Shema and V'ahavta- שמע ואהבת

סידור אשכנז, ימי חול, תפילת שחרית, ברכות קריאת שמע, שמע ב׳

(ב) שְׁמַע יִשרָאֵל ה' אֱלהֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד: בלחש: בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוד מַלְכוּתו לְעולָם וָעֶד:

(ג) וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱלהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאדֶךָ: וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּום עַל לְבָבֶךָ: וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ: וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאות עַל יָדֶךָ וְהָיוּ לְטטָפת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ: וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזֻזות בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ:

Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Blessings of the Shema, Shema 2

(2) Hear, O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is one!

Quietly: Praised be the name of the One whose glorious sovereignty is forever and ever.

(3) And you shall love Adonai, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all that is yours. And these tings which I command you this day shall be taken to heart. And you shall teach them to your children, and you shall say them in you dwelling in your home, and in your comings and goings, and in your lying down and in your waking up. And you shall tie as a sign upon your arm and an amulet between your eyes. And you shall write them on your the door frames of your house and upon your gates.

שְׁמַע

אֶחָד

Hear

One

This is the most important prayer in Judaism. Are we speaking to ourselves here or are we talking to the other Jews? Perhaps a little of both. We remind ourselves that we believe in only one God, while at the same time we remind other Jews about this same claim.
--Adapted from Siddur Lev Shalem, The Rabbinical Assembly

Observant Jews will literally surround themselves with the words of the Shema. They put them inside their mezuzot on their doors, they wrap them in leather boxes on their foreheads and their arms. We have ancient evidence of tefillin and mezuzot going back thousands of years.
--Adapted from Siddur Lev Shalem, The Rabbinical Assembly

What do you think about continuing practice certain traditions for thousands of years such as wrapping tefillin or putting mezuzot on our doorframes?

Alex Hamilton