This past week, we went through the meaning of the pasuk Shema Yisrael in preparation for our high holiday prayers. We're going to need to say this pasuk when coronating God as King in our Musaf prayers. Shulchan Aruch (61,6) tells us that when we say Keriat Shema , we must elongate the ח Chet of Echad to allow enough time to make God King over the heaven and earth. So we slightly stretch it out, because in our minds, we have to think, not just that Hashem is One, but that we are accepting Him as King over you. When you say the daled sound, it to be extended a drop (which is one of the sources for the Yemenite pronunciation of the daled ) and when you say it, you have to have in mind that God rules over the four corners of the earth (A daled is a four). The added kavana that you have to when you say the daled is that you're coronating God as King over the world. In the famous addition from Rav Yisrael Salantar, he says it's not enough to make God King over the whole world; You also have to make king over yourself. That means, as Rav Wolbe explains in Alei Shur (vol 2, page 362), we have to make God King over our senses, our thoughts, our eyes, our ears, our heart, our arms, our legs… And more than that, we have to totally subjugate ourselves to the point of Mesirut Nefesh. You have to think that you're willing to die Al Kiddush Hashem , when you say the word Echad . If someone put a gun to your head, you have to be ready to die for the cause, if it's one of the cardinal sins. To the point that it says that when you say this word of Echad which means God is One, He's the One and Only, you have to think there's nothing more important than Him, and therefore my life is meaningless . That's what B’Chol Nafshecha ( which we say later on) means- Love God with all your soul, But the thought of giving up your soul is not only when you say the words, “ with all your soul.” It should also be thought when you say “ God is One ,” because He is so important that I'm willing to die for the cause. Great. Maybe you’ve had that thought once in the past, as they're taking you and throwing you into the fiery furnace, rather than agree to something that you shouldn't agree to, like our great forefather Abraham Avinu, who gave every Jew the power to do so, or Rabbi Akiva. As he died Al Kiddush Hashem and was saying Shema, he said, “ My whole life, I was preparing for this, and I shouldn't do it now?” So that's what every Jew is supposed to be thinking when they say Shema Yisrael. I heard Rav Wolbe tell the following story that happened to him: He was learning in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Europe, and he had a thought, when he was saying Keriat Shema, that he was ready to jump into the fiery furnace. And then, while learning the first Seder (the first four hour unit of time where you learn Gemara intensely), and after an hour of intense learning, he took a break- Maybe to talk, maybe to have a cup of coffee. He wasn’t able to do it. And then he said to himself, “ Hold on, I'm ready to die in the fiery furnace, and I can't learn for the time allotted?” So too… “I can't not speak Lashon Hara…? I can't not look at what I shouldn't, I can't eat what I shouldn't…. ?“ We have to be true to ourselves when we say Keriat Shama . It's not just about thinking it, it's about being real. So if it's not real? Come on, who are we fooling? We're ready to die Al Kiddush Hashem, but we're not ready to live Al Kiddush Hashem. So what do you do next? What do you do when you start getting real with yourself? We will continue tomorrow… But first let's understand what the goal is. The goal is to say Hashem Echad , to accept God as King over ourselves, and to be in control of ourselves, to the point that we're ready to give our lives up, rather than go against God's will. Have a wonderful day.