Listen to a recording of these words in songDeuteronomy 6:4-9
Listen to a recording of these words in song
Sh'ma Yisrael
Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
As seen in National Geographic February 2006 in the article A faith grows in Brooklyn: Rabbi Aaron Raskin the spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Avraham with his wife Shternie and daughter Chayah and congregation member Sheila Bar-Levav performing a blessing with the symbols* of the holiday of Succos:
* The two traditional symbols of the holiday are invested with ethical significance. The lulav is made up of the branches of the willow, which has no smell or fruit; of the myrtle, which has a pleasant smell, but no fruit; and the date palm, which has no smell, but bears fruit. The esrog is a citrus fruit with a pleasant smell. The willow is said to represent an uneducated person who does no good deeds; the myrtle a learned person who does no good deeds; the date palm an uneducated person who does good deeds and the esrog a person who is learned and does good deeds. All these types can be found among Jews. The willow, myrtle, and palm need each other to become whole in the form of the lulav, but the estrog can stand alone. This proves that a true mentch [decent person] must combine learning with righteous conduct.
In an undertone:
Barukh Shem
k'vod malkhuto l'olam va-ed
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever
V-ahavta et
Adonai Elohecha b-chol l'vavcha u-v-chol naf'sh'cha u-v-chol m'odecha.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your might.
V-hayu ha-d'varim
ha-ayleh asher anochi m'tzav'cha ha-yom al l'vavecha.
And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.
V-shinantam l-vanecha,
v-dibarta bam
b-shivt'cha b-vaytecha, u-v-lecht'cha ba-derech, u-v-shachb'cha u-v-kumecha.
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of
them
when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and
when you rise up.
U-k'shartam
l'ot al yadecha, v-hayu l-totafot bayn aynecha.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets
between your eyes.
U-chtavtam al
m'zuzot baytecha u-vi-sharecha.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 11:13-21
V-haya im
shamoa tish'mu el mitzvotai
asher anochi m'tzaveh etchem ha-yom, l-ahavah et Adonai Elohaychem,
u-l-avdo b-chol l'vavchem u-v-chol nafsh'chem.
And it shall come to pass if you surely listen to the commandments
that I command you today, to love the Lord your God,
and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul,
V-natati m'tar
artzchem b-ito, yoreh u-malkosh;
v-asafta d'ganecha, v-tirosh'cha v-yitzharecha.
That I will give rain to your land, the early and the late rains,
that you may gather in your grain, your wine and your oil.
V-natati aysev b-sad'cha li-b'hem'techa; v-achalta v-savata.
And I
will give grass in your fields for your cattle and you will eat and you will be
satisfied.
Hishamru lachem, pen yifteh l'vavchem,
v-sartem va-avadtem elohim achayrim, v-hishtachavitem lahem.
Beware, lest your heart be deceived,
and you turn and serve other gods, and worship them.
V-charah af
Adonai bachem, v-atzar et ha-shamayim v-lo yihyeh matar,
v-ha-adama lo titayn et y'vulah;
va-avadtem m'hayrah mayal ha-aretz ha-tovah asher Adonai notayn lachem.
And anger of the Lord will blaze against you, and he will close the heavens and
there will not be rain,
and the earth will not give you its fullness,
and you will perish quickly from the good land that the Lord gives you.
V-sam'tem et
d'varai ayleh al l'vavchem v-al naf'sh'chem;
u-kshartem otam l-ot al yedchem, v-hayu ltotafot bayn aynaychem.
So you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your soul;
and you shall bind them for signs on your hands, and they shall be for frontlets
between your eyes.
V-limadtem
otam et b'naychem l-daber bam
b-shivt'cha b-vaytecha, u-v-lecht'cha baderech, u-v-shachb'cha u-v-kumecha.
And you shall teach them to your children, and you shall speak of them
when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down,
and when you rise up.
U-ch'tavtam al
m'zuzot baytecha u-vi-sharecha.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
L'ma'an yirbu
y'maychem vi-y'may v'naychem al ha-adamah asher nishba Adonai
la-avotaychem latayt lahem ki-y'may ha-shamayim al ha-aretz.
In order to prolong your days and the days of your children on the land that the
Lord promised
your fathers that he would give them, as long as the days that the heavens are
over the earth.
