For six hours he was trapped in a small bathroom inside Kibbutz Be’eri.
Sounds of intense explosions, mayhem and destruction all around. The only weapon he had for the entire six hours was “six words” that he kept or repeating.
Six words!!
Shema Yisrael Adnai Elokeinu Adnai Echad.
He isn’t religious and his experience was harrowing, yet he had an inner strength and what he terms “a weapon”. A source of protection if you will.
We all possess this weapon that protects and safeguards. Sometime we bury this weapon deep in our hearts, sometimes we express it verbally in formal prayer and sometimes we find our own mode of expression. We display it and hang it on our doors in the form of the Mezuza and we teach it thoroughly to our children. We rise with these words and retire at night with these words.
These six words, Shema Yisrael —Hear o Israel the L-rd is Our G-d the L-rd is One— has sustained us for millennia. It is definitely a weapon and it’s not a secret weapon at that. It’s there for us to draw upon every day and whether we consciously know it or not, it comes with us wherever we go, accessible as long as the heart beats!
Six words!
With best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom,