol-mitzvot Teenager-nay va' assitem otam, bicycle tatourou a' harè levav' khem ve' a' harè eïnekhem asher atem zonim a' harèhem.
lèma' year tizkèrou va' assitèm ett-kol mitzvotaï, vaha' ytem kèdoshim le' Elo-hèkhem.
Ani Elo-hèkhem Teenager-nay, ashère hotseti etkhem mèèretz Mitzrayim, lihyot lahème lèèlo-him.
Ani teenager-nay elo' hekhem, Emits.

the Eternal called to Brace in these terms:
Speaks to the children about Israel and say to them that they make, them and their generations, of the Tzitzith to the angles of their clothing, and that they attach to these Tzitzith a cord of azure.
It will be for you of Tzitzith (an object of meditation); you will look at them, they will point out all the laws of the Eternal to you; you will observe them, and you will not deviate to follow the bad inclinations of your heart and mislayings of your eyes.
So that you remembered My regulations; you will carry out them, and you will be devoted to your god.
Je am the Eternal, your God, who delivered you of Egypt to be your god. I am the Eternal, your God.

The third section is thématiquement related to the preceding ones. She reports the regulation made to the Hebrews braid with the four corners of their clothing (which, at the time, resembled togas somewhat) of the fringes to which sticks a blue wire.
Ces fringes is, like the totafot, a sign of recall of the laws to be observed, as well as perverse inclinations of which it is necessary to be secured.
Il is supported here on the fact that God who gave these commands Is That which made leave the people Israel d' Egypte.
Tant for the rabbis who prophets, the exodus is paradigmatic faith Juive in the redemption operated by God on any form of domination.

In short

Does all turn around the assertion of God E' had ? The first section orders to like of all the components of its being, and to perpetuate these words and these commands.
Y to obey, known as the second section, brings the reward, to disobey the punition.
it In order to make sure of the realization of these fundamental commands, God prescribed, in the third section, a sign rememorator, the prot of fringes to the four corners of its clothing.

The twice-daily recitation

The regulation to proclaim Chémâ twice a day is immediately drawn from the first section of Chémâ itself (Deut 6:7: " with your sleeping, your lever" ; to see Talmud of Babylon treated Berakhot 2a).

Its twice-daily recitation, according to Flavius Josèphe, was prescribed by Moïse itself (" Antiquités" 6:8), and was at all times regarded as a divine command (to be however noted a different opinion recorded in Sifre on Deut. 31).

According to Talmud (Soukkot 42a), as soon as a child starts to speak, it is prescribed with his/her father to teach him the verse " Torah tsiva lanou Moshe, morasha kehilat Yaakov " (Brace prescribed us a law, heritage for the congregation of Jacob -- Deut 33:4) and to learn how to him to read Chémâ.

Satellite blessings

The Blessings preceding and following Chémâ are traditionally allotted to the members of the Grande Parliament, and were included in the liturgy as of the time of the first Temple.

They are two front, two afterwards, and vary according to the morning or the evening. Talmud insists on the point that a person not reciting these prayers, or doing those of the morning the evening and vice versa did not discharge obligation of the twice-daily reading.
Tant the morning that the evening, the first blessing according to Chémâ starts with the word Emet (a truth).
L' use developed to finish Chémâ by this word and to wait until the officiant finished his reading, although Chémâ must stop at the end of Numbers 15:41 (ani H' elok/he' hem).

For the anecdote, one requested one day from a dynastic leader hassidic which verse started and finished by ani H' elok/he' hem. Its grandson, then 3 years old, itself future leader, answered without same being turned over " that where Moïse did not say Emet".

Chémâ of sleeping

The first section of Chéma is also recited before lying down.
Pour Rachi, it is a habit instituted in order to discharge recitation of Chémâ " well; with your coucher" , because the moment when Chémâ is proclaimed in the synagogs for the office of the evening is too early compared to the moment when people really go coucher.
Pour of others, it is derived from the verse 4:4 of the Psalms " Speak in your hearts on your layer, then conceal you ".
At all events, it is a rabbinical and nonbiblical institution.

Other mentions of Chémâ in the Jewish tradition, Christianity and Islam and the literature

• Chémâ was the war cry of the priest, launching Israel against the enemy (Deutéronome 20:3; Talmud Sotah 42a).

• It is also the last word of those which die as believers, and became that of the martyrs tortured for their faith. Although there was of it much under the Spanish Enquiry, most known is Rabbi Akiva, which, tortured with iron clippers and burned while a sponge is in a hurry on its head and its heart in order to lengthen the torment, dies by reciting Chémâ, expires even by pronouncing E' had (One). A voice is then made hear sky: " Happy which, as Rabbi Akiva, dies by saying E' had" (Talmud Berakhot 61b).

• Primo Levi, Juif surviving of the concentration camp of Auschwitz, foreword thus its book If it is a man, who recalls his experiment in the camps (extracted):