The Complete Hebrew English Dictionary.

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts

Variant spellings - SHEMA YISRAEL, SHEMA YISROEL, SHMA YISROEL

Hebrew Bible Name - Shema was a son of Hebron, brother of Korach, Tappuah, and Rekem, father of Raham, grandfather of Jorkoam, and uncle of Shammai (1 Chronicles 2:43-44).

The Shema sums up the first and second commandments: Hear O Israel, the Lord [Yud Hey Vav Hey] is our God, the Lord [Yud Hey Vav Hey] is One.
The Mishnah is a compendium of Jewish law compiled by Judah ha Nasi at the beginning of this era. In this work the reciting of the Shema morning and evening is discussed as an established custom. The Mishnah refers to the reciting of the SHMA as the acceptance of the yoke of kingdom of heaven (Mishnah Berachot 1 2:5; Birnbaum, Philip. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. 306).

The reciting of the Shema includes three bible passages - Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11: 13-21, and Numbers 15: 37-41. It offers praises, reminds us to heed the commandments and teach our children. In fact the verse Deuteronomy 6:7 commands us to teach the commandments. The word in Hebrew that is translated as teach is shenantam, from shanan meaning TO INCULCATE, TO TEACH, TO REPEAT. This word means also TO SHARPEN - as in to sharpen a sword or an arrow. It is a powerful word and used to convey the importance of learning and study. This passage forms the foundation for the concept of learning and study in Jewish tradition. Since Deuteronomy is said to have been promulgated during the reign of Josiah (632-609) B.C.E.), this tradition of study is thousands of years old.

Babylonian Talmud - R. Hama b. Hanina said: If one in reciting the Shema pronounces the letters distinctly, hell is cooled for him (Berachot 15b).
It has been taught: Symmachus says: Whoever prolongs the word echad [one] has his days and years prolonged. R. Aha b. Jacob said: [He must dwell] on the Dalet [because the word does not mean one till he comes to the Dalet. R. Ashi said: Provided he does not slur over the Chet [by omitting its vowel and so make the when word meaningless]. R. Jeremiah was once sitting before R. Hiyya b. Abba, and the latter saw that he was prolonging [the word echad] very much. He said to him: Once you have declared Him king14 over [all that is] above and below and over the four quarters of the ‘heaven, no more is required (Berachot 13b).

Yerushalmi Talmud A. We learned, One who recites the Shema in the morning must mention the exodus from Egypt in [the blessing which follows the Shema and begins with the words] True and Right.
B. Rabbi says, One must mention [God's ] kingship in [that paragraph].
C. Others say One must mention the [miracles of the] splitting of the sea and the smiting of the first-born (JT Berakhot. 1:5, IV.A-C, p.57).

The first person Sh'ma
From the teachings of Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz, author of The Seventh Telling, The Thiry-third Hour, The Curse of Blessings) -
Pay Attention. It is my obligation (to meditate on) Adonai my God, Adonai who is one. Blessed is the Name of Glory, whose kingdom is throughout space and time. I shall love Adonai, my God, with all my heart, with all my life, with all I have, and these words which I am commanded, at this Adonai moment, are on my heart. I shall sharpen my children in them. I shall speak of them when I sit in my house, when I walk in the world, when I lie down at night, when I rise in the morning. I shall bind them as a reminder on my arm. They shall be as guideposts between my eyes. I shall mark them on the doorposts where I live and where I do business so that I might remember that I might do all according to Your will, so that I might be holy to my God. You are (after all) Adonai, my God, who brought me out from the tightest of places to relate to me as a God. You are Adonai, my God. And that's the truth [Emet].

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Shin Mem Ayin - Yud Shin Resh Aleph Lamed - Yud Hey Vav Hey - Aleph Lamed Hey Nun Vav - Yud Hey Vav Hey - Aleph Chet Dalet. Taken together they spell SHEMA.

Each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a special meaning and a story to tell. Here a few brief ones about the letters on this painting.

SHIN is the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 300. Shin means TOOTH, YEAR, REPEAT, TEACH. SHIN makes the sound SHHHHHH when the DOT is on the right, and SSSS when the DOT is on he left.
There are differing opinions about which components make up the Shin . Kushner states that the Vav, each makes up the right arm, the Zayin the left, and Yud the middle. In the opinion of Haralick, the Yud the is on the right, the Zayin on the left and the Vav in the middle. It is the view of Ginsburgh that the SHIN is composed of 3 Vavs, each with a little Yud on its top. So, to make this letter your own, it will be necessary to take it into meditation and come to your own conclusion (Kushner, Lawrence. 1990. The Book of Letters: Sefer Otiyot. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing. 72; Haralick, Robert M. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 299; Ginsburgh, Rabbi Yitzchak. 1992. The Hebrew Letters Jerusalem: Gal Einai. 313).
The Ancient Holy One is called Ayin (nothing) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:158b).
Shin is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A TAG is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing Taggin to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b)
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. The Shin is one of the mothers- that group from which emanated AIR (from Aleph), WATER (from Mem) and FIRE (from Shin). The 3 mothers in the universe are AIR, WATER and FIRE...HEAVEN was created from FIRE, EARTH was created from WATER, and AIR from SPIRIT (WIND) balanced between them. Aleph and Shin spell AISH - FIRE. Aleph represents AIR and Shin - FIRE. FIRE cannot exist without AIR (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 197).

MEM is the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 40. Mem makes a sound like the M in Middle. But according to the ancient kabbalistic text Sefer Yetzirah, the MEM hummmmmms! Mem is usually associated with the word mayim - WATER or Eemah - MOTHER. Mem is composed of a Caf (20) and a Vav (6) = 26, which have the same GEMATRIA as the Yud (10) Hey (5) Vav (6) Hey (5) = 26, name of God - the holiest of Name of God.
Tradition tells us that the engraving of the letters of the 10 commandments went all the way through the tablets - from the front side to the back side. Therefore the final Mem since it is completely closed, should have fallen out. Because it did not, R. Hisda said that it stood there be means of a miracle Shabbat 104a)
The MEM is one of the 5 letters [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms Shabbat 104a. One form is used in the beginning and the middle of a word - the open Mem. The other form is at the end of the word - the closed Mem. According to Talmud, the open Mem represents revealed teaching and the closed Mem represents concealed teaching AIR Shabbat 104a.
Of the increase [Lamed Mem sophit Resh Beit Hey] of his government and peace there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:6).
R. Tanhum said: Bar Kappara expounded in Sepphoris, Why is every Mem in the middle of a word open, whilst this [Mem sophit] is closed? - The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to appoint Hezekiah as the Messiah, and Sennacherib as Gog and Magog [Gog and Magog are, in Jewish eschatology, the tribes who shall lead all nations in a tremendous attack upon Israel; their final defeat ushers in the halcyon days of the Messiah (Ezekiel 38). It is not clear whom the prophet had in mind, the whole passage having the mystic form of apocalyptic prediction. The present passage is remarkable in that it shews that in the opinion of its author no particular nation was intended, but any great heathen power whose destruction, by the will of God, is to precede the millennium] whereupon the Attribute of Justice said before the Holy One, blessed be He haKadosh barochu : Sovereign of the Universe! [The attributes of Justice and Mercy are often hypostasized and represented as interceding with the Almighty].
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah., God created the world by means of these letters. The Mem is one of the mothers - that group from which emanated from FIRE, WATER and AIR (from Aleph), WATER (from Mem) and FIRE (from Shin). The 3 mothers in the universe are AIR, WATER and FIRE. HEAVEN was created from FIRE, EARTH was created from WATER, and AIR from SPIRIT (WIND) balanced between them. Aleph and Shin spell AISH - FIRE. Aleph represents AIR and Shin - FIRE. FIRE cannot exist without AIR. And God made the Mem King over WATER, AND He bound a crown to it, and He combined one with another and with them He formed Earth in the Universe, Cold int the Year, and the Belly in the Soul (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 148, 154, 197).

AYIN is the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 70 and makes no sound. Ayin means EYE or FOUNTAIN. The Ayin is constructed of an elongated Yud (10) on the right and a Zayin (7) on the left.
[In the alphabet the letter Samek is followed by the letter Ayyin]. Samek Ayyin [means] support [Semak] the poor [aniyyim] (Shabbat 104a).
In the alphabet the letter Ayin is followed by the letter Pey. But in (Lamentations 3:36-41; (Lamentations 4:16-17), which is written as an alphabetical acrostic, Pey (which means MOUTH) is placed before the Ayin (which means EYE). This is because when the spies went into the promised land they spoke with their mouths what they had not seen with their eyes (Sanhedrin 104b).
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Aleph as an Ayin, the Ayin as an Aleph, (Shabbat 103b).
The Ancient Holy One is called Ayin (nothing) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:158b).
Ayin is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A TAG is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing TAGGIN to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b). .
Wisdom was completed from Ayin (nothing) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. Ayin is one of the Elementals. Twelve Elementals, their foundation is [that] He engraved them, and transformed them, and with them He formed 12 constellations in the Universe, 12 months in the Year and 12 directions in the soul, male and female. And God made the letter Ayin King over ANGER. And He bound a crown to it, and He combined one with another and with them He formed Capricorn in the Universe, Tevet in the Year, and the liver in the Soul, male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 209, 197, 209).

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This work is accompanied by the kabbalistic explanation printed above.

The original 5x7 watercolor painting of this image is available.

This is great Bar Mitzvah gift.

mat color:: green

stock number:: pb14