Other Instances
The exhortation by the Kohen ("priest") in calling Israel to arms against an enemy (which does not apply when the Temple in Jerusalem is not standing) also includes Shema Yisrael. (Deuteronomy 20:3; Talmud Sotah 42a).
Rabbi Akiva patiently endured while his flesh was being torn with iron combs, and died reciting the Shema. He pronounced the last word of the sentence, Eḥad ("one") with his last breath (Talmud Berachot 61b). Since then, it has been traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words.
Roi Klein, a major in the IDF, said the Shema before jumping on a live grenade to save his fellow soldiers, in accordance with the traditional Jewish practice of reciting the Shema when one believes one is going to die.
Read more about this topic: Shema Yisrael
Famous quotes containing the word instances:
“Most of us are aware of and pretend to detest the barefaced instances of that hypocrisy by which men deceive others, but few of us are upon our guard or see that more fatal hypocrisy by which we deceive and over-reach our own hearts.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“There are no instances known to me of cultures having forsaken Truth or renounced the understanding in its widest sense.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)