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The Shema Incorporates the Core Values and Identity of Judaism
Reading from a Torah scroll in accordance with Sephardi tradition. Photo: Sagie Maoz via Wikimedia Commons.
Apart from the opening statements of the so-called Ten Commandments, there is very little that we would call theology in the Torah. Even descriptions of God are indirect, and there isn’t anything obvious about how to relate to God, other than pure obedience and loyalty.
The first paragraph of the Shema, which we read this week, is a unique and multi-faceted response.
Hear, Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is one.
You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
These things that I command you this day should always be close to your hearts.
And you should teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are traveling, when you lie down and when you get up.
And bind them as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead.
This is often called an expression, or declaration, of faith. It is our commitment to the God of Israel.
The Shema is recited at least twice a day, morning and night. It was the defiant declaration of Jews martyred by the Romans, like Rabbi Akiva; those burnt at the stake by the Inquisition; and of Jews entering the Nazi jaws of hell. It is also the last declaration made on one’s death bed. It is probably the most significant and well-known part of Jewish liturgy, and the very core of our culture — even for those not particularly religious.
But it is not like a credo that you have to believe to be a Christian, or the Muslim Shahada, which both include other beliefs such as in human beings. Moses is not mentioned.
But it starts with the words “Hear [or understand] Israel.” The invitation to pay attention, to recognize the importance and significance of something is paramount, and “Israel” addresses the people — us. So far, no mention of God but of peoplehood, identity, belonging. And it is inclusive of everyone.
And then we come to God. Yet the words here still do not tell us much about God. It is often said that the Hebrew God is angry and vengeful. But such dishonest polemic ignores that a loving God, Ahavah, is mentioned more often than any other emotion. Although it is often paired with Yira, respect or even awe, here the word love stands out alone and emphasizes the emotional and mystical aspect of Jewish life, before turning to the practical.
It is the practical that truly differentiates Judaism from other religions. Yes, we do have important, fundamental concepts and ideas — but such ideas are very subjective and can be understood by different people with different minds and attitudes. Practice on the other hand is the same for everyone. And whereas in many religions there is a difference between priestly classes and regulations, in Judaism outside of Temple affairs, everyone was expected to adhere to the tradition. We are a nation of priests in that sense.
Perhaps the most important and universal element in the Shema, although mentioned recurring times elsewhere, is the obligation to teach our children. And we are instructed to do this by example, repetition, and showing them what matters in daily life. For this is what has ensured our continuity.
The statements about writing these ideas on the door posts of our homes and binding them to our arm and head have been understood symbolically or metaphorically by different groups such as Samaritans, Ka’arites, and Reform Judaism. The rabbinic oral interpretation was to take them literally. Hence the Mezuzot and Tefillin that play a significant part in Jewish identity.
This very important small paragraph, in its poetic form, incorporates the fundamentals and core ideas of Judaism.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
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Druze Religious Elders From Syria Make Historic Visit to Israel
People gather on the day Israeli Druze leader Sheik Mowafaq Tarif and around 100 Syrian Druze religious elders, in the first Druze delegation from Syria just after 1973 war, visit the Nabi Shuayb Shrine, a holy place for the Druze community, in northern Israel, March 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A delegation of Druze religious elders from Syria crossed into Israel on Friday for the first such visit in more than 50 years, underscoring Israel‘s backing for the community amid growing tensions with the new government in Damascus.
Around 100 Druze sheikhs from villages on the slope of Mount Hermon in Syria, overlooked by the Golan Heights, are due to visit shrines including sites held to be the tomb of prophet Shuayb, west of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee.
After entering the Golan Heights, cheered by Druze in traditional black clothes and white and red head dress, some waving the white, blue, yellow, red, and green flag of the Druze, they traveled by bus to the town of Julis in Israel to meet Mowafaq Tarif, spiritual leader of the group in Israel.
“Feeling proud and honored to visit here. We are one family and brothers,” said Nazeh Rakab, from Hadar in Syria, as he watched the welcome ceremony in Julis, where hundreds gathered to greet the delegation waving Druze flags, with some firing into the air from the rooftops in celebration.
The Druze, an Arab minority who practice a religion originally derived from Islam, live in an area straddling Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and the Golan Heights, connected across the borders by a web of kinship ties.
In Israel, many serve in the military and police, including during the war in Gaza, and some have reached high rank.
Friday’s visit is intended to be a purely religious occasion, but its political significance was underscored by Israeli airstrikes on what Israel described as command centers of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad movement in Damascus a day earlier.
Israeli ministers have expressed deep misgivings about the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, describing his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement as a jihadist group. The group was formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda but later renounced the connection.
On Thursday, Israel, which has been urging support for the Druze following the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December, sent truckloads of aid including oil, flour, salt, and sugar, most to the southern province of Suwayda.
Earlier this week, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Syrian Druze would be allowed to enter and work in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war, and Israel has also said it would protect Druze in Syria if needed.
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Israel Rejects Hamas Offer to Free Israeli-American Hostage as ‘Psychological Warfare’
A Torah and a photograph of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, sit in his home during a family interview with Reuters in Tenafly, New Jersey, US, Dec. 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephani Spindel
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to free an American–Israeli dual national if Israel begins the next phase of ceasefire talks towards a permanent end to the war, an offer Israel dismissed as “psychological warfare.”
Hamas said it had made the offer to release New Jersey native Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army, after receiving a proposal from mediators for negotiations on the second phase of a ceasefire deal, which has halted major fighting since Jan. 19 but has been in limbo for two weeks.
The group said its exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, was due to arrive in Cairo later on Friday for further ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators.
Since a temporary first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 2, Israel has rejected opening the second phase of talks, which would require it to negotiate over a permanent end to the war, the main demand of Hamas.
Israel says it wants to extend the ceasefire’s temporary first phase, a proposal backed by US envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas says it will resume freeing hostages only under the second phase.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu’s office called the offer to release Alexander “manipulation and psychological warfare.”
“While Israel has accepted the Witkoff proposal, Hamas stands by its refusal and has not budged a millimeter,” his office added. It said he would convene with his cabinet on Saturday night to discuss the hostage situation and decide on the next steps.
Israel has imposed a total blockade of Gaza since the first phase of the ceasefire expired without an agreement to begin the second phase on March 2.
Witkoff told reporters at the White House early in March that gaining the release of Alexander was a “top priority.” US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler met with Hamas leaders in recent days to seek Alexander’s release.
Two Hamas officials told Reuters their agreement to release Alexander and the four bodies was conditional on beginning the talks on the second phase of the ceasefire, opening crossings, and lifting the Israeli blockade.
“We are working with mediators for the agreement to succeed and to compel the occupation to conclude all phases of the agreement,” Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua, the Hamas spokesperson, told Reuters.
“Hamas‘ approval to release Edan Alexander aims to push towards the conclusion of the phases of the agreement,” said Qanoua.
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to bridge the differences between the Islamic terrorist group and Israel to restart negotiations in order to release remaining hostages held in Gaza and lift the blockade.
The war began when Hamas carried out a cross-border invasion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
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Why Israel Should Annex the West Bank
A boy walks home in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kida, Aug. 31, 2010. Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias
To annex or not to annex. That is the question. Should Israel annex Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank? Many Israelis would say yes. After all, Judea and Samaria comprise the very core of the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, plus it is vital for maintaining Israel’s security. Others, however, caution against it. And they have their reasons. The trouble is those reasons don’t stand up to scrutiny.
Those opposed to annexing Judea and Samaria say, for example, that there will be too much backlash from the international community, which will lead to a wide range of consequences for Israel. But of course, a lot of people said all hell would break loose when the US, under the first Trump administration, decided to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. Those people were obviously wrong. Israel suffered no major pushback from the international community. Similarly, the sky will not fall if the Jewish state declares sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
People opposed to annexing Judea and Samaria also argue that annexing the territory would severely harm Israel’s Jewish character because it would involve absorbing 3 million Palestinians. Admittedly, I naively believed this to be true at one time. But in fact, this argument doesn’t hold water.
For one thing, there aren’t 3 million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. In fact, this figure is highly suspect because it comes from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). The Palestinians have always had an interest in inflating their population numbers to build a case against Israel annexing Judea and Samaria.
Indeed, the PCBS includes in its population count some 500,000 Palestinian residents who are overseas. It also includes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are residents of Jerusalem and those married to Israeli Arabs, both of whom are included in Israel’s population figures. The truth is that the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria is closer to 1.85 million.
Moreover, if Israel was to annex Judea and Samaria, it would be under no obligation to give citizenship to every single one of the territory’s Palestinian inhabitants. But this would be practicing apartheid, right? Wrong. Many countries restrict eligibility for citizenship based on ethnicity, religion, etc. This is especially the case in the Arab world, where Palestinians in particular are excluded from citizenship in all but one country: Jordan, which, it should be noted, specifically bars Jews from becoming citizens.
In fact, in some Arab countries, acquiring citizenship is so restricted that the majority of residents are not citizens at all. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has a population of about 12.5 million, but just 11.5 percent are Emirati citizens. In Qatar, out of a population of just over 3 million, only 10.5 percent are citizens. And in Kuwait, with a population of approximately 4.9 million, expatriates outnumber citizens by 2 to 1. No one accuses these countries of being apartheid states, nor should they accuse Israel of practicing apartheid if it chooses not to bestow citizenship on Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.
Israel can also choose not to annex the whole of Judea and Samaria. In fact, many proponents of annexation have said that Israel should just annex Area C, which is under complete Israeli control per the Oslo Accords. Area C, which contains all the communities that Israel has built in Judea and Samaria, has a Jewish majority. About 500,000 Jews live in Area C, compared to approximately 300,000 Palestinians. Thus, if Israel wanted to, it could bestow citizenship on the Palestinians of Area C with minimal impact on the country’s Jewish majority as a whole.
Another popular argument against annexation is that it would prevent a two-state solution. This argument is moot because the two-state solution is dead. It died on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages — while perpetrating widespread rape and torture in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Besides, the main impediment to the two-state solution has never been the threat of annexation, but rather the refusal of the Palestinians to accept the existence of a Jewish state. This is why the Palestinians have refused every offer of statehood dating all the way back to the 1947 UN partition plan.
Since the two-state solution has finally died, it’s time we bury it — by annexing all or part of Judea and Samaria and bringing it under Jewish sovereignty for the first time in two millennia.
The author is a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.
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