How did it get there? TB Pesakhim 56

The first paragraph of the prayer Shema originates in Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 4-9. Have you ever wondered how the verse from Ezekiel 3:12 “בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד יְיָ מִמְּקוֹמוֹ - Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever” came in between the two consecutive sentences

שְׁמַע ׀ יִשְׂרָאֵל, יְיָ ׀ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ, יְיָ ׀ אֶחָד

וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְיָ ׀ אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ, בְּכָל ׀ לְבָבְךָ, וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ, וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶֽךָ?

Today’s daf Pesakhim 56 tells a background story.

“The Gemara asks: What is the reason that we recite that passage: Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever, even though it does not appear in the Torah? 

“The Gemara answers: We recite it in accordance with that which Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish interpreted homiletically. As Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said that it is written: “And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather around and I will tell you what will occur to you in the end of days” (Genesis 49:1). Jacob wanted to reveal to his sons when the complete redemption would arrive at the end of days (see Daniel 12:13), but the Divine Presence abandoned him, rendering him unable to prophesy. He said: Perhaps the Divine Presence has abandoned me because, Heaven forfend, one of my descendants is unfit, as was the case with my grandfather Abraham, from whom Ishmael emerged, and like my father Isaac, from whom Esau emerged. His sons said to him: Hear Israel, our father, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. They said: Just as there is only one God in your heart, so too, there is only one in our hearts. At that moment Jacob our father said in praise: Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever, as all his children were righteous.” (Sefaria.org translation) Jacob’s 12 sons were speaking directly to him, reassuring him, but calling him by his other name Israel or in Hebrew Yisrael! 

We affirm today that we are also loyal to the Holy One just like Jacob’s sons and when we hear the Shema we respond just like Jacob did. But now we have to ask the question why do we whisper the verse from Ezekiel instead of out loud like Jacob did?

“The Rabbis said: What should we do? Shall we recite this verse? But Moses our teacher did not say it in the Torah as part of Shema. Shall we not recite it? But Jacob said it. In order to resolve this dilemma they established that this passage should be recited surreptitiously” (Sefaria.org translation) Nevertheless, whispering the verse  from Ezekiel was not always the custom. “Rabbi Abbahu (a third century/early fourth century Palestinian amora who lived in Caesarea) century said: The Sages instituted that the people should recite it aloud due to the grievance of the heretics. It was instituted to prevent the heretics from claiming that the Jews are surreptitiously reciting inappropriate statements. The Gemara adds: In Neharde’a, where there are no heretics, they recite it surreptitiously even now.”

As far as I know the Reform movement still recites the verse from Ezekiel out loud. The more traditional streams of Judaism whisper this verse based on the Shulkhan Arukh, Orekh Hayyim, 61:13)

There is a custom to recite “בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד יְיָ מִמְּקוֹמוֹ - Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever” out loud on Yom Kippur. I once heard a lecture by Gerson Cohen, the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, who said that the cantors back in czarist Russia would emphasize the verse from Ezekiel on Yom Kippur  to show their defiance to the cruel czarist regime. Through singing the Shema the cantor would intimate that the czarist rule will not last forever and will disappear from the earth. Only God’s  kingdom will last for ever and ever!