# shema (שְׁמַע)

pronounced: sh'-MAH


**Hear — and act on what you hear**

## In Scripture

> Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
> — Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (The Shema itself — the prayer that opens and closes a Jewish life)

> He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”
> — Exodus 24:7 (Na'aseh v'nishma — Israel promises to do, and then to hear)


## How to read this entry

The definition comes from the IsraelForYou lexicon. Scripture quotations and their translation are named below; later tradition or modern usage is identified when it appears.


https://israelforyou.com/hebrew/shema/