[HANASHIR:3643] Re: 2nd Line of Shema

[Joshua Miller <jcsc...>]

Hey All,

Just in case folks haven't heard enough explainations on line 2 of Shema...

I learned somewhere back (maybe even at a Hava Nashira Workshop on
T'fillah years ago) that another historical reason behind the whispered
"Baruch Shem..." line dates back to when Jews were living under an
oppressive monarchy in Spain, and the king's court censored the saying or
reading of certain lines that threatened the sovereignty of the king like
the second line of Shema that has reference to "Malchuto" (G-d's kingdom).
So Jews would whisper the line so as not to run the risk of being throw in
jail for challenging the king's authority. The tradition carries on to day
in remembrance of our oppressed ancestors. If remember correctly the same
line appears in the Kaddish, only its translated into Aramaic "Y'hei
sh'mei raba...", and that line was always said loudly by these Spanish
Jews, to spite the king's law enforcers who didn't know Aramaic :) And on
Yom Kippur, such a holy day, they would shout it in the Hebrew too,
despite the edict (what are they going to do, arrest us all on our day 
of Repentance?)

I don't have source to site for this modern-ish Midrash, but I thought it 
was a cool enough story to share even if its not true...

- Josh Miller
  Berkeley, CA




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