{"id":8386,"date":"2016-02-16T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=8386"},"modified":"2018-05-24T12:57:43","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T09:57:43","slug":"03-16-07","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-16-07\/","title":{"rendered":"07. Kavana While Reciting the First Verse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One\u2019s primary <em>kavana <\/em>must be for the first verse, because in saying it we accept the yoke of heaven, as the Torah says: \u201cThese words\u2026 must be in your heart\u201d (Devarim 6:6). Therefore, one must concentrate in her heart on the words she recites in the first verse. If she did not focus on the words she recited, she did not perform the mitzva (<em>Berakhot<\/em> 13b; SA 60:5, 63:4). Even one who concentrates on the full meaning of every word must try not to think about other things while reciting the verse. However, <em>be-di\u2019avad<\/em>, it seems that as long as she also pondered the meaning of the verse, she fulfilled the mitzva (<em>Peninei Halakha: Prayer<\/em>, ch. 15 n. 2).<\/p>\n<p>This is the meaning on which one should focus: \u201c<strong><em>Shema Yisrael<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 \u201cHear O Israel\u201d; the mitzva to accept God\u2019s yoke is intended for the Jewish people, the nation whose purpose is to express faith in God\u2019s singularity in the world. \u201c<strong><em>Hashem<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 \u201cthe Lord\u201d; this word is not pronounced as written. It is written as the Tetragrammaton, God\u2019s four-letter proper name, but it is pronounced \u201c<em>Adonai<\/em>.\u201d While reciting it, one should focus on the meaning of the word as pronounced \u2013 that He is Master of all \u2013 as well as the word as written \u2013 that He is eternal. \u201c<strong><em>Elokeinu<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 \u201cour God\u201d; He is powerful, omnipotent, the master of all forces, Who rules over us. \u201c<strong><em>E\u0125ad<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 \u201cone\u201d; a person should prolong the recitation of this word long enough to have <em>kavana<\/em> that God is the sole ruler of the whole world, heaven and earth and the four directions of the world. This meaning is hinted at in the numerical values of the letters of the word: <em>alef<\/em> \u2013 one: God is One; \u201c<em>\u0125et<\/em>\u201d \u2013 eight: God rules over the seven heavens and the earth; \u201c<em>dalet<\/em>\u201d \u2013 four: God rules over the four directions (SA 61:6; and see MB 18).<\/p>\n<p><em>Be-di\u2019avad<\/em>, even if one does not focus on the exact meaning of each word and name but understands their meaning generally \u2013 that they are about the acceptance of the yoke of heaven \u2013 she fulfills this mitzva (<em>Peninei Halakha: Prayer<\/em>, ch. 15 n. 3). However, if her mind wanders and she does not concentrate on even the general meaning of the words of the first verse, she does not fulfill the mitzva and must repeat the first verse with <em>kavana<\/em> in order to do so (MB 63:14; <em>Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim<\/em> 17-18; see <em>Peninei Halakha: Prayer<\/em> 15:6).<\/p>\n<p>It is customary to recite the first verse aloud in order to inspire <em>kavana<\/em>, it is customary to read the first verse out loud. It is also customary to cover the eyes with the right hand so as to avoid looking at anything else that might disrupt concentration (SA 61:4-5; MB 17).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One\u2019s primary kavana must be for the first verse, because in saying it we accept the yoke of heaven, as the Torah says: \u201cThese words\u2026 must be in your heart\u201d (Devarim 6:6). Therefore, one must concentrate in her heart on the words she recites in the first verse. If she did not focus on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-16"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>07. Kavana While Reciting the First Verse - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-16-07\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"07. 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