When we refer “the Shema,” we may think just of the two lines, Shema Yisrael… and Baruch Shem K’vod…But “the Shema” also refers to the paragraphs from the Torah that follow it, starting with the v’ahavta. And what makes up the Shema brings up what a friend of mine loves to call a “Big Jewish Question.”
Here is the issue: in classical Jewish tradition, there is a paragraph after the v’ahavta that is included in traditional prayerbooks but was removed from Reform siddurim (prayerbooks). Why? Let’s take a look – Here it is, (straight from this week’s Torah reading in Deuteronomy):
If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving your God יהוה and serving [God] with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil— I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill. Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. For יהוה’s anger will flare up against you, shutting up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce…(Deuteronomy 11:13-21).
So many of us don’t believe that God operates in this way, directly rewarding and punishing us based on our actions – we can see why our Reform prayerbook editors removed this message from our recitation of the Shema. But there has been a series of changes in the various Reform prayerbooks, and our current machzor (High Holy Day prayerbook) includes all three paragraphs of the classical Shema as an alternative reading in the Rosh Hashanah volume.
Why would we put this idea back into our liturgy? Sometimes, as much as Reform Jews say we don’t interpret the Torah literally…we do, and then we reject it because it doesn’t work for us. Maybe we removed that paragraph because we were taking the idea of divine reward and punishment literally. Now, especially in light of the ways human activity is warming the climate system, some may find it appropriate to acknowledge some truth in the teaching that our disrespect for the Creator of the natural world can result in “no rain [or far too much for us to handle] and the ground not yielding its produce.” Here is one of many places where religion and science connect, and also where they lead us to more Big Jewish Questions…
Can reading a threatening text frighten us into action? How do our thoughts and beliefs relate to our feelings about Jewish prayers and texts?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! See you Friday for potluck dinner and celebrating Shabbat together.
Rabbi Julie
Eikev (Deut. 7:12-11:25) Shabbat, August 15, 2025: Talking about the Shema
August 14, 2025 by Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller • D'var Torah
When we refer “the Shema,” we may think just of the two lines, Shema Yisrael… and Baruch Shem K’vod…But “the Shema” also refers to the paragraphs from the Torah that follow it, starting with the v’ahavta. And what makes up the Shema brings up what a friend of mine loves to call a “Big Jewish Question.”
Here is the issue: in classical Jewish tradition, there is a paragraph after the v’ahavta that is included in traditional prayerbooks but was removed from Reform siddurim (prayerbooks). Why? Let’s take a look – Here it is, (straight from this week’s Torah reading in Deuteronomy):
If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving your God יהוה and serving [God] with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil— I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill. Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. For יהוה’s anger will flare up against you, shutting up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce…(Deuteronomy 11:13-21).
So many of us don’t believe that God operates in this way, directly rewarding and punishing us based on our actions – we can see why our Reform prayerbook editors removed this message from our recitation of the Shema. But there has been a series of changes in the various Reform prayerbooks, and our current machzor (High Holy Day prayerbook) includes all three paragraphs of the classical Shema as an alternative reading in the Rosh Hashanah volume.
Why would we put this idea back into our liturgy? Sometimes, as much as Reform Jews say we don’t interpret the Torah literally…we do, and then we reject it because it doesn’t work for us. Maybe we removed that paragraph because we were taking the idea of divine reward and punishment literally. Now, especially in light of the ways human activity is warming the climate system, some may find it appropriate to acknowledge some truth in the teaching that our disrespect for the Creator of the natural world can result in “no rain [or far too much for us to handle] and the ground not yielding its produce.” Here is one of many places where religion and science connect, and also where they lead us to more Big Jewish Questions…
Can reading a threatening text frighten us into action? How do our thoughts and beliefs relate to our feelings about Jewish prayers and texts?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! See you Friday for potluck dinner and celebrating Shabbat together.
Rabbi Julie