One of my favorite prayers to recite as a Jew is the Shema. This article will be dedicated to discussing this prayer. To start with here's the text of the prayer in English:

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them

when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up

And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 We recite Deuteronomy 6:4-9 aloud in Hebrew at services and read Deuteronomy 11:13-21 silently in meditation and prayer. I've heard other Jews state that the Shema is like the pledge of allegience of Judaism and a declaration of the strict monotheism of the God of Israel. The prayer declares the oneness of God:

In Hebrew it would sound like this (using transliteration to interpret the sounds of the Hebrew letters for the first line of the Shema:

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Judaism has always been emphatic in it's belief that God cannot be divided up into the three-in-one concept embraced by Christians. It also mortifies even the most secular Jew to imagine the idea of God taking the form of man and dwelling among men. The shema reminds Jews of the central theme of covenant, a holy God who made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants.

Upon reading about the Holocaust, I learned that Jews being murdered would recite the first line of the Shema before being dispatched to their deaths.

When reciting the first line of the Shema, one must cover your eyes for this reason:

".....blocking out distracting external stimuli."

Covering ones eyes allows for complete attention to the sacredness of the words.

When reciting the shema, a Jew must cover ones eyes and silently mouth the words:

Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

This is the second line of the Shema is mouthed, the words are not muttered aloud.

The Shema is to be recited by Jews three times a day; in the morning, afternoon and night before sleep. The words remind us of Judaism's basics; the love of God, the joy of studying Torah and the concept of divine reward and punishment.

It is also one of the many prayers that united Jews of all races, economic backgrounds and culture. The shema is a source of comfort to me and was one of the first prayers I worked hard to learn when I first started practicing Judaism.