Just before the Shema, we recite Ahavat Olam, a blessing which celebrates the gift of revelation to our people. As part of this prayer, we ask Hashem to give us the tools and talents necessary to fully appreciate and act upon the revelation that has been given us—not least, the moral implications of the Shema which we shortly will recite. A close examination of this list of responses to the revelation reveals a cascade of consciousness changing efforts that deepens both our sense of humanity and our awareness of G-d. It is often the case that the translation of the text is not literal, and the list is shortened substantially. In English a full text would seem repetitive. In Hebrew, though, each of the terms carries its own significant weight. Here is a full translation:
“Be kind to us, and place in our consciousness the ability to:
Understand
Discern
Listen
Learn
Teach
Keep
Do
And Establish…”
We can read the text programmatically. Understanding is a necessary first step. But beyond understanding is discernment, knowing how to apply our understanding with grace and common sense. And then we need to listen—there is nothing worse than thinking we know it all when, if we only listened, we would understand that there is so much more to learn. Through listening, we learn, and if we really learn, then we will be ready to take the next step—teach what we have learned. Learning, in Judaism, is not a private activity. It is profoundly communal, and meant to be shared. Such sharing is not only a cognitive exercise, an exchange of ideas. Learning is not abstract. It must come to concrete expression: we need to keep (“obey”) the commandments; and beyond that to do the commandments; and beyond that, still, to “establish them.” “Establish” is an odd word, not one we would normally associate with learning. But Jewish learning is not just any learning. In rabbinic parlance, the whole world was created for the sake of Torah. Until the world is made a place worthy of becoming the kingdom of G-d, through our observance of the commandments, its future is uncertain. It is not firmly “established.”
So every time we keep and do the commandments, we establish words of Torah, and the world of Torah.
Please note, this entire schema is introduced by the hope that G-d will be kind to us, and make all this possible. Kindness, the prayer reminds us, is the core of divine existence, and ours.