Daily Testimony Through Shema

בפרשת שמע ישראל

In the parsha of "Shema Yisrael."

The piece opens on the verses of Krias Shema as its subject.

שמע היא כינוס ואסיפה להיות בנ"י עובדין לאל אחד

"Shema" denotes a gathering and an ingathering, that Bnei Yisrael should become servants of the One God.

The word "Shema" carries the sense of gathering Bnei Yisrael together so they serve the One God as a unified whole.

וכפי האסיפה שלהם כך חל עליהם אלקותו ית"ש

And according to the measure of their ingathering, so does His Godliness, may His Name be blessed, rest upon them.

The more Bnei Yisrael draw together, the more Hashem's presence comes to rest upon them.

ולפי קבלת עול מלכותו ית"ש עליהם כך הם מתאחדים

And according to their acceptance of the yoke of His kingship, may His Name be blessed, upon them, so do they become united.

Accepting the yoke of Hashem's kingship and becoming united are two sides of the same coin.

וכ' תורה צוה כו' מורשה קהלת יעקב ועיקר התורה היא אנכי ה' אלקיך וכ"כ הדברים האלה דיבר כו' אל כל קהלכם

And it is written, "The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4), and the essence of the Torah is "I am Hashem your God" (Shemos 20:2); and so too it is written, "These words Hashem spoke to your entire assembly" (Devarim 5:19).

Several verses tie the Torah to the "congregation" of Yaakov and to the entire assembly hearing "I am Hashem," showing the Torah was given to a gathered Klal.

וכ' הקהל לי אה"ע ואשמיעם את דברי

And it is written, "Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words" (Devarim 4:10).

A verse explicitly frames the giving of the Torah as Hashem gathering the people in order to let them hear His words.

וזה מתקיים בכל יום בשמע ישראל נעשין קהילה אחת וזוכין להארה מקבלת התורה

And this is fulfilled every single day through "Shema Yisrael," for they become one congregation and merit an illumination from the receiving of the Torah.

Saying Shema daily re-enacts that gathering, turning Bnei Yisrael into one congregation and drawing down a spark of Matan Torah.

לכן כ' אח"כ אנכי מצוך היום

Therefore it is written afterward, "which I command you this day" (Devarim 6:6).

The phrase "which I command you this day" signals that this receiving happens anew each day.

ואיתא במד' חד אמר שזכו ישראל לק"ש ממתן תורה וח"א מיעקב אבינו ע"ה

And it is brought in the Midrash: one Sage said that Bnei Yisrael merited Krias Shema from the giving of the Torah, and one Sage said it was from Yaakov Avinu, peace be upon him.

A Midrashic dispute traces the source of Krias Shema either to Matan Torah or back further to Yaakov Avinu.

כי יעקב אבינו ע"ה כינס אותם ועשאן אגודה אחת לכן נק' על שמו קהלת יעקב

For Yaakov Avinu, peace be upon him, gathered them and made them into a single bound bundle; therefore it is called by his name, "the congregation of Yaakov."

Yaakov bound his children into one unit, which is why the Torah is called the heritage of "the congregation of Yaakov."

ובכח האסיפה חל אלקותו ית"ש עליהם

And through the power of the ingathering, His Godliness, may His Name be blessed, rests upon them.

It is specifically the act of gathering that draws Hashem's presence down upon them.

וזה ענין הקדמת נעשה לנשמע שמעשה אבות הי' הכנה לקבלת התורה

And this is the matter of placing "we will do" before "we will hear," for the deeds of the Avos were a preparation for the receiving of the Torah.

The Avos' deeds, like "na'aseh" preceding "nishma," were the groundwork that prepared Bnei Yisrael to receive the Torah.

אכן אחר החטא שקלקלנו נעשה צריכין להתאחד בכח שמע ישראל לבוא לתיקון העשי' למטה בכח הנשמע

However, after the sin through which we caused damage, we became in need of uniting through the power of "Shema Yisrael" in order to come to the rectification of the doing below, through the power of "we will hear."

After the sin damaged the world, we must now unite through Shema to repair the realm of action via the power of "nishma."

לכן עתה א' בשכמל"ו אחר שמע ובחשאי שתיקון העשי' אינו בשלימות עתה

Therefore now we say "Baruch shem kevod malchuso le'olam va'ed" after "Shema," and in an undertone, for the rectification of the doing is not in completeness at present.

We recite "Baruch shem" quietly after "Shema" because the rectification of the physical realm is still incomplete.

וע"י עדות דקריאת שמע יהי' כל התיקון דכ' שפת אמת תכון עתידה דתיכון לעד כמ"ש בזוה"ק

And through the testimony of Krias Shema the entire rectification will come about, as it is written, "The lip of truth shall be established" (Mishlei 12:19) — destined to be established forever, as is stated in the Zohar HaKadosh.

Krias Shema functions as testimony, and through it the full rectification — the eternal establishing of truth — will ultimately come.

ועיקר העדות שבנ"י מעידין כי לעתיד יהי' מבורר אחדותו ית"ש לכל כמ"ש רש"י ה' שהוא אלקינו עתיד להיות אלקי כל וזהו רמז הע' רברבא ע' לשונות בכל לשון שאתה שומע והד' רומז לארבע רוחות

And the essence of the testimony is that Bnei Yisrael bear witness that in the future His Oneness, may His Name be blessed, will be made clear to all, as Rashi writes: "Hashem, who is now our God, is destined to be the God of all" — and this is the hint of the enlarged ayin: "seventy languages," in every language that you hear; and the daled hints at the four directions.

The core of this testimony is Bnei Yisrael declaring that Hashem's Oneness will one day be clear to all, hinted at by the large ayin (seventy languages) and daled (four directions) of "Echad."

וכפי מה שנתפזרו בנ"י בע' לשונות וד' רוחות ואעפ"כ מיחדין שמו בכל יום בזה יהי' תיקון הכולל

And to the extent that Bnei Yisrael are scattered among the seventy languages and the four directions, and nevertheless they unify His Name every single day, through this there will be the all-encompassing rectification.

Precisely because Bnei Yisrael are scattered across all languages and directions yet still proclaim His Oneness daily, they bring about a universal rectification.

וכ' עדות ה' נאמנה מחכימת פתי כי העדות על הבורא לא יתכן בשכל אנושי כי איך יעיד הנברא על הבורא

And it is written, "The testimony of Hashem is faithful, making wise the simple" (Tehillim 19:8), for the testimony concerning the Creator cannot be grasped by human intellect — for how can the created bear witness about the Creator?

Testimony about the Creator seems impossible for human intellect, since a created being cannot logically testify about its Creator.

רק מכח שהיא שפת אמת כל המעיד עליו זוכה לדעת ולראות האמת עי"ז העדות וכן הוא בכל מצות התורה כדכ' היא חכמתכם ובינתכם

Rather, by virtue of its being the lip of truth, everyone who bears witness about Him merits, through this testimony, to know and to see the truth; and so it is with all the mitzvos of the Torah, as it is written, "for this is your wisdom and your understanding" (Devarim 4:6).

It works only because the testimony is rooted in truth itself, so the one testifying is granted to perceive that truth — as with all mitzvos, which are called our wisdom.

פי' כי אין עשיות המצות מצד חכמת אדם רק אדרבא ע"י עשיות המצוה זוכה לחכמה ולדעת את ה'

The meaning is that the performance of the mitzvos does not come from the wisdom of man; rather, on the contrary, through the performance of the mitzvah one merits wisdom and to know Hashem.

Mitzvos are not products of human wisdom; rather, performing them is what grants a person wisdom and knowledge of Hashem.

וכמו כן ע"י עדות היחוד זוכה אח"כ לואהבת את ה' בכל לבבך כו' בכח שפת אמת

And likewise, through the testimony of the Oneness one afterward merits "And you shall love Hashem your God with all your heart" (Devarim 6:5), through the power of the lip of truth.

So too, testifying to Hashem's Oneness in Shema brings one to genuine love of Hashem through the power of truth.

וזהו עצמו העדות כי האמת עד לעצמו

And this itself is the testimony, for the truth is a witness unto itself.

This is the nature of true testimony: truth bears witness to itself.

וכיון שע"י זה העדות זוכין לדעת הרי העדות כי ה' אלקים אמת לכן שפת אמת תכון לעד:

And since through this testimony one merits knowledge, behold the testimony that "Hashem, God, is truth" (Yirmiyahu 10:10); therefore "the lip of truth shall be established forever" (Mishlei 12:19).

Because this testimony yields true knowledge that Hashem is truth, the "lip of truth" is what endures forever.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that "Shema" means ingathering: the more Bnei Yisrael unite as one congregation and accept the yoke of Hashem's kingship, the more His Godliness rests upon them, which is why the Torah was given to a gathered Klal and is called the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov. Reciting Shema each day re-enacts that gathering and draws down a fresh illumination of Matan Torah, completing the rectification of the realm of action that was damaged by the sin — which is why we add "Baruch shem" quietly. Shema is also a daily act of testimony that Hashem's Oneness will be revealed to all, hinted in the enlarged ayin and daled of "Echad," so that even scattered among the seventy languages and four directions, Bnei Yisrael effect a universal rectification. Such testimony about the Creator transcends human intellect; it is possible only because it is rooted in the "lip of truth," through which the one who testifies merits to know and see the truth. Just as the mitzvos are not born of human wisdom but grant wisdom to the one who performs them, so testifying to Hashem's Oneness leads to true love of Hashem, for truth is a witness unto itself and therefore endures forever.