Thinking about Life through the Lens of the Shema
R. Yaakov Bieler
Parshat VaEtchanan, 5764
Parshat VaEtchanan is distinguished by two of its component sections: (Devarim 5:6-18) the Ten Commandments, (1) and (6:4-9) the first paragraph of the Shema. It is notable that whereas the former’s importance is symbolized by the Congregation’s standing while this passage is publicly read from the Tora, (2) similar deference is not shown to the Shema, despite not only its centrality in Jewish liturgy, (3) but also its broad familiarity to Jews of all denominations and levels of commitment. While it is possible that standing during the reading of the Ten Commandments is designed to recreate within the minds of the listeners the actual experience of receiving the Tora at Sinai, as described in Shemot 19:17, “…And they STOOD at the foot of the mountain”, (4) the powerful declaration at the beginning of Shema, and the Commandment to love God in its various manifestations, i.e., to emblazon the words of the Tora on one’s heart, to teach them to one’s children, to speak of them at home and while traveling, etc., would appear to merit some sort of additional emphasis as well, so that it would be distinguished not only from the rest of Parshat VaEtchanan, but from the Tora reading throughout the year.
Several Halachic disputes are associated with the verses of the first paragraph of the Shema, (5) but none is more famous than the controversy between Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai regarding the meaning of the words, “U’Veshachbecah U’Vekumecha” (and when you lie down and when you rise up.)
Beit Shamai said: In the evening everyone should recline and recite the Shema, and in the morning he should stand, as it says, “…And when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Beit Hillel however said: Every person should recite in his own way, as it says, “U’Velechtecha BaDerech” (and when you walk in the way). Why then does it say, “…and when you lie down and when you rise up”? This means at the time when people lie down and at the time when people rise up. (Mishna, Berachot 10b)
R. Tarfon said: I was once walking by the way and lay down to recite the Shema, in the manner advocated by Beit Shamai, and I incurred danger from robbers. (6) They said to him: You deserved to come to harm, because you acted against the opinion of Beit Hillel.
Although defenders of Beit Shamai’s approach will be forced to explain the give and take between R. Tarfon and the Rabbis as applying exclusively to where following one opinion over another in the matter of one’s body position during Shema results in an individual placing himself in personal danger, Beit Hillel’s advocates will have to address a different difficulty. They will have to provide an adequate explanation for why the Tora does not simply state that this prayer should be recited once in the evening and once in the morning, as opposed to defining these times in terms of when people ordinarily go to sleep and get up.
Rabbi Norman Lamm, in his book devoted to exploring numerous and varied understandings of the Shema down through the centuries, (7) offers the following intriguing existential rationale for the wording of the Tora, according to Beit Hillel.
For human beings, day and night are qualitatively and functionally different. Upon rising in the morning, we face a workday; when we go to sleep, we are ready for rest, for physical and mental refreshment. Hence, in the morning, we need to recite the Shema and accept upon ourselves “the yoke of the
However, when we retire, facing the quotidian period of rest and sleep, we need a different affirmation that we are submitting ourselves to the yoke of Heaven. Here our need to recite the Shema is more subtle: for even when lying in bed and preparing for sleep, a person must know “before Whom he lies.” This is a far more difficult task, for it is easier to focus an action than to dedicate a period of rest and physical inactivity to a higher end. (8)
Consequently, the Tora is advocating that Shema be recited and people dedicate themselves to God not only during a recurring time of day, but within the context of a particular mood and mode of behavior in which an individual regularly places himself.
Rabbi Lamm’s intriguing dichotomy suggests an interesting approach to a famous passage in the Pesach Haggada:
A story concerning R. Eliezer, R. Yehoshua, R. Elazar ben Azarya and R. Akiva and R. Tarfon who were reclining (at a Seder) in Bnai Barak, and were talking about the Exodus from Egypt all night long, until their students came and said to them, “Our Masters! The time for the Shema of Shacharit has arrived.”
Not only is going to sleep an act of passivity; discussing and studying are similarly less action-oriented than the performance of practical Commandments. As is stated in Kiddushin 40b, the great importance of study is only in terms of the degree to which it leads those who engage in study to the carrying out of Mitzvot. Consequently, just as the Shema of Ma’ariv calls upon those reciting it to contemplate God within the contexts of the night and Tora study, when it is time for the morning Shema of Shacharit, it is time for dedication to God as manifest in proper human activity and action.
One perspective that emerges from R. Lamm’s interpretation of “U’Veshachbecha” is reminiscent of RaMBaM’s suggestions in The Guide for the Perplexed (9) regarding how one can train him/herself to be more focused and have greater intention during the performance of the Tora’s Commandments. In addition to beginning modestly and concentrating upon one Mitzva and then another in order to maximize one’s understanding and personal engagement in the performance of a Commandment, RaMBaM also strongly advises the following:
When…you are alone with yourself and no one else is there, AND WHILE YOU LIE AWAKE ON YOUR BED, you should take great care during these precious times not to set your thought to work on anything other than that intellectual worship consisting in nearness to God and being in His Presence in that true reality that I have made known to you, and not by way of affectations of the imagination.
Paradoxically, according to RaMBaM, it is precisely when a person is unable to perform an active Commandment, that s/he can engage in the type of spiritual contemplation that will not only intensely connect him/her to God during such moments, but will also enable him/her to heighten the meaning and manner of fulfillment of Mitzvot the next day and during the days that follow.
But quite another more sobering rendering of “U’Veshachbecha” can be detected in the prayer known as Kriyat Shema Al HaMita (the reading of Shema prior while sitting on one’s bed [prior to going to sleep for the night]) that is designed to be recited just before one goes to sleep, and which also incorporates the first paragraph of Shema. While the Shema of the daily Ma’ariv prayer could under certain circumstances be a literal fulfillment of “U’Veshachbecha”, this occurs only if one recites this prayer immediately before one actually goes to sleep, which is seldom the case. Furthermore, many congregations recite the Ma’ariv service relatively early—see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 235:1 and commentaries—and therefore considerable time may elapse between when one says the evening Shema and finally retires for the night. Consequently, an additional context for an evening Shema was devised to attempt to coordinate actual bedtime and Shema. Among the many Biblical verses that this extra prayer includes, is Tehillim 4:5 “Tremble and sin no more; pledge this in your hearts, UPON OUR BEDS AND BE STILL.” RaMA on 239:1 understands this verse as the basis for the following dictum: “One should read Shema next to his bed, and one should not subsequently eat, drink, converse afterwards, but rather sleep immediately.” (10)
But Kriyat Shema Al HaMita includes not only prayers for the end of one’s day; it also contains allusions to the end of one’s life. At the conclusion of the blessing immediately preceding the Shema, we read, “VeHa’er Einai Pen Ishan HaMavet” (and Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.” Towards the end of the prayer, one is called upon to recite, “That there is in His Hand the soul of all living, and the spirit of all humanity. In Your Hand I entrust my spirit, Redeem me HaShem, the God of Truth.” The prayer ends with the liturgical poem “Adon Olam” (Master of the World) featuring the following final stanza: “In His Hand I entrust my spirit, At the time that I sleep and when I awake. And along with my spirit, my body. God Cares for me, I will not be afraid.”
The tradition that the Shema prayer is associated with not just the end of a day, but the end of one’s life, is based upon two Talmudic passages. Pesachim 56a describes a deathbed scene where Yaakov engages in a final exchange with his sons, resulting in their informing him “Hear ‘
Consequently, the recitation of the Shema at different times throughout each day is viewed as representing a microcosm of one’s entire life. In the morning, one dedicates him/herself to HaShem and hopefully is thereby prepared to sanctify all that s/he does during the day, and by extension, during the months and years that are allotted to him/her. Individuals are involved in so many things. While young, they spend most of their time learning through play and formal instruction; they grow to assume greater responsibility, serving their communities and people, marrying and raising their own families, pursuing careers, contributing to civilization and society, participating in communal projects and institutions; this stage is followed by their being called upon to provide advice and guidance to the young who are first coming into their own. All of these activities should ideally be informed by an awareness of the Divine and a commitment to a life of Tora and Mitzvot, as articulated in the Shema of the morning.
But each day also comes to an end, as do eventually our lives, and dedicating ourselves in thought, belief, commitment, and even to full-hearted acceptance of our mortality is also implied by our recitation of Shema, both in Ma’ariv as well as upon our beds each evening.
In the end, it would appear that the Shema accompanies us daily throughout our lives more than any other part of the Tora, and such an awareness could be recognition enough of its significance and its importance, without having to stand during its annual public reading from the Tora.
(1) Devarim 5:6-18 constitutes a repetition of Shemot 20, with a number of significant variations.
(2) Other sections of the Tora for which the Congregation stands when they are being publicly read include: (Shemot 15) The Song of the Sea, (Shemot 20) the original rendering of the Ten Commandments, and the final few verses of each of the Five Books of Moshe.
(3) The Shema prayer, consisting of three paragraphs, Devarim 6:4-9,
(4) Other examples of the symbolic reenactment of seminal historical events in Jewish history are many of the rituals on the first night of Pesach, when, according to the Haggada, “A person is obligated to see/show him/herself as if s/he had actually gone out of Egypt”, staying awake all night on Shavuot to be ready to receive the Tora during the first moments of the day of the 6th of Sivan, and the recitations and prostrations during the repetition of the Mussaf prayer on Yom HaKippurim.
(5) e.g., a) The language in which the Shema can be recited so that the Commandment is fulfilled—Berachot 13a; b) How much of the first paragraph is minimally required to be recited with “Kavana” (intention) in order to fulfill the Commandment to recite the Shema—Ibid., 13b; c) Does “Shema” connote “hearing” or “understanding”, with the practical implication being whether it has to be recited loudly enough to be heard—Ibid., 15a; The manner in which the phrase “HaYom Al Levavcha” (today, on your hearts) is to be parsed—Pesachim 56a.
(6) By lying down in the open road, R. Tarfon was ill-equipped to fend off criminals who were laying in wait for travelers to pass by.
(7) The Shema: Spirituality and Law in Judaism, The Jewish Publication Society of
(8) In order to explain the language in Beraishit 2:2 “And God Finished (the Creation) on the Seventh Day…” when it would appear that He Rested on the Seventh Day, RaShI comments that God Created Shabbat. The creation of an absence of creation appears to be a similar problem to dedicating to God a period of non-activity.
(9) The Guide for the Perplexed, trans. Shlomo Pines, vol. 2, U. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1974, pp. 622-3.
(10) RaMA on 239:1 adds that if an individual experiences insomnia and is unable to all asleep right after Shema, “he should repeat and read it several times, one after another, until he sinks into sleep so that his recitation will be right before sleep.”
(11) Avot D’Rabbi Natan, Chapt. 6.
(12) R. Yechiel Tokchinski, Gesher HaChayim, Vol. 1, Solomon, Yerushalayim, 5720, p. 43, fn. 2.