Bedtime Shema Part II

BEDTIME SHEMA PART II

ןָמֱאֶנ ךֶלֶמ לֵא Almighty, faithful Majesty.

לוקב רמאלו ןימי דיב םיינע תוסכל

:דָחֶא הוהי ,וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי ,לֵאָרְׂשִי עַמְׁש

וֹתוּכְלַמ דוֹבְּכ םֵׁש ךוּרָּב :שחלב .דֶעָו םָלוֹעְל

ךְבָבְל־לָכְּב ךיֶהֹלֱא הוהי תֵא ָתְּבַהאְָו םיִרָבְּדַה וּיָהְו ,ךֶדֹאְמ־לָכְבוּ ךְשְׁפַנ־לָכְבוּ :ךֶבָבְל לַע ,םוֹיַּה ךְּוַצְמ יִכֹנאָ רֶשֲׁא ,הֶלֵאָה

ךְּתְבִשְּׁב ,םָּב ָתְּרַּבִדְו ךיֶנָבְל םָתְּנַּנִשְׁו ,ךֶמוּקְבוּ ךְּבְכָשְׁבוּ ,ךֶרֶּדַב ךְּתְכֶלְבוּ ךֶתיֵבְּב

תֹפָטֹטְל וּיָהְו .ךֶדָי־לַע תוֹאְל םָתְּרַשְׁקוּ ךֶתיֵּב תוֹזֻזְמ־לַע םָתְּבַתְכוּ :ךיֶניֵע ןיֵּב :ךיֶרָעְׁשִבוּ

Cover your eyes with your right hand and say aloud:

Hear, Israel: Adonai, our God, Adonai is One. Quietly: Blessed is the name of His glorious majesty for ever and ever.

And you shall love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I command you today shall be on your heart. Teach them repeatedly to your children speaking of them when you sit at home and when you are on the road and when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be an emblem between your eyes. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

THINK

In 1945, Jews set out to reclaim Jewish children who had been hidden during the Holocaust with non-Jewish families or in orphanages. Often families or guardians would deny housing Jewish children. In such cases, the person searching would walk toward the children and say the Shema. When children would join in saying the words or would tear up with memories, they knew they had found a Jewish child.

CONNECT

The Bedtime Shema is a poetic lullaby, a reminder that we are not alone, that we are held, loved, and protected by God. If the Bedtime Shema seems daunting, welcome it into your life piece by piece, as a much-deserved nightly lullaby to yourself, by choosing a different word or phrase to meditate on–sleep, dream, God, peace, deliverance–each week at bedtime. PERSONAL PRAYER

How noble and good everyone could be if, at the end of each day, they were to review their own behavior and weigh up the rights and wrongs. They would automatically try to do better at the start of each new day and, after a while, would certainly accomplish a great deal…“a quiet conscience gives you strength!”

— Anne Frank, (1929–1945), Amsterdam, Netherlands The Diary of a Young Girl