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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