After the Manchester Synagogue Attack, They Danced Through Their Tears
Oftentimes in conversation, someone will remark, “Do you hear what I’m saying?” This actually means, “Have my words been heard and understood?” or, more plainly, “Do you get me?” Truly hearing another means being fully present in the moment and totally focused on the person speaking. There’s no wiggle room for checking emails or taking a phone call. That’s tantamount to turning a deaf ear.
The ability to hear connects us to the world around us and to each other. Hearing enables effective and informed communication that none of our other senses can achieve. The famed deaf and blind activist, Helen Keller, once said, “Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.”
So indispensable is the sense of hearing that Jewish law rules that one who is responsible for another’s deafness is obligated to compensate him the complete value of his life. It’s as if he robbed another of all his faculties. By contrast, if someone is found guilty of causing another to become blind, Jewish law states that he must compensate him for the loss of his eye only.216 This reflects the prominence with which the Torah regards the sense of hearing.
Obviously, there is passive and active hearing. The contrast is significant and highlights how much we fail to truly hear. This leads to the question: How attentively do we “hear” God? Do we really “hear” what God is telling us?
This week’s Torah portion includes the first paragraph of Judaism’s main affirmation of belief: the Shema. The word shema means “hear,” but it refers to a type of inner hearing that’s beyond the mere physical. Shema expresses a deeper dimension of spiritual hearing that integrates itself within one’s entire being. The Shema is a Divine call to the soul to perceive God’s oneness. A Jew is to be fully engaged in the moment three times daily when reciting this prayer of faith. It’s a mitzvah—an opportunity to connect with God and to build a stronger relationship with Him.
When the Torah was given at Har Sinai, all of Israel proclaimed in unison, “We will do [naaseh], and we will hear [v’nishma].” What does it really mean to hear? Human consciousness functions in such a way that we deeply understand something only after we’ve actually experienced it. (Just ask a first-time mother after giving birth to explain this.) Before that, our understanding is just abstract or theoretical.
When reciting the Shema, we “hear” in order to deeply understand and integrate the meaning of the words within us. Thereby, we both “do” and “hear” (understand), perpetually connecting ourselves to the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The experience is ongoing and renewed daily. It counteracts the natural tendency we have to take things for granted. Daily renewal is spiritually and mentally rejuvenating. It’s the antidote to an attitude of same old, same old dullness.
At Mount Sinai, the giving of the Ten Commandments was accompanied by both natural and metaphysical phenomena. The Torah describes that “all the people saw the sounds of the thunder and the lightning.” Rashi explains that the people actually saw that which was usually heard. The last Hebrew letter of the word shema is an ayin, which means “eye.” The word shema can be understood to integrate both hearing and seeing into one expansive sense. It connects us to the heightened consciousness we experienced witnessing the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. The juxtaposition of the Shema with the Ten Commandments in this parashah suggests an inner connection.
As Jews, we believe that, ultimately, all of humanity will come to ac- knowledge the oneness of God. This process of ever-increasing awareness expands outward from the epicenter of Israel to the rest of the world. The Shema implies this in the transition between the words “Elokeinu—our God” and “Hashem echad—Hashem is One.”
Sometimes, a letter in the Torah will be written larger or smaller than is normal. This so-called anomaly is to call our attention to a deeper underlying idea or teaching. In the Shema, both the ayin in the word shema, hear (שמע), and the dalet in the word echad, one (אחד), are enlarged. This is the only occurrence within the entire Torah where two enlarged letters appear in a single verse. These two letters spell the Hebrew word eid, which means “a witness.” From this we learn that the mission of the Jewish People is to serve as witnesses to the existence of one God. As the prophet Yeshayah stated, speaking on behalf of God: “You are My witnesses.” Our mission began with Avraham and will continue into the future until the world fully recognizes the one true reality.
Furthermore, when the letters ayin and dalet are reversed, they spell the word da, which means “know.” The Shema merges faith with knowledge. These eternally relevant words have empowered the Jewish People in every generation. The Shema is our ultimate hearing aid.
When saying the Shema, try to be mindful of the privilege and responsibility of bearing witness to the truth of the one unifying Creator. Let the awareness permeate to the depths of your mind and soul. Focus on your unique, personal relationship with God, recognizing His ongoing providence in your personal life. Be especially mindful of your hearing, as your spiritual inner ear will absorb and integrate what you’re saying. Contemplate the meaning of the words shema, hear, and echad, one. This will transform your experience from abstract to real. It will become a revelation from within you. This is actually hearing yourself. Afterward, you should feel energized and acknowledged. And then you will know that you’ve been heard.
