Legend tells that after
the Holocaust, R. Yosef Kahaneman zt'l , the Ponevezhe Rov (others
say rabbi Eliezer silver TAZ"L) began looking for Jewish children
who had survived the war. It was known that some of the children
had ended up in churches and were being raised as Christians. The
Rov encountered one church that denied the existence and presence
of Jewish children within their midst... He was granted permission
to enter the children's quarters to inspect for himself -- when
he entered he began calling out "Shema Yisroel" and instinctively
many of the children raised their hands to cover their eyes and
started calling out "mama! mama!"
Shema Yisrael (or Sh'ma Yisrael or just Shema) (Hebrew: שְׁמַע
יִשְׂרָאֵל;
"Hear, [O] Israel") are the first two words of a section of the Torah
(Hebrew Bible) that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish
prayer services.
The first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism:
"Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one," found in
Deuteronomy 6:4