Deuteronomy 6:1-25

by

in

Today’s Reading is Deuteronomy 6:1-25. In Israel a bus driver once told me that he prays the Shema whenever he sees an ambulance driving by. The beautiful thing about this prayer is that it contains God’s name three times:
“Israel, remember this! The LORD — and the LORD alone— is our God. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
In English YHWH is transcribed as LORD, which in turn is a translation of Andonai, which is what is said in Hebrew avoiding to use God’s name altogether. The bus driver said that by calling on God’s name you make the four golden letters יהוה ascend to heaven and eventually intercept and send back the soul that is leaving the person dying in the ambulance thus saving his or her life. That sounded logical to me at the time and I have practiced it ever since. Oh, but there is one catch – you gotta recite it in Hebrew:
Sh’ma Yis-ra-eil, A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, A-do-nai E-chad.
V’a-hav-ta eit A-do-nai E-lo-he-cha,
B’chawl l’va-v’cha,
u-v’chawl naf-sh’cha,
u-v’chawl m’o-de-cha.


Comments

One response to “Deuteronomy 6:1-25”

  1. Rachel Robinson Avatar
    Rachel Robinson

    LOL. Well, can you teach us how to pronounce this at the Bible study?

Leave a Reply to Rachel Robinson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *