Learning the Sh'ma #1

-
(You can find an index of all the 31 Days of Encountering Judaism here. )

So I have taken it upon myself to learn the Sh'ma. In Hebrew. Chanted.

I've been thinking about it for quite some time (since the High Holy Days in fact at the beginning of September) but hadn't made the effort until I went away on retreat at Mt. Calvary monastery in Santa Barbara (Order of Holy Cross Episcopal monks are awesome. Just sayin'.)

I questioned why I wanted to learn the Sh'ma, the prayer that is said every morning and evening by observant Jews and every service, it seems, at Beth Israel. (Hey, I've been to 8.5 services so far, including two I watched via livestreaming, so I could be wrong about the "every" service part.)

At first I thought it was because knowing this prayer, I would feel less left-out at these services.

Oh, I had the first line down...
Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloeinu Adonai Echad.
Hear, O Israel, The Lord is Our God, the Lord is One.
I haven't figured out how to chant it as I don't remember the melody/tune/trope for it but I did know that much.

But still, was "not feeling left out" a good enough reason to learn it?

Of course it wasn't. The prayer had to be a prayer for me. Something I could agree with and say with all my being. Not mouthed words which would be an insult to the Jewish congregation around me as well as to God.

The next few posts shall be about my exploring each part of the Sh'ma to see if I could really pray this.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Where Bloggers Create Party!

-
Image
My Desert Cottage Not much has changed in my art room since last year . I had a substantial to-do list this year and I didn't quite get to all of them. Here's what was on my "to-do" that got t'done: 1) I made pretty labels for my binders: 2) I cleaned out my closet. (There is no before picture: just imagine stacks of boxes, giant plastic containers and the like.) The closet now holds some stamp storage (off to the side behind the purple velvet dress that's hanging; a chest of drawers packed with fabric (now consolidated into one space except for another drawer in last year's pink chest of drawers); and a sacred space. The wall has book pages taped onto it. I got the idea and the technique from Aunt Peaches . Eventually, the small stained glass cross will move and be above the ombry that I have on permanent loan (currently holding my prayer books and a bible), which is a bit of a long story, but basically when I no longer have a use f...
Read more

Where Bloggers Create Party II: My Room 2010 (with lots of pictures)

-
Image
I'm excited to be joining the Where Bloggers Create Party for the first time. I discovered it last year, ages after it happened and I literally spent the day looking through them all! I hope you enjoy my space. The sign on my door. I made it as a make-and-take a couple of years ago. Here's an overall view of my room. You can't tell because of the lighting but the walls are not pink. They're pale lavender. The bookcase I bought from Target a year or two ago. It's "Shabby Chic". The bottom drawer holds my German scrap and the "transparent" stuff. The bookcase from Target that used to be under the window is now vertical. The addition to the top of pink chest of drawers is a library card file that was gonna be tossed from church until I rescued it. It holds rolls of seam binding and millinery. I might paint it next year.... Next to it is a tiered holder of mostly lace, but some feathers and flowers. The chest of drawers holds glue, large photos, fa...
Read more

"where there is darkness, light" - Prayer of St. Francis series

-
Image
Today's guest blogger is Joe Pote. As a s tudent of the Bible since early childhood, Joe was literally raised in church, attending multiple church services and Bible studies each week. Having also endured the devastation of a failed marriage, Joe combines a sound understanding of biblical principles with personal experience of the issues and concerns of believers who have experienced divorce.  He would like for you to visit his website .  I sat huddled at my desk, face pressed into palms supported by elbows propped on desktop, staring into the darkness of my own hands…feeling the darkness pressing in from all sides.   The work day was ended.  It was time to go home, a brief ten minute walk from the office.  Yet, I lingered, dreading home…knowing the unfixable problems waiting there…praying that God would show me what to do. My four beautiful children waited at home, bright lights in my life, who I was always pleased to see.  But their mother also ...
Read more