Pizza Uncle Mike

Or a blessing…

My daughter is studying for her Bat Mitzvah. She has a Sunday school class with her fellow scholars and their parents. My wife and I switch each Sunday to sit in class with her. Last weekend was my turn and we learned about the Shema, which in Judaism is THE prayer…

Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃‎
English: Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.

Yes, in Hebrew it’s only 6 words, but it’s the prayer Jews revere the most — even though it’s really more of a statement than a prayer. I know this because in class we discussed different ways to interpret it and what it might mean to each of us. To be a Jew is to question and discuss, discuss and question, etc.

But I digress.

We were then asked to formulate a prayer that represents our family with only 6 words. A lot of people had stuff like…

“We are Jewish because of traditon.”
“Love and respect to all things.”
“Judaism is about one true God.”

It’s possible Ella and I didn’t understand the assignment. Or perhaps just I didn’t. But we went about creating our own family prayer. We wrote down different things, but none could top this one…

“THANK GOD FOR PIZZA…