The taming of “the” Sh’ma

Sh’ma, Yisrael . . .

Hear O Israel . . .

Many of us have heard and/or read that translation literally hundreds of times.  But tell me, where does the “O” come from?  For that matter, why do we talk about “the” Sh’ma—where does the “the” come from?  Check the original, in Parashat Va’etchanan, Deuteronomy 6:4—neither word is there.

Sh’ma, in its original context, is a command from Moshe (Moses) to remember that HaShem is our only god.  The best translation I’ve ever literally seen is an American Sign Language interpretation that uses the sign for “Pay Attention!” as the translation of “Sh’ma!”.

I think that, by turning Sh’ma into “the” Sh’ma and adding the word O, we’ve reduced Moshe’s thunderous command to ritual baby food, simple enough for a child to say.  But the original text was aimed at parents—"Teach them [these words] to your children"!  In my opinion, we should take away the O and restore just plain Sh’ma to its original status as one of Moshe’s marching orders:  As Eliana Light translates it, “Listen up!”

 

Here's a version of Sh'ma in ASL.