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Parshat Vaetchanan Shema Yisrael
Maybe it is the most famous Jewish line of all: "Shema
Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad."
It would be no exaggeration to state that this
verse is the ultimate Jewish pronouncement of faith. After all, this
is the final pronouncement that a Jew will make on his deathbed. Ever
since Rabbi Akiva, this passuk has become the determined
proclamation of the Jewish martyr. And lehavdil, this is the
text that we recite twice daily in order to (in a wonderful oxymoron)
willingly impose God's sovereignty and authority in our lives – to
perform the act of "Kabbalat Ol Mulchut Shamayim." The Shulchan Aruch[1] instructs us to have full focus, absolute
concentration, as we recite this verse. But, what exactly should I be
focusing upon as I recite it? If I am supposed to be thinking about
God's "one-ness," what exactly does that abstract concept
imply? Chavruta Study 1. Dedicate a few minutes to examining this
phrase. In a chumash it may be found in Devarim 6:4 ·
What textual difficulties are
apparent in this line? Or, in other words, how might the line have
been expressed in simpler language? 2. Study the classic mepharshim on this passuk:
Rashbam, Rashi, Sephorno. How do their translations differ? ·
An interesting experiment is to pick
up a few different translated siddurim/chumashim, and to observe the
different translations on offer. Here are some pointers for the textual problems. 1. There is a change in the grammatical form
mid-sentence. "Listen Israel" is the "third
person" form. The verse then switches to 1st person
plural as it states "Hashem is OUR GOD." What is the nature
of this transition? 2. The four letter name of God – The
Tetragammaton – is repeated twice: "Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem
Echad." Why not simply write: "Hashem Elokeinu Echad?"
What is the meaning behind the double phrase: Hashem Elokeinu/Hashem
Echad"? 3. Why not state that Hashem is THE God - "Hashem
hu HaElokim"? Shiur RASHBAM – Singular Worship. "Hashem
Elokeinu: Hashem alone is our God. We have no other god in
conjunction with Him. Similarly in Divrei Hayamim (II 13:10) "And
we have Hashem our God and we have not forsaken Him," that is to
say that you (Yerovam) have the Golden Calves, but for us, Hashem is
our (exclusive) God… Hashem
Echad: We will serve Him and we will not
adjoin any other deity, even to engage in divination…" For the Rashbam, The opening line of the Shema
contains a theological statement followed by a related instruction.
First, we have only one God; that God is a single power with no
attachment, no subsidiary. Second God is to be worshipped without any
associated mini-gods, physical representations, intermediaries, and
the like. The parallel verse that the Rashbam quotes sheds
interesting perspective upon our passuk. He refers to the famous story
of Yerovam (see I Melachim ch.12-13.) Yerovam rebelled against the
kingdom of Solomon, and established a new kingdom in Northern Israel.
His big worry was that with the Beit Mikdash in Jerusalem, his
subjects would always be drawn to the kingdom of Yehudah. His solution
involved setting up two new religious centres, one in Dan And one in
Beit El, and states "These are your Gods, Israel, who brought you
up from Egypt." With this reference (clearly echoing Aharon at
the Egel) he establishes the fact that the calves will be physical
representation of God. The northern kingdom didn't abandon God as
their deity, but they introduced some "accessories" some
physical forms that represented Hashem. And so when Yerovam is
criticised for making the calves as "gods (Elohim)" (Divrei
Hayamim II 13:8) the counter statement is made:"…we have Hashem
our God (HASHEM ELOKEINU) and we have not forsaken Him" (ibid.) The Rashbam reads the Shema as: Listen O Israel.
God is our exclusive deity. God alone (is to be worshipped.) And actually, his explanation fits comfortably
into the entire context of our chapter here in Sefer Devarim, Chapter
6, which discusses the limits and appropriate form of faith in God:
"Do not forget God … do not follow other gods of the people
around you … do not test God …" (6:12-17) The entire context
is one of warnings regarding absolute loyalty to God. RASHI – A Historical Process. "Hashem, who is OUR God at the present
time, and not the God of the gentile nations, he will at a future time
be – Hashem Echad – as it states: "Then I will transform all
nations to a single speech that they will all call out in the name of
Hashem (YHVH) (Tzephania 3:9) and it states: "On that day God's
will be one (Yiheye HASHEM ECHAD) and his name will be one." (Zecharia
14:9)" Rashi reads our verse historically. After all,
why repeat the YHVH name of God twice in the passuk? Why do we state
that Hashem is OUR God rather than THE God? Rashi answers (based on
the Sifrei) with this reading. Nowadays, ONLY Am Yisrael recognise
God, hence he is OUR God. However, in future times in which all
Civilisation will recognise Hakadosh Baruch Hu as the supreme God,
then "Hashem Echad," God will be one in that everyone will
call out his name. The entire world will be as one in that they will
recognise his dominion. Notice how Rashi scans Tanach for another
context in which we can find the enigmatic combination, "Heshem
Echad." After all, what does the Torah imply by such a statement?
Rashi finds parallels in Tzephania and Zecharia in an eschatological
(End of Days) context, a future era of worldwide recognition of
God, and this contextual reference forms the base for his commentary
to this passuk. Shema then is not so much a religious
instruction as our hope for the world, a belief in the future, a
testimony to an era of Redemption and Truth. Shema tells us that the
Jewish people stands apart in this imperfect world. Indeed it is only
Am Yisrael who, at this time, recognise Hashem. However, there will be
a different future. In an era of redemption, God will then be evident
to everyone. MALBIM – Love and Fear, and the dangers of
Dualism. We haven't really spoken yet about the
difference between the names YHVH and Elokim in the context of Shema.
This is one of the key themes for the Malbim. Traditionally the name Elokim represents the
harsh, rule-based, "din" aspect of God, whereas YHVH
signifies the more worldly, human, sensitive, Rachamim features of
God. The Malbim bases himself upon this difference. A second observation by the Malbim is that he
takes note of context, focusing our attention on the fact that the
Torah prior to the verse of Shema Yisrael (see 6:2) instructs us
regarding FEAR of God, whereas immediately after this passuk, we begin
to speak (VeAhahavta) of the LOVE of God. The Malbim comments: "After
he (Moses in Sefer Devarim 6:2) has stated that the objective of the
Mitzvot is FEAR of God, - "These are the commandments, statutes
and judgements that Hashem your God commanded to teach you … that
you may fear God…" – he now comes to raise them to a higher
level of LOVE of God… All
ancient societies believed in polytheism. A common factor between them
all was that they had a god of good acts and a god of bad events. They
could not imagine that the good and bad in the world could emerge from
a single source. Hence they feared the "bad" god, and loved
the "good" god." This is a theology that we now call Dualism. It
is the fundamental layer of all Polytheism. As presented by the Malbim,
pagan theology sees God as forces of nature. But forces of nature
sometimes clash. Imagine a farmer in the ancient Near East.
Maybe it was a good year agriculturally – so the gods are
favouring me. But yesterday, my prize cow died – so god is angry
with me. How can both be true? Is god happy or angry with me? The
pagans explained that there are in fact, two gods, two addresses.
There is a god of "good" and a god of "evil", and
that these two forces govern human existence. (In certain other
systems, the division became more sophisticated with a fire god, a war
god, a rain god etc. but this dual division is the basis of the
polytheistic mindset.) The force of good gives me the good things in
life, and the force of evil punishes and precipitates disaster and
misfortune. Naturally one begins to characterise the forces of good
and evil, as forces, one of which is worthy of love and the other
worthy of fear. And this is the root of all polytheism.One fears the
bad god, and loves the force of good. The Malbim says then, that in the Torah's
transition from Fear to Love lies a theological need to restate and
stress the unity of God. We state that God is the source of good and
evil, the source of everything. "…As
the Torah comes to teach the unification of Fear and Love to the true
God it needs to precede the believe in the unity – that the God of
the world is One , that there is none besides him, and that he is the
source of all existence in all the worlds… In addition the Malbim states that: "…there
is no true evil in the world for from the one good God, only good will
emerge, and that which appears to us as evil is … all for a purpose
of good. Hence its states: HASHEM
ELOKEINU, HASHEM ECHAD: Hashem (YHVH) refers to the attribute of mercy
– the force of good – and Elokim refers to the force of Judgement
(Din) and punishment – the force of bad – IT IS ALL ONE, all good,
and in truth, only goodness and kindness; hence HVH is repeated a
second time. And after this statement of the absolute unity of God, we
can say: You shall LOVE the Lord your God …" SHEMA AS A PRAYER. BACK TO RASHI. We have seen Rashi and also the Malbim. I wonder
if we might simply adjust things a little. In this shiur and on
previous occasions we have remarked on the fact that God may be viewed
from a variety of vantage points. One perspective of the world sees
God as the master of order (as in Bereshit ch.1 - Elokim) in which all
events of the world have a planned and organised mechanism and where
life follows a correct pattern. This is a world in which we experience
a God of Justice, a God of truth and order. Here the world makes
sense. But then sometimes, life doesn't go to plan. Sometimes, we experience hardship in this world. Even then, God has a place; God supports us, he challenges and tests us (God as YHV"H – Bereshit ch.2). At these times, the experience of Justice and order are distant and elusive. But God is very much present even in our flawed human existence, as the source of our humanity despite its pitfalls, its pain and injustice. God can be manifest as master of order, and also
the God of disorder? If "Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad," then
possibly we can (in a sort of Rashi way) perceive Shema as a prayer, a
plea. We can read Shema and request that we be allowed to witness and
experience Unity of Hashem and Elokim, the caring God, and the God of
Truth. That we may behold the God of history in a manner that will be
truly evident of His values of truth, caring, peace, justice and
holiness. Shabbat Shalom ©
Alex Israel 5764 |
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