![]() Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Here is the standard NRSV English translation. Vuh-ahavta et Adonai eh-lo-hay-cha, bah-kol leh-vav-cha, oo-vah-kol naf-shech-ah oo-vah-kol mah-o-day-cha. Shema Yisrael: Adonai Eh-lo-hay-nu, Adonai ach-ad. When I share this at bed time with my kids, I pronounce it roughly as: The following is the ancient Hebrew text from Deuteronomy (read from right to left). It is a marvelously compact theological statement. When I say it, what follows is what I mean and hold in my mind. This essay explores the prayer and my scientifically or atheistically or pantheistically compatible translation of this ancient text. I identify, theologically, as a pantheist Christian. I do not think of myself as Jewish or even as a theistic Christian, but this prayer comes from my ancestors and from the culture in which I was born and raised. ![]() ![]() It is important to me that this is understood not as some sort of “cultural appropriation” but as me taking ownership of an artifact of my cultural heritage. I recently got a chance to memorize this prayer in the ancient Hebrew and started saying it to my children at night. The most common source is from the book of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 in the Hebrew Torah or the Christian Old Testament. Jesus reportedly used this prayer, and it is likely more than 3000 years old. The Shema is the most popular Jewish prayer. ![]()
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