CLAL Rabbinic Community On Line
|
|
|
The Current Study Unit -- by R. Kimelman (Unit 7)THE SHEMA
LITURGY
I. PROLOGUE: METHOD This reading of the Shema` liturgy, traditionally known as the Shema` and its blessings, revolves around three questions: what are readers apprised of, how are they apprised, and why. This what, how, and why correspond in literary criticism to the historiographic function, the aesthetic factor, and the ideological principle. Through the prism of these questions we shall analyze the content of the Shema` liturgy, delineate its mode of presentation, and ascertain its purpose. In doing so, we shall show how historical issues, aesthetic considerations, and ideological factors converge to illuminate the full meaning of the Shema` liturgy. The three questions are listed sequentially for purposes of analysis, in the actual inquiry, however, they are as intertwined as they are interdependent. This is because the why of the liturgy is informed by the how, which in turn is informed by the what. Similarly, in reverse order, the what is informed by the how, which in turn is informed by the why. The assumption is that any analysis of content involves an analysis of form and purpose. Thus a determination of the form of the Shema` liturgy is dependent upon an assessment of its content, which in turn is dependent upon a judgment of its purpose and vice versa. Such an analysis allows us to see that our grasp of the ideology and purpose of the liturgy is informed by our perception of its structure which in turn is informed by our understanding of what it says. It is precisely the interrelationship of the three that forms the basis of our strategy of interpretation. In other words, our interpretive strategies inform the shape of our reading as the text itself shapes our interpretive strategies. Structures of texts and their meaning do not exist independently. In fact, meanings of texts are linked to their structures as their structures are reflexes of their meanings. The upshot of this is that changes in meaning can bring about changes in our perception of the structure, as changes in our perception of the structure can generate changes in meaning. This contrasts with the widespread belief that textual structures are self-evident features. On the contrary, we are arguing that structures are features that emerge in the light of perceptions of meaning. Thus our programmatic approach to the Shema` liturgy can be summed up by saying that the way we understand the Shema` liturgy is tied to how we perceive it to be structured. Alternative understandings of its structure will thus engender alternative meanings. Indeed, the traditional nomenclature for the Shema` liturgy, namely "The Shema` and its Blessings" already assumes a structure which we will see already contains a specific way of reading the liturgical text. As long as historical knowledge results from ways of reading and construing texts, different ways of reading and construing texts will generate different historical conclusions. Literary analysis no more occurs in a historical vacuum than historical analysis occurs in a literary vacuum. Novel perspectives in literary analysis are apt to yield new historical information as new historical information is apt to generate alternative literary analyses. It is only through a constant dialectic between the literary and historical approaches that such understandings are achieved. By showing how the refinement of the operations of ideology and aesthetics can lead to novel historiographical insights, studies such as this illustrate how "historiography mediates between ideology and aesthetics."
II. THE SHEMA` LITURGY A. The Text A full text of the Shema` and its blessings becomes available at the earliest only in the ninth century in the Order of Prayers by Amram Gaon and in the fragments of the Genizah of the synagogue of Fostat, Cairo, built in 882. Nonetheless, the text in substance must hark back at least to the first centuries of the common era as its structure and motifs pervade early liturgical poetry (piyyutim), whereas its motifs, concluding perorations, structure, and accompanying blessings all figure prominently in the Mishnah and the Talmud. Also its angelology and Qedushah/Sanctus reflect that of Second Temple times. B. The Structure The Shema` liturgy derives its name from the first word of its opening verse -- "Shema` [= Hear] O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). This verse heads a constellation, in the liturgy and the Mishnah, of three biblical sections, the first two from the Book of Deuteronomy (6:4-9; 11:13-21) and the third from the Book of Numbers (15:37-41). The first section, and possibly the second, may be alluded to along with the Decalogue already in Ps. 50:7 and 81:9-11. It is possible that the two sections are linked to the Exodus by Josephus who associates a prayer expressing gratitude for the Exodus with a twice daily service that transpires at dawn and at the hour for turning to repose. On the one hand, he may only be referring to a prayer such as the one recorded in the Talmud that states: "We are grateful to You for having taken us out of Egypt and having redeemed us from the house of bondage in order to praise Your name." In any case, all three sections appear in the report of the Temple service in M. Tamid 5:1 along with the Decalogue and other selections. As an independent unit, without the Decalogue, they first appear in M. Berakhot 2:2. and in Sifre Deut. 34-35. It follows that between 70 CE and circa 200 CE the three Shema` sections achieved their present liturgical status and order. The encasement of the biblical lectionary with blessings formalizes the Shema` as liturgy. The result is a tripartite pattern of blessing(s), Bible, blessing(s). This pattern of blessing, Bible, blessing is common in the classical liturgy. It accounts for the structure of the Temple service, the Hallel service, the lectionary readings of the Torah, the Haftorah, and the Scroll of Esther (and in some rites the liturgical reading of the other Scrolls). Even the biblical selections known as pesukei de-zimra, which serve as an overture to the morning recitation of the Shema` and its blessings, became encased in a set of blessings upon being formalized as a liturgical unit based on the model of the Hallel service. The association of blessings with lectionary readings harks back to the Book of Psalms. Four of the five books of Psalms conclude with a blessing formula. The formula was then quite fluid as there are four different formulations. In each case, their function is to elicit a communal response upon completion of the public recitation. This response is made explicit in the last one where it states: "Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity. Let all the people say: `Amen.' Hallelujah" (Ps. 106:48). Similarly, The Book of Nehemiah records that after reading from the Torah, "The Levites ... said, "Bless the Lord your God who is from eternity to eternity ..." (9:5). In fact, by proclaiming the content of the verse from Psalms -- "Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity" -- the mandate of Nehemiah -- "Bless the Lord your God who is from eternity to eternity" -- is performed. There is also evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran that readings of Scripture and explication of laws were followed by communal recitation of blessings. The rabbinic liturgy added a blessing before the Torah lectionary just as it did in the case of the biblically mandated post-prandial blessing. In each case, the rabbinic liturgical construct is comprised of a biblical reading encased in blessings.
C. The Sequence and Content of the Shema` In addition to formalizing liturgy by encasing a biblical lectionary with blessings, liturgy is formalized by acquiring a fixed sequence. Fixed sequences characterize several liturgical units such as the Hallel, the Amidah, the liturgical reading of the Megillah, the Shema`, and the blessings for fast days as well as those for Rosh Ha-Shannah. The sequence of the first two sections of the Shema`, according to R. Joshua b. Korha, adheres to a theological pattern, in which the first section (Deut. 6:4-9) because it constitutes "the authority of God's kingship," precedes the second (Deut. 11:13-21) which constitutes "the authority of the commandments." Although this theological account accounts for the priority of the first over the second, it does not explain the presence of the third. The third section reads as follows: (37) The Lord said to Moses, saying: (38) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them that they are to make for themselves fringes (or tassels) on the corners (or wings) of their garments throughout the generations; and are to put on the corner tassel a thread of royal blue. (39) And it shall be for you for viewing so that when you look at it you will bear in mind all the commandments of the lord and keep them, that you not go astray after your heart and eyes after which you lust. (40) Thus you shall bear in mind and keep all my commandments and thus be holy to your God. (41) I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, to be to your God. I am the Lord your God (Num. 15:37-41). The relationship of the third section to the first two has challenged the ingenuity of ancient, medieval, and modern scholars alike. In antiquity, R. Simeon b. Yohai argued that the sequence of the three sections follows a functional order in which the first section focuses on studying, the second on teaching, and the last on doing. The Talmud questions the validity of these distinctions noting that the first section contains all three elements -- study, teaching, and doing, the second -- teaching and doing, and the third -- doing. In any event, neither theory provides an explanation for the specific content of the third section since the alleged emphasis on doing is equally applicable to a host of biblical passages. In the medieval period, Maimonides, explained their sequence as follows: The section beginning, "Hear O Israel" is recited first, because it sets forth the duties of acknowledging the Unity of God, loving Him, and studying His words. This is the great and essential matter on which all depends. Then, the section beginning, "And it shall come to pass" is read. This contains a charge to fulfill all the other commandments. Finally, the section concerning fringes is read as it also contains a charge to remember all the commandments. Maimonides incorporated part of the rabbinic explanations into his own. Following R. Joshua b. Korha, he views the first two sections as focusing on the acknowledgement of God and His commandments. Following R. Simeon b. Yohai, he views the first unit as focusing on study. His epitome of the three sections suffers from the same weakness as theirs, namely, it explains the primacy of the first without explaining the distinctive significance of the remaining two. Maimonides divides the first section into three parts: The Shema` verse -- "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deut. 6:4) -- sets forth the duty of acknowledging the Unity of God. The next verse -- You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (or "mind") with all your soul (or "body/desires") and with all your might/means (or "utmost") (5) -- sets forth the duty of loving God. The remaining verses -- (6) "And these words that I command you this day shall be on your heart. (7) Review them with your children. Speak about them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead. (9) Inscribe them on the door posts of your house and on your gates" -- are all subsumed under the duty "of studying His words." For the summary to be exhaustive, Maimonides must subsume the laying of tefillin of verse eight as well as the affixing of the mezzuzah of verse nine under the rubric "of studying His words." Such an assumption can be supported by referring to the biblical material contained in the tefillin and the mezzuzah. Elsewhere, Maimonides views verses six through nine as a means for coming to the love of God, or as a means for its expression. According to the former, the constant involvement with the commandments leads to the love of God. According to the latter, the love of God leads to the fulfilling of the commandments out of love. The love of God thus serves as both catalyst and consummation, as both stimulus and achievement. Accordingly, verse seven asserts that the love of God either generates, and/or is generated by inducing others, especially one's progeny, to accept God's words and by being involved with them at all places -- at home or away, and all times -- retiring or rising. Similarly, in verse eight the tefillin are either signs which confirm the love of God, and/or devices for its stimulation. In either case, one's mental, physical, and emotional powers become wrapped up in a single all-integrating love. Finally, in verse nine, the entrance mezzuzot either signify the commitment of the home to the love of God, and/or serve as a catalyst of such love by constant recall of the commitment. The first section can also be viewed as an integrated literary unit wherein the three-fold demand to love God is followed by a corresponding three-fold elaboration of how God is to be loved. Since the elaboration consists of four verses rather than three, the following correspondences are more suggestive than definitive. The first demand, "love ... with all your heart," corresponds to the next verse, "And these words that I command you this day shall be on your heart" (6). Since the biblical lev ("heart") also refers to the seat of thought and understanding, the command bears a range of meanings from being totally mindful of God's teachings to taking them wholeheartedly. By using a single term for thought and feeling, both mind and emotion are enlisted in an all-consuming love. The second demand, "Love ... with all your soul," corresponds to the next two verses: "Review them with your children. Speak about them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead" (7-8). The biblical nefesh ("soul") also refers to the body or self. The self here constitutes the total person, a personhood that includes progeny and body; the former to be instructed, the later to be incorporated in the love of God as the bearer of the symbols of such love. The third demand, "Love ... with all your means," corresponds to the last verse: "Inscribe them on the door posts of your house and on your gates" (9). This demands the drafting of one's physical domicile and resources in the love of God. Since the biblical me'od, which was translated as "means", can also denote "might", verse eight can be shifted from the second category into the third, or, because of its double meaning, serve as a bridge between them. As part of "with all you might," the arm tefillin of verse eight stands for the harnessing of one's strength in the love of God on the model of Ex. 13:9 where the tefillin serve as a memento of God's mighty hand. The three-fold love of God is in each case designated by a polysemic term in order to extend the demands of love to embrace heart and mind, body and soul, economic and physical resources. The result is a love of God that is unreserved, all-demanding, at all times, in every place, through all physical postures. This result may all be contained proleptically in the third meaning of me'od which is "very/much." In sum, the commandment to love God totally not only concludes with means and might but also climaxes with the demand that God be loved with "all your veriness," namely, to the utmost. As noted, Maimonides also epitomizes sections two and three. For him, the essence of section two is the charge to fulfill all the other commandments just as the essence of section three is the charge to remember them. He holds that their sequence corresponds to their relative gravity with the more consequential coming first. Their hierarchy of value also reflects a pedagogical order consisting of studying, doing, and remembering. Totally absent from the Maimonidean analysis is an account of the redemptive motif, an absence made all the more conspicuous by the talmudic requirement to evoke the Exodus in the Shema` liturgy. A recent account of the three sections by Nahum Sarna suffers from the same deficiency. According to him, the three "express fundamental doctrines of Judaism" in the following manner: [A] They proclaim the existence and unity of God, the call for the loving surrender of the mind and will to His demands, the charge to make God's teaching the constant subject of study and to ensure the education of the young, [B] faith in divine righteousness with its corrolaries that society is built on moral foundations, that there is reward for virtue and punishment for evil and [C] finally, and above all, that the experience of the Exodus is of transparent importance in the religion of Israel. Although not stated explicitly, it may be assumed that A and B correspond to the first two sections, whereas C corresponds to the third. In contrast to Maimonides, Sarna underscores the focus in section two on the "moral foundations, that there is reward for virtue and punishment for evil." Highlighting the reward and punishment motif of section two makes its absence in section one all the more notable. Section two also differs from section one in that much of it is formulated in the plural. Both distinguishing characteristics converge. The plural formulation fits the reward and punishment motif for compliance, or noncompliance, with the commandments since the subject is the collective destiny of Israel. The singular formulation suits the first section's total focus on the love motif, requiring as it does an individual response. Whereas collective behavior needs incentives to goad it into compliance and disincentives to deter it from transgression, the love demanded of the individual in section one requires no incentives outside of the love itself. In any event, Sarna provides no pertinent explanation for the inclusion of the third section. His emphasis on the obvious importance of the Exodus does not explain the inclusion of the motif here nor the selection of this section among the many biblical references to the Exodus. The Talmud itself justifies the inclusion of the third section by listing its five elements. They are: "the commandment of the fringes, the Exodus, the authority of the commandments, (the negation of) heretical beliefs and sinful and idolatrous thoughts." Although there is some disagreement as to the explicitness of the third, namely, the authority of the commandments, all agree on the explicitness of the first two. It is also clear from the wording of the third section that the first two elements are the two primary foci. Thus the first part comprised of verses thirty-eight to forty ends with "And you shall be holy to your God;" whereas the second part comprised of verse forty-one ends with "I am the Lord your God." The first part makes the point that the fringes are a mnemotechnical device for keeping in mind the commandments. The purpose of such attention to the commandments is to eventuate in action, as the Talmud notes: "Looking upon leads to recalling and recalling leads to action." The visual and mental are mobilized for doing. Whereas the opening of this part promotes compliance with the commandments, the closing seeks to prevent their transgression by keeping in check the urges of the heart and the straying of the eyes. Both opening and closing converge to make Israel holy to God. The second part of the section adds to the above the assertion that God engineered the redemption from Egypt in order to be Israel's god. The third section as a whole shares some elements with the first two. The first part of the third section corresponds to the second section of the Shema` (Deut. 11:13-21). Its exhortation to comply with the commandments matches the verse "If you will heed my commandments" (Deut. 11:13) of the second section. Its counsel against straying after one's heart matches the verse "Take care lest your heart tempt you" (Deut. 11:16) of the same section. Moreover, its warning against going astray after the eyes and heart may correspond to the location of the tefillin between the eyes and on the arm facing the heart. The assumption that the commandments to be recalled upon gazing at the fringes are those of the Shema` verse -- the acceptance of divine sovereignty and the exclusion of idolatry, as the Sifre contends, further solidifies the link with the first section. Such is not the case with the redemptive motif of the second part. It has no verbal link with the first two sections even though redemption is linked extensively, as we shall see, in biblical and rabbinic literature to the realization of divine sovereignty and to the keeping of the commandments. To Post a Comment or Question to the Ongoing Discussion, Click here: post.To Browse the Ongoing Discussion, Click here: ongoing.To Access Prior Study Units, Click here: archives. |
Copyright c. CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, 1999-2003 |
