Shema

Shema yisrael adonai eloheinu

Adonai echad

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God,

The Lord is one.

Jay Rockman is a freshman at USC and a dedicated follower of Jewish religion and tradition. His mother is Israeli, and as a child he learned to speak Hebrew. From grades 6-12 he attend Milken Community School, a prestigious private school in Calabasas, CA that integrates Jewish education into its curriculum. According to Jay, they would often sing Jewish hymns and prayers at assemblies or certain classes; the school would combine both the Hebrew text and the English translation into these short hymns. The third and fourth lines of the hymn are normally written in Hebrew characters, with this version containing the phonetic pronunciation of the words.

The “Shema” is the most sacred Hebrew hymn, as it provides a general framework for the indispensable principles of the Jewish religion. The central concept is the idea that God is “one,” but this can be interpreted in multiple ways. First and foremost, the prayer stresses monotheism, meaning that the Jewish people cannot pray to anyone but God (meaning they cannot have idols or statues). Also, the “Shema” discusses God’s omnipotence, claiming that there truly is no barrier between God and the natural world; instead, the Lord is “One” with everything He has created. Thus, to disrespect the Earth or other human beings is to directly disrespect the Lord. Finally, the hymn speaks to the land of Israel, as it is considered the homeland of the Jewish people, meaning that every Jew has a direct connection to the land. While there has been tremendous controversy over who should have sovereignty over the holy land of Israel, the “Shema” certainly confirms the location as an indispensable aspect of Jewish culture. These ancient texts certainly explain why the Israelis are so protective of their land, as they are directly commanded by God to represent and protect the holy territory.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones

May break my bones

But words will never hurt me

I am rubber. You are glue

Whatever you say

Bounces off of me

And sticks to you

While Talia acknowledges learning this chant in approximately the first grade, she rarely ever hears it recited anymore. The “sticks and stones” chant is not insulting at all, but rather a clever comeback that is taught by adults as a response to verbal abuse from another child. Talia feels that kids who still use the rhyme (in 6^th grade) are viewed as corny and nerdy, but that it used to be an effective comeback during elementary school. Still, the chant has always felt too scripted to her, so she has generally refrained from using it throughout her life.

Clearly, this rhyme has been fabricated and preached by adults in order to encourage kids to refrain from using physical measures in response to insults. The kid reciting the lines is essentially proclaiming immunity from verbal harassment, while the final lines (“whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you”) assert that one who chooses to insult others is an empty person who will eventually feel the pain of the insults. Throughout my youth, I remember adults telling kids that bullies have self-confidence issues and project their negative feelings on others, and the rubber and glue metaphor reinforces the sentiment that those who pick on others receive negative emotional consequences as well. What I find interesting about the rhyme is that it seems like a challenge for a direct physical response, as the child is basically stating that the only way to affect him/her emotionally is through violence (“sticks and stones”). I cannot recall a time in which the chant solicited actual violence, but there is a noticeable contradiction between the opening lines and the grand theme (not to pick on others).