![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.
| Hebrew | English |
|---|---|
שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל |
Sh’sh’sh’ma Yisra’el — Listen, You Godwrestlers! Pause from your wrestling and hush’sh’sh To hear — YHWH/ Yahh |
Hear in the stillness the still silent voice, The silent breathing that intertwines life; | |
יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ |
YHWH/ Yahh elohenu Breath of life is our God, What unites all the varied forces creating all worlds into one-ness, Each breath unique, And all unified; |
יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ |
YHWH / Yahh echad! Yahh is One. Listen, You Godwrestlers! No one people alone owns this Unify-force; YHWH / Yahh is One. |
וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּזֹ֥ת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ |
So at the gates of your cities, where your own culture ends, and another begins, And you halt there in fear: “Here we speak the same language “But out there is barbaric, “They may kill without speaking.” |
וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ |
Then pause in the gateway to write on its wall And to chant in its passage: “Each gate is unique “In the world that is One.” |
וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֺתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם, לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְיָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁכֶם׃ וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ, וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ, וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ: וְנָתַתִּי עֵשֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ׃ |
If you listen, yes listen to the teachings of YHWH/ Yahh, the One Breath of Life, that the world is One, all its parts intertwined, then the rains will fall Time by time, Time by time; The rivers will run, the heavens will smile, the good earth will fruitfully feed you. |
הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן יִפְתֶּה לְבַבְכֶם, וְסַרְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם לָהֶם׃ |
But — chop the world into parts and choose parts to worship — gods of race or of nation, gods of wealth and of power, gods of greed and addiction; |
If you Do and you Make, and Produce without pausing; If you Do without Being — | |
וְחָרָה אַף יְיָ בָּכֶם וְעָצַר אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָטָר וְהָאֲדָמָה לֹא תִתֵּן אֶת יְבוּלָהּ, וַאֲבַדְתֶּם מְהֵרָה מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר יְיָ נֹתֵן לָכֶם׃ |
Then the rain will not fall — or will turn to sharp acid — The rivers won’t run — or flood homes and cities; The heavens themselves will take arms against you: the ozone will fail you, the oil that you burn will scorch your whole planet and from the good earth that the Breath of Life gives you, you will vanish; yes, perish. |
וְהָיָ֣ה לָכֶם֮ לְצִיצִת֒ וּרְאִיתֶ֣ם אֹת֗וֹ |
So on edge with your Self take care to weave fringes, threads of connection. So you end not with sharpness, A fence or a wall, But with sacred mixing of cloth and of air — A fringe that is fuzzy, part yours and part God’s: They bind us together, Make One from our one-ness. |
וּזְכַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־תָתֻ֜רוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃ | |
Good fringes/ good neighbors. Deep mirrors/ true seeing. Time loving/ right action. The Infinite/ One. |
Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s “Sh’ma: An Interpretation for the 21st Century” was originally composed on the 6th of Tishrei, 5764 (October 2nd, 2003).
“שְׁמַע | Shema, an interpretive translation by Rabbi Arthur Waskow (2003)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Stable Link:
https://opensiddur.org/?p=3580
Associated Image:
(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in category pages and in shared links on social media.)
Terms of Use:
Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Properly attribute the work to Arthur Waskow and the Shalom Center.
- Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
- Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=3580>.
- Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)
Additional Notes:
- The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
- We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
- If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.
Support this work:
The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.
ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17
Thank you! This very close to what I long believed Shema to be spoken. During my Adult Bar Mitzvah, I considered/named myself and fellow Jews: Wandering Wrestlers of Presence.