February 11, 2010 - Deuteronomy 11:18-21

The Shema:

"Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Blessed is his name,
whose glorious kingdom is forever.

And thou shalt love the Lord with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your might.
And these words, which I command you this day,
shall be upon your heart:
and you shall teach them always to your children,
and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way,
when you lie down,
and when you arise.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they will be seen as a badge between your eyes.
And you shall write them on the doorposts
of your house, and upon your gates."

Observant Jews say this prayer every day. It goes along with the passage about what the Lord requires of thee...to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. We talked about that is a previous post.

Here, we are told that there needs to be an outward manifestation of our love for God. We are to place a sign on your hands, on our foreheads, on the doors of our houses, on our gates. Unless you're Jewish, you probably don't do that.

I've heard it said that Jesus pretty much threw the rule book out of the window; we don't have to follow all those archaic commandments any more. But we do seem to pick and choose the ones we want to follow and the ones we don't, don't we?

All food is declared clean, so we eat pork and shellfish. Putting a sign of your devotion to God on your hand or your forehead would be embarassing, so we wear a cross around our necks instead.

Ok, here's my question...if these things were a commandment once, and if God is never changing, then why don't we follow ALL the old rules? We pick and choose every single day the ones we think are important and let the others fall by the wayside as being not practical in today's modern world.

Don't get me wrong, there's a cartload of these old commandments...six hundred and some, if I remember correctly. There is no way in God's green earth I could even remember all of them, let alone follow all of them.

And maybe that's the point. Today, in a court of law, "ignorance of the law is no excuse." When we get to Heaven will God say, oops, sorry, you broke commandment number blahdy-blah so you can't come in?

I don't think Jesus threw the rule book out the window. I think he opened the window to let the fresh air in. I think He invited us to examine which "rules" work and which ones don't.

What about the Shema? Observant Jews wear Tefillin (phylacteries) - boxes containing Biblical verses - during morning prayer services starting at the age of 13. These are worn on the head.

On the doorposts of traditional Jewish homes (and many not-so-traditional homes!), you will find a small case. This case is commonly known as a mezuzah (Heb.: doorpost), because it is placed upon the doorposts of the house. The mezuzah is not, as some suppose, a good-luck charm, nor does it have any connection with the lamb's blood placed on the doorposts in Egypt. Rather, it is a constant reminder of G-d's presence and G-d's mitzvot.

The mitzvah to place mezuzot on the doorposts of our houses is derived from Deut. 6:4-9, a passage commonly known as the Shema (Heb: Hear, from the first word of the passage). In that passage, G-d commands us to keep His words constantly in our minds and in our hearts by (among other things) writing them on the doorposts of our house. The words of the Shema are written on a tiny scroll of parchment, along with the words of a companion passage, Deut. 11:13-21. On the back of the scroll, a name of G-d is written. The scroll is then rolled up and placed in the case, so that the first letter of the Name (the letter Shin) is visible (or, more commonly, the letter Shin is written on the outside of the case).

What reminders of the importance of God in your life do you wear on your person? I submit that taking a lesson from Jewish life might not be a bad thing at all.