Shema
This article would perhaps be better suited for Wikible. Shema (???? ^ [[Strong's](Strong's_Concordance)\ #8085]^) literally means "listen up", taken from the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The Shema is Israel's declaration of independence (from other nations and dependence on God alone.) The Shema contains several commandments which are held very close to the hearts of Traditional Jews (and some "Messianic Jews") even to this day.
Jesus Christ, in Matthew 22:36-38, responded to question of which is the greatest commandment by reciting the Shema.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.\ 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.\ 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.\ 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.\ 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.\ 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Commandments contain in the Shema
- God is One. (v. 4)
- Love the Lord with all you that you are. (v. 5; see also: Matthew 22:36-38)
- Each parent must teach the Law to their children. (v. 7)
- Read the Shema in the morning and at night. (v. 7)
- To bind "tefillin" on the head. (v. 8)
- To bind "tfillin" on the arm. (v.8)
- To affix "mezuzah" to the doorposts and gates of your house. (v. 9)
note: 5 and 6 are not held as literal commandments by the Karaite Jews.