Sh'ma=fail

Jews teach that one of the most central declarations of faith, and a cornerstone of the religion is the “Sh’ma” prayer. The Sh’ma, when said as part of the morning and evening prayers is composed of an opening statement from Deut 6:4, and then 3 paragraphs (Deuteronomy 6:5–9, 11:13–21, and Numbers 15:37–41). While it forms that backbone of belief, I feel that it also is a singular statement of human failure and, as such, it makes a case for an even more important tenet of Judaism because of that failure.

In the first part of the Sh’ma, we read that statement of God’s unity and his dominion over us. Then we have an argument in favor of “loving” God (text copied from the Judaica Press edition found on the Chabad website):

“And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your means.”

We are to hear (through our ears, I would assume) and our reaction will be to love (which I would source in our hearts).

Then, Hashem points out that what he is commanding must go beyond our ears and actually be on our hearts:

“And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart.”

The next three verses include 4 verbs incumbent upon us, starting with “teach”:

“And you shall teach them to your sons and speak of them” which is followed by “bind” and ”inscribe.” The details of the Sh’ma (and any other laws) has to be communicated so that others can learn. Sounds like an important charge, right? No. I think it is the nut of the problem. If, as stated a verse or two earlier, these words which God commanded are to be on our hearts, then why would we have to teach anyone, or make a public display so that others will learn? Was the law only placed on the heart of those in the desert, in that first generation? Weren’t we all, in a way, there at Sinai, hearing the law from God?

I think the answer can be found in a particular promise that acknowledges our current limitations. Hashem knows we are imperfect and that, as we are now, we can’t deal with things “on our hearts” and we need to use our other senses, and we must be taught and reminded of our laws and responsibilities. The law, as taught, doesn’t go automatically on our hearts and we don’t know how to put it there so we stick with our other modes of knowledge. The prayer is known by the word "Sh'ma" -- hear, a sensory experience and a function of our human body. We are then expected to "love" which is not part of hearing, but because that won't happen, we are commanded to teach. This is why we have a vision of the future in Jeremiah 31 (verses 31-34). The renewal of our relationship/covenant with God in the future will be signaled not by a change in content, but by a change in mode and actor:

“But such is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel after these days—declares the LORD: I will put My Teaching into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

The teaching (Torati, my Torah) is still the content, but instead of the law’s having to be “on your heart” (a requirement at which we will fail, thus requiring us to teach it) Hashem will PUT it into our being and INSCRIBE it into our hearts. Then as the next verse states, “No longer will they need to teach one another and say to one another, “Heed the LORD”; for all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall heed Me”.

In the Messianic era, God, himself, will place the law into our hearts so that the essential commandment of the Sh’ma, teaching others, will no longer be necessary! The Sh’ma, then, is attesting to what we have to do NOW, only because we are currently incapable of concretizing our belief in the more desirable/automatic (trans-human) way. It calls forth, though, the essential Messianic belief – why do we need a Moshiach? Because we need to rise above the limitations inherent in the Sh’ma and its teaching process, into a realm of universal understanding as explained in Jeremiah.

The Sh’ma, then, is about failure and making the best with what we are now. We say it twice daily because we have to, not as a matter of halacha and law, but as a function of our fallible humanity. But it is a reminder of what lies ahead and WHY we should be saying it, so that we can prepare the world for a time when we no longer have to.