Sh’ma – Day 17

17 Elul 5773
By Cantor David Reinwald

Sh’ma.

And at once we were on our feet, but now I am fine seated

Feeling the ground, the grounding of these words, the expression of this wholeness of connection

At once personal and at the same time communal, no matter where

We express these words

Together

One people

Saying listen

In the morning

In the evening

In life and in the anticipation of life no more

In times of need

In all its majesty

And in the simplicity

Bringing us the calm we need as we breathe

These six words are perhaps all we need to connect

Time to time immemorial

Sh’ma.

-Cantor David E. Reinwald, Copyright 2013

I experience Judaism in its fullest usually in its spiritual and emotional presence, and, not surprisingly, through music.  While poetry can be cognitive, I think it relates most to the rhythm of our emotions expressed through words and, for that reason, is the basis for creative and powerful song lyrics.  This is my poem for the Sh’ma, found in Parashat Vaetchanan.  It was written from the heart, in stream-of-consciousness.  What is your Sh’ma poem? 

A meditation chant that will be used in tonight’s Elul Meditation Shabbat: