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| 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.
Arthur Waskow
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.