Southern Spirits and Shema Prayers: A Journey Through Jewish Life Below the Mason-Dixon Line

Show Notes
Transcript

Growing up amidst the charming quirks of Southern life and the hallowed traditions of Judaism, my Virginia roots are as entwined with the scent of mama's morning grits as they are with the spiritual cadence of the Shema prayer. Pour yourself a bourbon-spiked coffee and join us on a nostalgic trip back to a Hebrew school where allegiance was pledged to both the Star of David and the Stars and Stripes. We look at how these morning rituals—grounded in regional culture or religious devotion—reflect a universal dedication to a higher purpose that transcends the Mason-Dixon Line.

This episode is a tapestry woven with the threads of Southern Jewish identity, where I recount the meaningful act of pledging allegiance to faith alongside the country. We don't pay homage to the Shema as a daily declaration but delve into its powerful lineage—a reenactment of the moment when Jacob's sons sealed their commitment to God. Through personal anecdotes and reflections, we explore how this tradition resonates deeply within our lives, reminding us that, no matter where we're from, our days begin with affirming our values and a promise to serve something greater than ourselves. So, grab your seat at the table—Yankees and Southerners alike—and let's raise our cups to a day started with purpose and a pledge.

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Transcript

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Now, when you grill up, like me, down in the outskirts of a little sleepy town down in Virginia, become a real southerner.

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Wake up in the morning to the smell of mama's grits, you pour some bourbon in your coffee, you skedaddle Down over there to Hebrew school Cause that's what Popstead, that's what Grandpa be did and that's how we're gonna do it.

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I love that good ol' southern culture.

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I think Lakewood has maybe stripped me of my southern accent, but Still turn it on from time to time.

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I did have the great fortune of growing up down in Virginia, of attending a Hebrew school, third, fourth grade.

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It was a modern Orthodox school that every single morning it may sound crazy to y'all, y'all Yankees, that we began our day with a turning towards the Israeli flag and a Hatikvah prayer, before we turn our attention to the American flag and we play a drug agent to the flag of the United States of America, to the Republic of which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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And then we would go learn some Hamish Rashi, some Archaim, and rip apart the Tysos, and with the Q'sis and the Nassivists you feel me?

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That's how days started.

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Now it's just thinking.

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You know really, even the northern gentlemen, all your Yankees and even the southern folk.

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We all pledge our allegiance.

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Nobody doesn't begin their day with a pledging of the allegiance we are commanded to say out loud, audibly, and take our right hand.

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Instead of pointing it, putting it over your heart, you put it over your eyes and you say Shema Yisrael, hashem al-Okinu, hashem al-Khor.

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It's supposed to be a kabbalat, ol-malchut, shemaim, it's supposed to be a pledging of your allegiance to Hashem.

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I was just recently bothered, it irked me, that the text of Shema Yisrael, this pledging of allegiance, it isn't really accepting upon ourselves something, a kabbalah, because the word says Shema, hear, oh, israel.

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It sounds like you're preaching it, you're talking to somebody else that they should accept it.

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But listen to this the Ramam actually says every morning Our pledging of our allegiance is a reenactment Of when Jacob Israel was on his deathbed and he was questioning the Shvatim if they were going to be able to persevere through the dark times and through gullis.

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So he said prove to me, let me see that you're really in it with us and you are one for all and all for Hashem.

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And they all responded with a Shema Yisrael, hear, oh Israel.

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Hear, jacob Yisrael is referring to Yaakov, the Lord, our God.

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The Lord is one, and we reenact the commitment to Hashem that the Shvatim showed to Israel, aka to Jacob, and we also pledge our allegiance in that same way to Akhut Shbarkh who, as the Shvatim did so long ago, it's actually the source of the Ramam, because Yaakov responded with a ah, I have such a good family, baruch Shem Kivon Mahchusodeh, elam Vuhed.

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That's why we say Baruch Shem, kivon Mahchusodeh, elam Vuhed.

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But every morning I don't want it to be lost.

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Here we're to put our right hands over our eyes and say our pledge allegiance to Akhut Shbarkh, the ruler of the entire universe, and to Akhut Shbarkh who, for everything, is his.

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I will put all of my energy and all of my talents into serving you and bringing about your will in the world.

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So, yeah, even the Southerners, even the Ankhis, we all start our days with a good old pledge of allegiance.

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