The Shema is a Haiku. WHAT???

What's a Japanese poetic form doing in the Jewish prayerbook? This video shows what a haiku is and the way the central Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael meets that criteria.

How and why did the most important prayer for a Middle Eastern people have a Far Eastern structure? That’s a question for historians, linguists, and even theologians.

In the meantime, what do you think? Speculate in the comments below.

And help spread the word about this strange but wonderful fact about Judaism’s central prayer by giving this video a like and forwarding it to anyone who might be interested!

0:00 Introduction
0:06 What's a haiku?
0:13 Sample haiku
0:27 The Shema
0:39 Why?

#JewishPrayer #Haiku #Shema

[AMW]

Interesting observation. The cantillation is congruent.

[aaronkrause]

I added 7+5+5, thinking the number of syllables added up to something significant in Judaism. But unless I'm doing my math wrong (which is a distinct possibility, given that math was my worst subject, 7+5+5 equals 17, one short of Chai.

[drsaiger]

Is it possible you took a prayer, or part of a prayer, that has 17 syllables, and mistakenly assumed the 5-7-5 format? I have always assumed, liturgical musicality aside, that it was 12-5.