Shema: Loving Hashem

A significant lesson of the Shema prayer is that a person must first implement something before he teaches his children the same thing. In other words, a parent must be a good example and a role model. He cannot teach what he doesn’t do. That’s why the Torah first says, “And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart” (Deut. 6:6), and only afterwards, “You shall teach them thoroughly to your children” (ibid, 7).  This order of passages teaches us that once a parent internalizes Hashem’s commandments and firmly embeds them in his heart, only then can he teach those commandments to his children and expect them to uphold them.

We’re not talking about human logic or educational methodology; the Torah commands that a person must first work on himself – learning to love Hashem and cling to Him – and then he’ll be able to pass it on to his children, especially when he lives his love for Hashem and it becomes a part of his very being. Likewise, a father must fulfill the other mitzvot mentioned in the Shema, such as guarding his eyes and avoiding the temptations of the heart, and he’ll be able to pass them also on to his children. A person who lives the Torah won’t need to preach or nag. He won’t need all sorts of ethics books and educational manuals either. The father who recites the Shema word for word in sincere intent, does his very best to live by it and devotes as much time and effort as he can do daily personal prayer will be a wonderful role model and automatically good educator for his children, for his personal example is stronger than a thousand lectures.

Some people feel funny in saying the Shema prayer. They ask, “How can I repeat the commandment of loving Hashem when I’m not anywhere near that level yet? Isn’t that lying to Hashem?” Don’t worry. We all have work to do in that area. It’s enough that we desire to reach the level of truly loving Hashem, even though we’re not there yet, and our prayer is considered honest and sincere.

When we say the Shema as prescribed in the Code of Jewish Law, reciting each word carefully like counting diamonds, we give ourselves a golden opportunity to contemplate what we’re saying, to comprehend the message and to intenalize it.

We say thrice daily, “And you shall love Hashem your God with all your heart”. Yet, so many people walk around like drunkards, bewildered, buried in bodily lust and chasing after the mirage of material amenities, not thinking for a single moment that they should be loving Hashem even though they prayed morning and night. Loving Hashem is the first foundation of Judaism! We’re not even talking about piety or lofty spiritual levels of righteousness – loving Hashem is basic-level Judaism!

The Shema prayer consists of three segments:

• Segment One: “Hear O Israel, Hashem our God, Hashem is One…” (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9)
• Segment Two: “It will be that if you hearken to My commandments…to love Hashem your God…” (ibid, 11: 13-21)
• Segment Three: “And Hashem spoke unto Moses, saying: ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, and and tell them to make them throughout their generations tzitzit (fringes) in the corners of their garments, and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue. And you shall have tzitzit, that you may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Hashem, and do them; and you shall not follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you go astray; so you’ll remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Hashem your God” (Numbers 15: 38-41).

Our sages included Segment Three, which commands us to wear tzitzit, because it reminds us that Hashem took us out of Egypt; remembering our exodus from Egypt is also one of the 613 commandments of the Torah, one that should be fulfilled not only daily, but frequently every single day. Yet, there are numerous passages in the Torah that remind us of the same, so why did our sages pick this particular passage, to be said alongside the most important mitzvoth of the Torah, loving Hashem and teaching our children?

“You shall not follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you go astray.” This is the commandment of guarding our eyes – not a matter of piety or Kabbala, but one of the 613  commandments of the Torah. This too is basic Judaism! That’s why our sages included Numbers 15:38-41 as the third segment of the Shema.

Furthermore, one can talk all day long about loving Hashem and clinging to Him, but if he doesn’t guard his eyes against the temptations of the material world and the promiscuity that’s ever so prevalent, he’ll never be able to love Hashem and cling to Him. The Torah juxtaposes the eyes and the heart, for whatever the eye sees, the heart desires. A person who is looking at women all day long will desire them, Heaven forbid, and not Hashem.

We all have a solemn obligation to beg Hashem daily to help us guard our eyes and rid us of bodily lust and appetites, for loving Hashem with all our heart necessitates ridding ourselves of bodily craving. This is no simple task and it won’t come easy; it requires daily personal prayer and concerted effort. Taking one’s bodily urges to the grave is a nightmare. Imagine arriving at the Heavenly Court with all the uncorrected bodily impurity – the embarrassment is unfathomable, for this is our entire task by being here in the physical world! No self-flagellation or asceticism is as effective as daily personal prayer in purifying ourselves and in getting closer to Hashem. May we all succeed, amen!