Shema

''Shema Yisrael'' (''Shema Israel'' or '''''Sh'ma Yisrael'''''; ''Šəmaʿ Yīsrāʾēl'', "Hear, O Israel") is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is one" (), found in .

The first part can be translated as either "The our God" or "The is our God", and the second part as either "the is one" or as "the one " (in the sense of "the alone"), since Hebrew does not normally use a copula in the present tense, so translators must decide by inference whether one is appropriate in English. The word used for "the " is the tetragrammaton YHWH.

Observant Jews consider the ''Shema'' to be the most important part of the prayer service in Judaism, and its twice-daily recitation as a ''mitzvah'' (religious commandment). Also, it is traditional for Jews to say the ''Shema'' as their last words, and for parents to teach their children to say it before they go to sleep at night.

The term ''Shema'' is used by extension to refer to the whole part of the daily prayers that commences with ''Shema Yisrael'' and comprises Deuteronomy , , and Numbers . These sections of the Torah are read in the weekly Torah portions ''Va'etchanan'', ''Eikev'', and ''Shlach'', respectively. Provided by Wikipedia