What John 3:16 is to Christianity, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is to Judaism. "Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." These are the words of the Shema, and as the words that follow indicate, the first words committed to memory by a Jewish child; the words that appear on the mezuza on a Jewish doorpost; the words that appear in the phylacteries worn by the pious on wrist and forehead. The Shema is the first two of the Ten Commandments stated positively. It is the central command, the primary creed, the summary statement of the Jewish faith. It is, morever, as we hear in the Gospel for today, the answer Jesus gave when asked what the most important Commandment was.

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