Bread from the Basket

The Sh'ma is considered to be the oldest prayer in the Jewish Liturgy, and the first part of the Sh'ma is taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Many Hebrew scholars believe that it was said by Jacob as he lay dying, and it was a necessary prayer during the First Temple period. It is also the first prayer taught to young children, and it is said twice daily in most Jewish homes. For those of you who would like to dive into the nuances of the Shema, I wrote a small book called "The Sh'ma for Beginners", found on amazon.