PRAYER · SHEMA · 4 OF 6
Teach and speak the words
Words held in the heart become words we teach and speak. Follow that movement through one verse, then practice explaining it clearly to another learner.
In this lesson
Bring the words into conversation
The Torah is the five books of Moshe, Moses. In its fifth book, Devarim, or Deuteronomy, Moshe teaches Israel before our entry into the land. Deuteronomy 6:4–9 forms the first Torah paragraph of the Shema, our morning and evening recitation. Hashem, “the Name,” is our reverent way of referring to God.
The preceding lesson, These words on your heart, studied verse 6. Here we investigate the next step: what happens when the words on our hearts become teaching and speech? You will need a blank page or a partner. Make your own attempt before opening each check.
Find what “them” carries forward
Read these two verses together. In the English, draw a line from each “them” back to the words it refers to.
והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך.
These words that I command you today shall be upon your heart.
ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם
בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך בדרך
ובשכבך ובקומך.Teach them diligently to your children and speak of them
when you sit in your home and when you walk on the way,
when you lie down and when you rise.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
הדברים האלה, hadevarim ha’eleh, means “these words.” The ending of ושננתם, “teach them diligently,” and the word בם, “of them,” keep those words in view. Verse 7 does not introduce a new, unnamed subject for our teaching.
1. Why is “teach your children whatever comes to mind” an incomplete account of verse 7?
It loses the connection made by “them.” The object is “these words that I command you today” in verse 6. The verse concerns transmitting Hashem’s teaching, not merely keeping a conversation going.
The words belong on the teacher’s heart as well as in the teacher’s speech. That observation follows from reading the two verses together.
2. Name the two opening actions in verse 7. What does each add?
Teach them diligently names a responsibility toward the next learner, here “your children.” Speak of them gives the words an ongoing place in speech. Teaching and speaking are connected, but the first phrase makes the learner explicit; the second leads into the settings of daily life.
Neither verb replaces verse 6. The sequence joins taking the words to heart with passing them on.
Read the settings in pairs
The verse gives two pairs: sitting in your home / walking on the way, then lying down / rising. Each pair reaches across a contrast. The words accompany being settled and being on the move, the close of the day and its beginning.
This is more than a list of four places to install a study desk. “Lying down” and “rising” are actions, and our sages also read them in relation to the times of Shema. Our question here is the verse’s broader movement: how does speaking these words belong within ordinary life?
Copy the four settings. Beside each, write what it contrasts with. Then choose one pair and finish this sentence: “If the verse named only the first half, I might miss…”
3. A learner says, “The words belong at home, so I can leave them behind whenever I go out.” Which part of the verse changes the claim?
“When you walk on the way” stands beside “when you sit in your home.” Together they keep the teaching from being confined to a single settled place. Likewise, lying down and rising keep both ends of the daily rhythm in view.
The pairs support this broad reading. They do not, by themselves, give every practical rule about when and where particular kinds of study or recitation take place. The evening-Shema workshop investigates the timing question through additional sources.
Rashi asks for words ready to teach
Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, is a medieval commentator on the Torah and Talmud. A commentary explains a text’s wording; it is not another sentence added to the biblical verse. On ושננתם, he draws out an image of sharpening:
לשון חידוד, שיהו מחודדין בפיך
An expression of sharpening: let them be sharp in your mouth.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
Rashi continues with a picture of someone asking a question and receiving a ready answer. His point is familiarity with the teaching. A forceful voice is not the same thing as well-learned words.
For our exercise, make one small teaching clear before trying to explain the whole paragraph. Find its source, state its meaning and test whether you can answer a question about it. This is our study method for developing the clarity Rashi describes.
4. A speaker gives a quick, confident answer but cannot show where it comes from. Has speed alone met the point of Rashi’s explanation?
No. Rashi describes words that have become familiar and ready in the learner’s mouth, not confidence detached from learning. In this exercise, verify the passage and repair the answer before trying again. Saying what you still need to check is more accurate than inventing support.
Our source-checking steps are an application of his concern for clarity. They are not a quotation of a detailed study procedure from Rashi.
Children and students
On לבניך, “to your children,” Rashi writes אילו התלמידים, “these are the students.” He supports the reading with biblical passages in which students are called children. The relationship of teaching reaches beyond a family’s own children.
Keep the layers clear. The verse says “your children.” Rashi interprets that language in relation to students. We can learn from his explanation without silently replacing the Torah’s wording with our summary of the commentary.
Label these three statements as translation, named commentary or our application:
- “Teach them diligently to your children.”
- “Rashi understands ‘your children’ here as students.”
- “I will practice explaining this verse to my study partner.”
5. Check the three labels and your reasons.
- “Teach them diligently to your children”: our English translation of the Torah’s words.
- “Rashi understands ‘your children’ here as students”: a report of his named commentary.
- “I will practice explaining this verse to my study partner”: our application to a particular learning situation.
All three can belong in good learning. Naming the layer makes the explanation more trustworthy.
Repair one explanation
Consider this study note: “Verse 7 is about classroom instruction, so ordinary conversation is outside its concern.” Work through the reasoning before accepting the conclusion.
- Keep the true observation. “Teach them diligently” really does concern teaching. Rashi’s reading of “your children” as students makes that teaching relationship especially clear.
- Find the omitted evidence. “Speak of them” continues into home, way, lying down and rising. The verse does not stop after naming those we teach.
- Repair the conclusion. Teaching belongs within a larger pattern in which Hashem’s words accompany our speech and daily life.
The repair does not make classrooms unimportant. It removes the unsupported word “only” from the explanation’s logic.
6. Try a different repair: “The verse lists everyday settings, so preparing to teach clearly does not matter.”
That claim notices the settings but drops the opening action, “teach them diligently.” Rashi’s sharpening explanation makes clarity central. A stronger account holds both together: the words belong throughout daily life, and we work to know them well enough to teach.
Use evidence from the verse and name Rashi when drawing on his explanation. Everyday presence and careful learning strengthen one another.
Return with the cards covered
Later, name the two opening actions and reconstruct the two pairs of settings. Then explain one thing Rashi adds to your understanding. Reopen the source only after making the attempt.
8. Check what stayed with you.
The opening actions are teaching diligently and speaking of the words. The settings are sitting at home / walking on the way, and lying down / rising. Rashi explains teaching diligently through the image of sharpened, ready words, and reads “your children” in relation to students.
Now add the connection that holds the verse together: what we teach and speak are the words placed upon the heart in verse 6. If you recalled the settings but lost that connection, reread both verses together.
Return to the sources
- Deuteronomy 6: the commanded words in verse 6 and teaching, speech and daily settings in verse 7.
- Rashi on Deuteronomy 6:7: sharpening and students; Rashi in the Sefaria reader.