Shema Yisrael, or the Shema, is the central affirmation of Judaism. The prayer expresses belief in the singularity of God, that is, in God's oneness and incomparability. Though this opening verse is ...

The word Shema, which opens this week’s parasha and echoes throughout the book of Devarim, offers a profound response. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes, Shema is untranslatable into English: it means to ...

In its passages, the liturgical Shemà and its blessings present a proud declaration of faith, a delineation of reward and punishment, and a comprehensive series of quotidian actions, all geared ...

I grew up praying to a god in a language I did not understand. In particular, as an observant Conservative Jewish American (that is, “Conservative Jewish, not “conservative, Jewish”), I grew up ...

So you’ve heard of the Shema, right? The most important prayer in Judaism? Traditionally recited twice a day, upon waking and going to sleep? Today, when we say “the Shema,” we’re talking about the ...

Eli Sharabi was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th, and taken hostage by Hamas. Sharabi had never recited the Shema. Until he was in Gaza. Even though he was never a religious man ...