Why do we cover our eyes with our hand when we read Shema?



Esther

Belgium




The essence of the Shema prayer, Yisrael, is that by reciting it we declare that the Almighty, and He alone, rules the world. This prayer, in a sense, is our oath.


The first phrase of this prayer-oath is actually pronounced with your hand over your eyes.


Which is explained by two main reasons:


1. This makes it easier to focus on understanding (not just pronouncing) the idea.


2. By closing our eyes, we seem to eliminate possible obstacles to the integrity of the declaration of this idea.


Let me explain with an example.


In the Shema prayer, a person declares the Almighty to be the sole arbiter of his destiny. And at that very moment, next to him, in his field of vision, is, say, his attending physician, and the person (not to mention anyone!) has a dangerous disease. Or a creditor, from whom the person is going to ask for a certain amount of money to implement a very important project. Or the director of the company where he works. Or just a neighbor, who, by behaving in one way or another, is thoroughly ruining his life...


So, at this moment the person says: "Only the Almighty rules my destiny." And at that very second (since the person is in the above-mentioned environment) during prayer, the potential for the manifestation of extraneous, incorrect thoughts arises in his head - that, they say, my life depends on the doctor (creditor, boss, neighbor, etc.).


By covering our eyes with our hand, we distance ourselves, at least for one or two seconds, from the danger of the appearance of these extraneous thoughts that are destructive to prayer.


Naturally, the question arises: doesn’t all this remind one of a certain children’s game, when a small child covers his eyes with his hand and thinks that there is no one around him, and no one sees him?


I will answer this question this way. An adult, of course, is not a child. Covering his eyes with his hand, he does not lose touch with reality and understands who is next to him. But the power of influence of those around him still decreases.


There is a popular saying - "it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times". That is, what is seen leaves a stronger impression than what is heard. In other words, this saying, albeit indirectly, but still - confirms that by closing our eyes, we protect ourselves to one degree or another from external influence.


Prayer in our tradition is called avodat ha-lev (that is, the work of the heart). And the heart, as they say, cannot be commanded. And if a person does not train his heart, he may, at the most inopportune moment, think about something that he should not be thinking about at that moment.


I repeat, we are not able to command the heart, but we can at least help it. And we do this by covering our eyes with our hand while reading the first phrase of the prayer.


To expand on the topic, I recommend reading the answers on the website “About the Shema prayer” and “Is the Shema prayer read separately before bed?”


Author of the text Eliyahu Essas